How It Works
First, we process round hollow timber bamboo in a patented, low embodied energy process. We then manufacture highly engineered bamboo-wood hybrid structural panels and other building components that are super-strong, high-performance, and have the lowest possible carbon footprint.
Second, the BamCore panels are custom fabricated to each customer’s job to millimeter accuracy using advanced Building Information Modeling software. On-site, this results in lower waste and simple and fast wall installation. Our proprietary software allows us to integrate the design, bid and build processes. The end products include printed nail patterns on every panel and a smart-phone based animation that guides installation.
Third, by integrating design, bid, and build, we also streamlined electrical/plumbing rough-ins, door and window installation, trim and cabinet hanging and lowering the need for skilled labor across many trades. Patented pictorial MEPI Maps can even be printed on the panels to indicate exactly where each rough-in line is to be attached.
Our Breakthrough
Following nearly ten years of product development and over 125 independent tests and studies, we are delighted to introduce the newest generation of BamCore’s code compliant Prime Wall system. BamCore has been privately working to develop a game-changing technology that replaces traditional structural framing based on unsustainable wood studs with a stronger and more sustainable bamboo-based panelized wall system. Now, BamCore’s products are driving a paradigm shift in Western building by creating an entirely new approach to residential and low-rise commercial construction that will result in building stronger, faster, greener and less expensive buildings. Unlike any other building system, BamCore’s Prime Wall system delivers a uniquely promising carbon footprint by reducing thermal bridging from wood studs, which significantly improves thermal performance. And, by promoting direct carbon sequestration through the demand-driven expansion of timber bamboo planting, our buildings can truly be carbon negative.
Fixing the Framing Factor
The BamCore Prime Wall is a nearly hollow-wall comprised from the two parallel runs (inside and outside) that can be filled uniformly full with any blown-in insulation. In conventional framing, each wood stud, post or header that spans the wall cavity creates a thermal bridge that displaces insulation and undermines thermal performance. Energy analysts determine the effect of stud-based thermal bridging by calculating a “framing factor” to estimate how much of the wall is thermally bridged by the wood elements. In California, in one early survey of conventional practices, the average framing factor from was 27% . Today, in CA and many other locations seismic, wind, and snow loads have driven framing factors up to 30-40%.
In contrast, BamCore’s estimated framing factor for an “average” single family home is only 6.5%. This means that the BamCore exterior walls offer a much higher effective R-value from insulation and can offer a better overall “U”.