Bamboo Bungalows

[GregZ]

Bamboo Living, a Hawaii company designs and sells bamboo bungalows manufactured in Vietnam. The kits are shipped anywhere in the world and assembled on-site. The ground is prepared prior to the arrival of the container. Assembly takes 3 to 5 days with a trained crew.

Bamboo Living bungalows are very expensive. For the Philippines, we are in communication with Buglas Bamboo Institute. This is a Holland based non-government organization (NGO) that built a bamboo furniture factory in Negros Oriental. The institute has manufactured several one bedroom bamboo homes for a proposed pro-poor housing project. I am also in communication with an expert in bamboo building here in Hawaii who at one time was part of the Bamboo Living group.

My thinking is a nice size, comfortable, one bedroom bamboo bungalow sold as a kit in the Philippines. The eco-friendly treatment makes the bamboo durable and fire resistant. It also makes the bamboo wood resistant to termites and wood-boring insects. A metal binder system permits the bamboo poles to flex during high winds and earthquakes. Philippine manufacturing would cut the price to one-third or more compared to buying kits from Vietnam for import to the Philippines.

It might also be possible to disassemble the bamboo bungalows. Should you ever quarrel with the landowner (wife or her family), hire workers and a couple of trucks to take your home elsewhere.

What do you think?

When I visited Mindinao I saw pre-built bamboo buildings.  Two buidings cost 40,000 php and were small enough to transport on a truck.  They had seating built in.  I'll guess that the size was 12x20 feet, but I didn't look that closely as I was busy with Tanduay and karaoke at the time.    :cheersty:  One was for use as a covered patio area (open around the sides) the other was closed with windows, door and front porch.  I don't know about plumbing or electric work.

 

I am told that bamboo use there on Mindinao is okay because there are not so many bugs to infest as opposed to Cebu where LOTS of bugs are looking for new homes.   That may be a mountain thing too!?

[JJReyes]

The generic name is "Bahay Kubo" and they make excellent playhouses for children. The bamboo is untreated. The expectation is they won't last long. The gallery should have photographs from a previous posting.

[Jollygoodfellow]

The generic name is "Bahay Kubo" and they make excellent playhouses for children. The bamboo is untreated. The expectation is they won't last long. The gallery should have photographs from a previous posting.

 

 

Did you upload them to your gallery albums as they wont be there otherwise.  :)

[JJReyes]

Did you upload them to your gallery albums as they wont be there otherwise.

 

Photographs were uploaded to the gallery on 02 May 2012. Title is, "Bahay Kubo"

[Charles]

I have two more years living in Cebu before I move to the province somewhere to relax and get away from the city life.  I like the idea of Bamboo houses, thanks for all your great information.

[Papa Carl]

JJ, great images, love the idea. If you move forward with this, I believe I know some investors for you to speak with, especially in the Bicol area, specifically around Legazpi City.

 

Love this idea, wish I had the funds to do this myself!

 

Papa Carl

[JJReyes]

Thanks Papa Carl. 

 

The Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce in the United States is meeting this November in Los Angeles. Bamboo as a business and investment opportunity will be presented. Fil-Ams are permitted to purchase up to three hectares of rural land. The concept is to use non-agriculture land for forestry products like bamboo. You can start harvesting poles after four years, which means an investor can realize a income within five years of making his initial investment. In bamboo farming, as you harvest mature poles, new ones sprout so the income stream will continue for about 50 to 60 years. Then for some unknown reason the forest "blooms" requiring replanting. 

 

There is a shortage of bamboo. A law was passed by the previous administration requiring government offices to purchase chairs, desks and cabinets made of bamboo. Suppliers were unable to deliver. The Department of Education awarded a P250 million contract to a manufacturer in Abra for bamboo school tables and chairs, and he couldn't do it. The Japan government is stepping in to provide technical and financial support. 

 

A colleague is presenting the manufacturing and export of bamboo bungalows. He has to wait a minimum five years for sufficient bamboo from suppliers. I am presenting Overseas Retirement Care in the Philippines during the conference.