Originally published Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Some bamboo floors aren't quite as green
Bamboo has quickly become the flooring of choice for green-minded builders in the United States. It's hard. It's durable. And it renews itself...
Newhouse News Service
Bamboo has quickly become the flooring of choice for green-minded builders in the United States. It's hard. It's durable. And it renews itself within seven years.
Compare that with pine, which might need 25 years to mature, or oak, which takes even longer.
To many, it's a no-brainer. But is bamboo really as environmentally friendly as it's purported to be?
It certainly meets the criteria of rapid renewability. But not all bamboo flooring is produced the same way. One good way to tell if proper care has been taken is to look at the price.
Another way, as some suggest, is to have a third party develop standards for the socially conscious cultivation of bamboo.
Some 1,400 species of bamboo exist in the world, but the variety most commonly used in flooring is called moso bamboo, or phyllostachys pubescens. It primarily grows in China and is much thicker than arundinaria gigantea, a native U.S. species that can make for a nifty fishing pole.
Moso bamboo can grow twice as tall as a telephone pole and just as thick. (You may recall its featured role in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.")
A forest of bamboo is essentially one living organism all connected to the same root structure. Technically, bamboo is a grass, not a tree, and can be lopped off at ground level only to sprout new shoots from underground.
Those tender shoots can be harvested as food, said Robert Saporito, owner of Tropical Bamboo Nursery in Loxahatchee, Fla. But some of the shoots must be left to grow, otherwise the whole organism will be less vigorous. The maturing culms, as they are called, can be harvested for use as a building material years later.
In some areas of China where bamboo flourishes, it blankets mountains and valleys to create what's called the bamboo sea.
In Ohio, Seymour Ellis got hip to bamboo while selling European wood into China during the 1990s. Now, his company uses two factories in China to supply his BamStar brand, which is manufactured to his specifications. That includes using bamboo that's 5 to 7 seven years old and adhesives with very low levels of formaldehyde.
To make the flooring, the outer wall of the bamboo is cut into strips and straightened. It's then boiled in water and boric acid to kill any bugs or fungus. The strips are kiln dried, glued and laminated, tongued and grooved and then coated with aluminum oxide and urethane.
![]()
Teragren, based in Bainbridge Island, was an early importer of bamboo flooring, starting in 1997. It expects global sales of all its bamboo products, primarily flooring, to have increased from $13.6 million in 2006 to about $20 million for 2007. More than 90 percent of those sales are in the United States. Like Ellis, Teragren uses only bamboo of sufficient age, as well as adhesives with low amounts of formaldehyde.
But some importers are not as conscientious, they said, and you can often tell by the price that's charged.
Teragren's flooring retails between $6 and $8 per square foot, while a competitor who cuts corners may peddle its brand for half that price, said David Knight, co-founder and chief executive officer of Teragren.
One characteristic of cheap bamboo flooring may be that the bamboo was harvested after only three years, which means it didn't have enough time to harden. It also may contain Chinese adhesives, which have greater formaldehyde content than European brands.
Ellis and Knight both believe an international grading system should be developed so that consumers know exactly what they are getting.
Jim Bowyer, director of the responsible materials program at Dovetail Partners, a Minnesota group that monitors forest management, believes the world demand for bamboo has encouraged some irresponsible growing practices.
Bowyer believes a monitoring system akin to the Forest Stewardship Council is needed. The council certifies forests around the world to make sure they are being managed responsibly.
While bamboo-harvesting issues may exist, the renewable aspect of bamboo makes it superior to other reasonable substitutes, according to Taryn Holowka of the U.S. Green Building Council. The council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system embraces bamboo.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
More Home & Garden headlines...
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Rules to dine by when eating in restaurants with kids
Washington businesses break ties to industrial-food chain
This holiday gift list lets your conscience be your guide
Northwest Living: On Whidbey, a unified home from multiple recycled parts
Plant Life: Good soil is the secret to successful gardening

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
nwautos
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Do you suffer from "sitting disease"?
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
390 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
212 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
159 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
101 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
82 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
75 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
71 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
68 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
63
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit








