Having studied with master builders and experts from across the globe, the Architectural Chairman of the Hawaiian Chapter of the American Bamboo Society, Leimana Pelton, feels the Big Island is now ripe to launch a viable bamboo-related industry. During his research, our Chairman of the Board, Mr. Pelton, traveled to bamboo Mecca’s like the Philippines, Colombia, Brazil, and Vietnam and has had the outstanding opportunity to study and build with renowned bamboo architect, Simón Vélez.

Also on Bamboo Village’s Board of Directors is University of Hawaii at
Manoa researcher, Dean Johnston, who is coordinating species specific
research in architecture, entomology, engineering and agriculture sciences that will lead to breakthroughs in tissue culture propagation and to widespread acceptance of bamboo as a coded building material. The exciting news of Mr. Johnston’s preliminary tests indicate that our preferred species of treated tropical bamboos are bug resistant and several times stronger than conventional building materials!