IntroductionBamboo is a widely used material and it is an important material that is generally found all over the world. It is usually found in rural areas as a building material in small tropical countries, this is due to its high strength and low weight. Although bamboo is considered a rural material, architects and engineers have begun to incorporate it into buildings for strength and beauty. Bamboo is a versatile, renewable and sustainable resource in South Africa. It is easy to use bamboo in buildings because simple tools can be used to bend and cut it easily. Bamboo construction is also very wind resistant, easy to build, and even withstands some natural disasters like earthquakes (if done and used correctly). Bamboo is also used in the landscaping industry, in interiors and as a temporary building material in construction. Bamboo as a Permanent Architectural Building Material Bamboo is a building material primarily used in rural communities for homes, but even architects and engineers are beginning to use bamboo for its strength as a structural component and styling agent thanks bamboo blinds and many others. Bamboo is also commonly used as a construction type for schools, farms and bridges. Bamboo is also used as scaffolding, shutters, reinforcing agent for concrete and water pipes. The demand for bamboo has recently increased as a new development of a variety of bamboo-based panels (Dunkelberg, 1992) has been constructed and incorporated into many buildings. Small buildings, both non-structural and structural, can both be made entirely of bamboo, with the obvious exception of chimneys and hearths, as bamboo is a fueling agent for fires, but it is not used alone .... middle of paper ......International Bamboo Workshop.Panda Bamboo. (2010-2014). Environment. Retrieved from Panda Bamboo: http://www.pandabamboo.co.za/environment.phpUtility Reseach Garden. (2013). Species overview. Retrieved from Utility Reseach Garden: http://www.utilityresearchgarden.com/start.php van der Lugt, P., van den Dobbelsteen, A. and Janssen, J. (2005, 02 18). An environmental, economic and practical assessment of bamboo as a building material for support structures. Extracted from the Bamboo team: http://bambooteam.com/pablo/200601%20CBM%20-%20bamboo%20article%20in%20press.pdfWeb Ecoist - Stéphanie. (nd). Building with bamboo: 13 super sustainable structures. Retrieved from Web Ecoist: http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2011/06/20/building-with-bamboo-13-super-sustainable-structures/Wikipedia. (2014, 02 18). Bamboo. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo