Vegetal steel: bamboo as eco-friendly building material

This article mentioned that the building material of choice for the 21st century might just be bamboo. Boosters call it "vegetal steel,'' with clear environmental appeal. Lighter than steel but five times stronger than concrete, bamboo is native to every continent except Europe and Antarctica. Unlike slow-to-harvest timber, bamboo's woody stalks can shoot up several feet a day, absorbing four times as much world-warming carbon dioxide. Bamboo's abundance is, ironically, an obstacle to wider acceptance. Its most visible use is as rickety, makeshift housing - feeding the stereotype that it is poor man's lumber.