Vancouver Wa Real Estate - Elite Realty NW

Part one in my focus on how to green your house during a renovation. Originally posted on my Green Renovation Blog that can be found at http://www.gogreenwithfha.com/2008/08/focus-on-green-building-materials-bamboo/

Stay tuned for more green renovating tips and tricks!

Bamboo flooring has become hugely popular in recent years for a couple of reasons. First, it is good looking flooring, but second it is also an easily renewable resource that takes less than 5 years to grow to maturity. When you compare that to the 50-100 years that traditional hardwoods you can see why bamboo has potential. Bamboo is affordable to boot costing around $2 to $2.5 per square foot. Compare that to traditional hardwoods which are often double that and you can get some beautiful eco-frienndly flooring at more than reasonable price.

One thing to consider when purchasing bamboo for your home is where it was produced. Most bamboo is produced in Asia and shipped to the US. In my opinion that is far from green due to the pollution created during the transport. However, there are some local US producers of bamboo. They should be your first choice in bamboo providers. If you can’t find a local producer make sure and ask your distributor if they do carbon offsets for the bamboo they ship from Asia.

Jonathan Blackwell

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