Regenerative Design Project at Cal Poly Pomona

Project details

Architect

Shelley Sivak, IDS Group

Distribution Partners

Boise Cascade, Riverside CA

Nichols Lumber, Baldwin Park CA

Installation

Chalmers Construction Services, La Crescenta CA

Location

Pomona, California

Featured products

Bamboo Thermo Siding

Carbon storage

127,925/lbs

Using bamboo as a fire resistant material

IDS Group architect, Shelley Sivak LEED AP was tasked with finding a replacement siding material for The Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly, Pomona. The focus was on a sustainable material with high construction stored carbon. Additionally, Pomona, California has seen increased risk of wildfire in recent years due to climate change, and local building regulations require fire resistant materials on building exteriors. All products considered would be compared on a performance matrix with other products based on the following attributes:

Fire Resistance
Embodied Energy during Production
Composition
Toxicity
Means of Transportation to Pomona, California
Maintenance
Warranty
Lifecycle/Span
Insulative Properties
Recyclability
Recycled Content
Cost per square foot

High stability and performance

For exterior applications, MOSO^® introduced the IDS Group to thermally modified densified bamboo technology. While it is relatively new to the United States, this technology is well established outside of North America. The stability and performance of the MOSO^® Bamboo Outdoor products empowered IDS Group to specify 7” siding, similar to the original profile of Cedar that was installed at initial construction 30 years ago. Cedar could not be used for replacement due to the decreased dimensional stability of modern lumber. Current harvesting practices of traditional lumber species, with shorter growth cycles than previous generations have resulted in reduced dimensional stability of these woods. It is unlikely that modern cedar would have the dimensional stability needed to remain flat and straight in a 7” wide plank.

MOSO^® Bamboo Thermo is Class A fire rated under the ASTM E-84 testing protocol and is listed on California State Fire Marshall’s list of W.U.I. approved products for high fire areas. MOSO^® Bamboo Thermo Siding features a 25-year warranty against rot and decay, and there is no required maintenance. Cal-Poly can decide if they want to maintain the original color of the cladding (by oiling it) or simply let it weather gray, without affecting performance.

Upon completion, the MOSO Thermo siding installed on the Lyle Center will capture 127,925/lbs of Carbon, the equivalent of 302,988 miles worth of emissions.

Based on regenerative design

The project at Cal-Poly, Pomona uses MOSO^® Bamboo Outdoor Lumber on a project whose foundation was based on regenerative design. The John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies started out as a project for Professor Lyle’s graduate design class in 1976 and remained the focus of Professor Lyle until completion. The center welcomed its first 20 full-time students in 1994. The concept of regenerative design is to integrate the needs of society with the integrity of nature. Regenerative design takes sustainable design a step further and focuses on the evolutionary partnership between human and natural systems.

John T. Lyle, a landscape architect professor at California Polytechnic institute, saw an opportunity to connect the agricultural concepts developed by Bob Rodale to other parts of the world. Lyle’s idea became his quest. The center is the culmination of two decades of work by dedicated students, faculty, and multidisciplinary experts to design the institute that is in Pomona today.

Building the future with bamboo

The association of MOSO^® Bamboo with the start of regenerative design is important for the future development of bamboo building materials technology. The thermally modified and densified exterior bamboo offers the university a natural look made from sustainable materials.