UTAH — In a time of rising costs for housing and materials, one home builder in Utah is turning to a new material you might not think of.
Concord Homes is using bamboo in place of traditional lumber.
Kirk Philo, the company’s president, showed off the material Monday morning at a home site in Draper. It’s made of bamboo and plywood, and Philo said the benefits of using it go beyond finding a cheaper alternative during a nationwide spike in lumber prices.
“It was really the environmental impact was what drove us to this,” said Philo, noting that his company had planned to use bamboo before lumber prices skyrocketed. “We were looking for new ways to build houses to have less of an impact on the environment.”
Still, having an alternative to pricey lumber doesn’t hurt.
“We knew that lumber always was volatile,” Philo said, “and so we wanted to take that out of it.”
Philo said the bamboo-based material, purchased from a northern California company called Bamcore, is energy efficient and good for the environment. He said it’s also strong and durable.
Mentally, you’re thinking bamboo — like, little tiny reed stuff,” he said. “This is big trunks of bamboo that are then smashed. There’s a lot of science that goes into it. It’s not like we just brought it from the jungle and produced it overnight.”
Jaren Davis, executive officer of the Salt Lake Home Builders Association, said he hasn’t heard of other builders using bamboo but said this is one of several ways builders are trying to evolve.
“It’s important to us to have our builders out finding new, innovative ways to do things,” Davis said.
Davis noted other builders are using pre-built walls, concrete, and even light metal in construction, all to try to find new ways to do things.
“These new ideas are coming into the market,” Davis said.
As for bamboo, the house in Draper is the first one Concord Homes is building using that material, although some of the house still consists of traditional lumber. Philo said the company plans to use bamboo on new townhomes in Eagle Mountain and Spanish Fork which should be finished next year.
Could buyers notice a difference in what they pay since the builder isn’t relying on expensive lumber?
“I believe so,” Philo said, adding that bamboo could ultimately lower the price of those homes by $5,000 or $10,000 with all things considered.
Plus, he said, it brings an added confidence that the builder can deliver a home as promised.
“We have to prove out the formula yet, we’re not there yet, but I would say this time next year we should have another conversation and see how that’s going,” Philo said.
