Expandable House, Batam – A Living Prototype Using Bamboo Veneer Lumber for Sustainable Construction

Between 2019 and 2020, Widuz’s Bamboo Veneer Lumber™ (BVL) was showcased in the award-winning Expandable House prototype in Batam, Indonesia, developed with ETH Zurich’s Future Cities Laboratory and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. BVL was applied in columns, beams, flooring, and cladding of the two- and three-story units, proving its structural capacity, durability, and design flexibility. The project demonstrated how BVL can replace wood and concrete in housing while lowering carbon emissions and construction costs. Built in a tropical environment, it confirmed BVL’s resilience to heat and humidity and its ease of assembly in modular systems. The Expandable House has been widely recognized by international media and professional institutions, validating BVL as a practical solution for affordable, low-carbon housing in rapidly growing regions. This use case highlights BVL’s potential to deliver sustainable, scalable construction while creating positive social and environmental impact.

In the 80 m² built with BVL for the Batam House, replacing wood and concrete saved an estimated 10-12 trees (≈6 m³ of timber) and reduced embodied emissions by ~1.5 t CO₂e. The patented zero-waste process cut material losses by ~30% (≈0.7 m³). Economically, this equals ~€150 CO₂ cost savings under EU carbon pricing, while BVL’s lighter, modular design lowered assembly time and labor costs by ~20% and ensured more stable long-term raw material access than volatile timber markets.