Our Vision for Bamboo
We see a future where bamboo rivals concrete and steel as a primary structural material — regenerative, low-carbon, and globally scalable.
Today, bamboo is often limited to niche markets due to its irregular morphology and structural variability. With the right innovations, we believe it can grow beyond these confines.
Our work unlocks bamboo’s potential as a standardized, high-performance, lightweight structural material — making it viable for modern buildings and essential to the future of the sustainable built environment.
Research
At Building Carbon, we are working to overcome bamboo’s technical barriers through our research and development partnerships and extensive prototyping. By advancing methods of prefabrication, engineered composites, and performance testing, we are developing a new generation of bamboo-based materials that are scalable, code-compliant, and ready for mainstream construction.
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MassBu is a lightly engineered bamboo construction system that cuts flat, parallel faces into round culms to expose interior fibers and enable strong adhesive bonding—producing standardized elements like laminated beams and panelized assemblies.
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CBFT (Cement Bamboo Frame Technology) combines split and treated bamboo with cement-based composites to create durable, standardized framing elements. By integrating prefabrication, the system improves structural performance and reduces construction costs using locally available natural materials.
Supply chain development
We are mapping existing bamboo resources within 50 miles of our current fabrication site in Chone, Ecuador and surveying farmers readiness to bring their bamboo groves into managed status. In 2025 we aim to begin a similar process in the Pastaza province in partnership with the Fundacion Pachamama and the provincial government.
Building
We believe that for bamboo building to scale and displace the environmentally degrading materials, we need to scale up businesses that can compete in the building market. Through our partnership with Pachamama and Jonas Hauptman of the Biomaterials Research Group we are be launching an innovative construction enterprise called BambuTec Constructores in 2025.
Business Incubation
Our building work consists of community projects that are donated through our partner organization Regeneration Field Institute to local schools and communities. More than 50 such structures have been built since 2016. We have also built more than 25 houses for a combination of commercial clients and people who lost their homes in the 2016 earthquake. Most recently we completed a pilot house for the prefectura of Pastaza in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Strategic Partnerships
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Fundacion Pachamama
Pachamama is a conservation and indigenous rights advocacy and action focused organization. They are key partners for Building Carbon for business development and infrastructure projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
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Virginia Tech & Jonas Hauptman’s Lab
Research and development of new bamboo materials. Jonas’ Massbu invention combined with our network of farmers and builders makes for a potent collaboration that may just change the future of building in the tropics and beyond.
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Regeneration Field Institute (RFI)
Educational and design collaborations for the next generation of bamboo professionals. RFI emphasizes in-depth classroom learning partnered with hands-on practice.