American Hardwoods vs. Bamboo

What will it take to set the record straight?

Products made form tropical grasses like bamboo are hardwood pretenders attempting to mirror the unique and remarkable qualities of hardwood. Misconceptions abound. Get the facts here.

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	American Hardwoods	Bamboo
Sustainability	Maturity is reached in 40-50 years. According to the USDA Forest Service, there were 119% more hardwood trees in 2007 than in 1953, and the growth-to-removals ratio is 2.00 (Forest Resources of the United States, 2007).	Matures in 5-7 years. There are over 1,600 known species, but only several are suitable for flooring and panels. Non-suitable species and immature plants yield products that lack appropriate hardness.
Energy Consumption	Manufacturing energy is limited to running a saw blade.	Because bamboo is not a hardwood but a grass, its strips must be compressed with chemical-based glue, under extreme pressure, to be bound together. Glue content can be 3-20%.
Off-gassing	No emissions for methane, nitrogen oxides, and other particulate matter, and minimal emissions for carbon dioxide (Bergman and Bowe, 2008).	Lower grade bamboo products often use formaldehyde resins in the gluing process, which can lead to formaldehyde off-gassing.
Material Utilization	Virtually every part of a log is used as lumber or by-products (including bark, sawdust, and scrap); finished products can be repurposed or used as a combustible fuel.	High quality manufacturing techniques use only 65% of the raw material; traditional manufacturing utilizes only 35%. The remaining material is wasted, usually burned.
Quality	Standards, established by U.S. associations, regulate the quality of American hardwood products.	In China, where the majority of bamboo products originate, there are no organizations governing quality.
Carbon Sequestration	Hardwood trees store carbon as they grow and, when harvested from a responsibly managed forest, are actually a carbon-negative material.	Bamboo grass stores carbon during the growing cycle, but - due to extensive energy required to process and manufacture its products - bamboo is not a carbon-neutral material.
Shipping	American hardwoods can be regionally sourced and regionally shipped.	Most bamboo is grown and manufactured in Southeast Asia. Shipping products half way around the world adds significantly more hydrocarbons to the atmosphere.
Aesthetics	American hardwoods come in a variety of species and lumber grades providing color, pattern and character marks to satisfy nearly every design scheme.	Bamboo products, flooring and panels, come in vertical and flat-grain patterns and generally are a light, honey or natural color.
Life Span	A solid hardwood floor can last up to 125 years or longer with several refinishings.	According to manufacturers, bamboo flooring should last 30-50 years.
After Useful Life	Finished products can be repurposed or used as a combustible fuel. Even in a landfill, hardwoods will naturally revert back to nature.	Because of the high glue content, bamboo products will remain intact in a landfill almost indefinitely.