Traditional brick school facades could become a thing of the past as educational institutions aim for sustainability. Take, for example, the first U.S. school building constructed entirely of sustainable bamboo:
The 1,200 square foot building in Maui, Hawaii, uses bamboo that has twice the compression strength of concrete and a higher strength-to-weight ratio than steel. That means it’s an ideal material for hurricane and earthquake-prone areas.
In 1991, 20 bamboo houses built for the National Bamboo Foundation in Costa Rica survived a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake, and Bamboo Living homes held up against three Cook Islands hurricanes in 2005 with winds up to 175 MPH.
(Continue reading Ariel Schwartz blog at Fast Company)