Sustainability Initiatives

Bamboo is one of the most sustainable and versatile materials that can be used for various purposes like construction, artifacts, flooring, home decor, etc. Bamboo can be a key material to achieving Canada's commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. The construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources and producer of carbon gas emissions on the planet. Along with other governments that signed the Paris Agreement,the Government of Canada has commited to ambitious goal of reducing Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions to 40–45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. Even small improvements in construction industry efficiencies can have significant impacts on global and national carbon output. The carbon footprint to harvest, process and produce industrially processed bamboo members, as a sustainable replacement to existing traditional construction material, is -500 kg/ton. Meanwhile, the released CO2 for the production of 1 metric ton of concrete, cement, and steel are +180, +1250, and +2020 kg/ton, respectively. When it comes to mechanical properties, several species of bamboo have shown mechanical strengths that are superior to timber, and construction steel in terms of strength-to-weight ratio. The fact that bamboo grows rapidly and matures to maximum strength within 3– 5 years allows the material to be harvested more quickly than softwood which requires 20–30 years to reach maturity. Moreover, bamboo forests have up to four times the carbon density per hectare of spruce forests over the long term.