Building a Sustainable Future with Structural Engineered Bamboo: An Interview with Luke D Schüette, Founder & CEO of ReNüTeq in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
The third episode of the podcast features an insightful interview with Luke D Schüette, Founder & CEO of ReNüTeq, a company based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Luke is a seasoned entrepreneur and architect with a background in structural engineering. For the last 15 years, his focus has been on testing and researching bamboo, including different species and adhesives. In the interview, Luke talks about the potential of using Structural Engineered Bamboo (SEB) as an alternative to traditional building materials such as metal and wood.
Luke's interest in bamboo began during his studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale when he was introduced to the work of Buckminster Fuller, known for his dome structures. Luke made prototypes of engineered bamboo structures right after graduation and has been working on perfecting the process ever since.
Bamboo is an excellent building material due to its quick growth, strength, lightweight nature, and flexibility, making it ideal for earthquake-resistant structures. It's also sustainable because it's a renewable resource that doesn't require replanting after harvesting.
Luke discusses the challenges of working with bamboo, such as the need for specialized machinery and sourcing high-quality bamboo. However, he believes that the benefits of using bamboo far outweigh the challenges and is committed to promoting it as a sustainable building material.
The primary advantage of using bamboo as a building material is its renewability, allowing it to be sourced regionally. Unlike many other materials like wood, which are often cut down from different parts of the world and processed in countries like China before shipping back to the US, bamboo can be sourced from South America and laminated and processed directly in the United States, providing greater supply chain control. Additionally, the uniformity of bamboo lam stock makes it more efficient to produce glulam beams, which are used in many structural applications. Bamboo is also an eco-friendly alternative to aluminum for use in glass systems, providing better thermal performance than aluminum.
Luke's interest in bamboo began during his studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale when he was introduced to the work of Buckminster Fuller, known for his dome structures. Luke made prototypes of engineered bamboo structures right after graduation and has been working on perfecting the process ever since.
Bamboo is an excellent building material due to its quick growth, strength, lightweight nature, and flexibility, making it ideal for earthquake-resistant structures. It's also sustainable because it's a renewable resource that doesn't require replanting after harvesting.
Luke discusses the challenges of working with bamboo, such as the need for specialized machinery and sourcing high-quality bamboo. However, he believes that the benefits of using bamboo far outweigh the challenges and is committed to promoting it as a sustainable building material.
The primary advantage of using bamboo as a building material is its renewability, allowing it to be sourced regionally. Unlike many other materials like wood, which are often cut down from different parts of the world and processed in countries like China before shipping back to the US, bamboo can be sourced from South America and laminated and processed directly in the United States, providing greater supply chain control. Additionally, the uniformity of bamboo lam stock makes it more efficient to produce glulam beams, which are used in many structural applications. Bamboo is also an eco-friendly alternative to aluminum for use in glass systems, providing better thermal performance than aluminum.
