Bamboo is the most important non-wood species which is abundantly grows in most of the tropical and subtropical zone. It has developed as a specially valuable and superior alternate for wood composite manufactured, such as for pulp and paper, stripboards, matboards, veneer, plywood, particleboard and fiberboard. Moreover, several researches have used it as raw material for structural composites such as Oriented Strand Board (OSB), Glue Laminated Timber (GLT), Parallel Strip Lumber (PSL) and Oriented Strand Lumber (OSL). Nowadays, there are many kinds of bamboo composite are produced and traded in the world. However, there are several differences between bamboo and wood for example macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, chemical composition, physical and mechanical properties. For this reason, the methods, technology and equipment for wood processing cannot be directly applied in bamboo utilization. Further research is noticeably required on the information on bamboo properties, cost-effective technologies and managements. With modern techniques and adapted technologies, bamboo can be processed into a wide range of products which successfully compete with wood and other raw materials in the future

Bamboo culm is a renewable and lightweight material with high strength, particularly tensile strength. It is well accepted that bamboo culms have played a significant role in architecture because of their sustainable contribution. The culm characteristics and properties of three-year-old bamboo from five species (Dendrocalamus asper, Dendrocalamus sericeus, Dendrocalamus membranaceus, Thyrsostachys oliveri, and Phyllostachys makinoi) were investigated. The results show that each bamboo species has different culm characteristics along with culm length. Culm size, particularly the outer culm diameter and culm wall thickness, affects the ultimate load. These results confirm that a bigger culm with a thicker wall could receive more load. D. asper received the highest ultimate load, while T. oliveri received the lowest ultimate load. However, when calculating the test results for stress (load per cross-section area), P. Makinoi showed excellent mechanical properties, while D. asper showed the worst mechanical properties. This research promotes bamboo’s appropriate use for building applications and as a more sustainable material for architecture.

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