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There's a lot of talk about sustainable bamboo floors and furniture; but you can also build your house with bamboo. In most places bamboo is sort of the poor man's building material. In Japan, bamboo is considered perfect for building luxury homes for rich clients, but that's an exception. Really anyone though can build a bamboo house. That said, like any sustainable building material there are pros and cons.

The benefits of building a bamboo home:

Some people love the look. I'm a fan of some bamboo applications, but the houses I've seen are a little too tropical looking for me. That's not all there is though, that's just what I've been exposed to. Still, I'd suggest looking at some various bamboo homes to get an idea if the look is what you want.

Bamboo is a strong building material.

Bamboo is very sustainable. It can be grown in multiple climates, it's very hardy, a snap to grow, and it grows super fast, unlike other trees.

Almost anyone can easily use bamboo. It's simple to cut, no fancy tools are needed, and it's not heavy, so it's safer than say log homes.

I've read that bamboo can hold it's own against tornados and other natural disasters. If you live in a volatile climate, I'd talk to an expert first, to make sure that bamboo is suited to your local conditions.

Bamboo is even. Meaning that, unlike trees that are filled with knots or uneven fibers, bamboo has a more evenly distributed quality, making it strong all over.

Bamboo left-overs can be used for many applications.

All this said, like any material, there are some negatives. We'll look at those tomorrow.

See some great books on building with bamboo. An excellent book to get started with is Building with Bamboo: A Handbook by Jules J.A. Janssen. This book is a good one for builders, as most bamboo books don't have any construction details, but this one does.