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There will be massive amounts of materials needed to begin the rebuilding of homes and businesses destroyed by the fire in Lahaina.
It will all have to be shipped in as Maui does not have a sustainable source of building materials.
This might be the ideal time to revisit revising the building code to consider the inclusion of some structural varieties of bamboo and hemp.
Both species grow very well here and have been used for thousands of years around the world. Structural engineering standards exist to ensure that using these materials safely could ensure that Maui could become more sustainable by providing some of the products needed to rebuild.
New jobs could be created, and workers could take pride in knowing that they are helping to regrow their houses and those of their neighbors.
Growing forests of hardwood takes decades, if not longer. Bamboo can grow inches daily. Hemp is also fast growing.
Sustainable options? Now is the time for us to be examining possibilities for the replacement of all that was lost.
Shipping is expensive. Elephant bamboo is big and thick. New foundations could be grown here if the building department would approve the use of these products.
Kathleen Platt
Kula Malu