Ann Knight
Teragren
Teragren’s innovative bamboo products offer a beautiful, durable and sustainable alternative to using dwindling timber resources for building materials. Products include our FloorScore®-certified bamboo…
What is the role of your materials and products in the development of today’s leading architectural ideas?
Teragren’s innovative bamboo products offer a beautiful, durable and sustainable alternative to using dwindling timber resources for building materials. Products include our FloorScore®-certified bamboo flooring, including coordinating stairparts, in a variety of dimensions, colors, textures and installation methods; SCS Indoor Advantage™-Gold certified panels and veneer; and bamboo worktop surfaces for countertops, tabletops and other interior applications.
What are the latest innovative developments that you are working on?
Currently, Teragren is working on exterior bamboo decking to launch in the third quarter of 2011. In addition, we’re working with a multinational to develop bamboo trusses and joists to meet U.S. building codes.
How can vendors and material developers push the boundaries of what is possible in advancing innovative design and architecture?
By using Moso bamboo, specifically Teragren’s Optimum 5.5® Moso bamboo harvested sustainably between 5.5 and 6 years, for interior finishes as well as structural components wherever a hardwood is used. Moso bamboo has the tensile strength of steel and has been used for centuries in Asia for scaffolding and other uses requiring incredible strength.
Explain how your product or material was used in and contributed to the success of a particular project?
See our Notable Installations, specifically the LEED®-Gold EPA Region 8 Headquarters installation of Teragren’s formaldehyde-free bamboo flooring and panels throughout the 9-story structure in Denver, Colorado. http://www.teragren.com/gallery_notable_installations.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Denver CO
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specially ordered Teragren’s formaldehyde-free bamboo flooring and panels for its EPA Region 8 Headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Teragren’s products were critical to the project’s LEED-Gold status: only Teragren bamboo qualified for two credits through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™. Teragren’s Signature Naturals Bamboo Flooring and Vertical Grain Caramelized Panels (4′ x 8′ x 3/4″) are featured throughout the project.
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects