Bamboo is an important renewable resource on which around 2.5 billion people all over the world depend greatly for a wide range of products and livelihood. Bamboo has more than 1000 documented uses. About one billion people live in bamboo houses. Bamboo, a tree-like grass, represented by about 1250 known species, is found in all regions of the world: tropical, sub-tropical and temperate except in Europe and West Africa. Bamboo accounts for approximately 25% and 20% of the total biomass respectively in the tropics and the sub-tropical areas. Bamboo has several unique advantages, namely: (i) ability to rejuvenate degraded areas; (ii) grows well in plantation models in harmony with other species, and hence there is no need for mono-culture; (iii) short rotation cycle of 2-5 years; and (iv) widely recognized traditional resource having quicker acceptability. Panel composites made from bamboo have great potential due to their better strength, dimensional stability and other characteristics compared to panels made from several fast growing plantation timbers. IPIRTI is the premier Indian R&D institution working for development for bamboo composites. It has already developed technologies for several mat-based composites from bamboo including Bamboo Mat Board (BMB), Bamboo Mat Veneer Composite (BMVC), and Bamboo Mat Corrugated Sheets (BMCS). Whereas BMB and BMVC are being produced in some factories, technology for BMCS is being scaled-up for industrial production. Works relating to development of suitable application technologies and codes of practice are in also progress. Additional positive aspects of bamboo-based panel materials are environmentally friendly reduction of pressure on forests through wood substitution; it is people friendly as it uses traditional resources; it enhances rural employment generation with participation of women and community development. BMB technology developed at IPIRTI has been found to be an exemplary demonstration of implementation of Agenda 21 by the International Selection Commission of EXPO-2000 and was a registered Project around the World at the EXPO-2000 Hannover, Germany. This paper discusses IPIRTI''s R&D efforts related to development of bamboo composites and their relevance for people oriented development programs.

Visitors to The Green House will encounter a full-size recreation of the California-based architect Michelle Kaufmann¡¯s Glidehouse?, a single-story, prefab Modern house graced with glass curtain walls and louvered-wood sliding panels, which, incidentally, comes in at $120 per square foot. Visitors can walk through its great room and kitchen space, laid out to maximize breezes and minimize the need for artificial lighting. They can examine firsthand the built-in cabinets, bamboo flooring, carpet tiles of recycled materials, countertops made from recycled paper, and furniture of organic textiles and sustainably harvested/reclaimed wood. Cut-away walls and windows allow glimpses of the roof and wall structure. Water-saving fixtures and a tankless water heater outfit the bathroom. Walls are finished in low-VOC paint.

High tech and high touch
The architecture firm that designed and installed this 7,000-square-foot exhibition is Lewis.Surumaki.Lewis, New York City. Organizer for The Green House is Curator Donald Albrecht, the exhibition director and catalog editor of ¡°The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention,¡± a traveling exhibition organized by the Library of Congress and the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany (1997-2005). A noted designer of architecture-themed exhibitions, he also writes widely on design and architecture. ¡°This show illustrates that environmental priorities and the highest aesthetic standards are fully complementary,¡± says Albrecht. ¡°Today we are seeing architects and interior designers combining new, high-tech materials and old-fashioned architectural wisdom to create houses that are glamorous, comfortable, and sit lightly on the land.¡±

The exhibition catalog, The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture¡ªcoauthored by the exhibition¡¯s consulting curators, Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne, and copublished by the National Building Museum and Princeton Architectural Press¡ªfeatures more than 35 residences in 15 countries, with designers ranging from starchitects to little-known practitioners. Visitors to the exhibition will receive a free resource newsletter that includes a glossary of green terms; directories of leading architects, interior designers, builders, advocacy groups, and others; and listings of ways to get additional information on green building and design.

An array of varied houses
The Green House exhibit highlights 21 homes considered by the curators to be especially interesting and beautiful. The curators displayed the projects according to the environment to which they respond.