Are wooden skyscrapers safe? This will almost be the newest global question, since a brand new cacao factory in Indonesia built its very first headquarters made entirely out of bamboo, and half powered by plant oil. In the near future, they will be using solar paneling to take their manufactured bars completely off the grid. Their bamboo structure is very strong and resilient, and they have no reason to think that will not last for many years into the future. So how possible is construction with bamboo instead of steel? Can bamboo really replace such a high commodity quality, light and affordable commodity such as steel? This is an excellent question.
The foundations of skyscrapers must be poured deep, since so much leverage is required to counterbalance the top end. A certain amount of flexibility is required in the structure in order to make it wind resistant. Just as grass bends before the wind, instead of breaking, so skyscrapers have a certain amount of flexibility built into their structure to give them or rather allow them movement if they need it.
Michael Green, an engineer consulted about the feasibility of using bamboo instead of steel, confirmed the definite possibilities which are here. For example, he listed bamboo as being very strong and the larger bamboo plants are quite tough and resilient, being very difficult to break. It is like having a large number of long wood fibers clumped together. It may be easier to shape and cut than steel, but it is extremely difficult to break, while maintaining the flexibility of movement which is so necessary for tall buildings like skyscrapers. Bamboo is considered to be the construction material of the future because of how fast it grows and how sustainable it is. While plans for much larger buildings are being drawn up in Vancouver, so far the largest bamboo building today is only five stories high. However, new innovations and ideas for making this the new steel of the future are already in play.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/15/tech/eco-wood-skyscrapers/index.html
