This paper discusses the potential of bamboo as a building material for Western countries. In the study presented, bamboo culms were environmentally and financially assessed and compared to building materials more common in Western Europe, e.g., steel, concrete and timber. Furthermore, a case study was done of temporary European bamboo buildings, structures and bridges, in order to determine factors of success and failure of building with bamboo. This paper presents the results of these studies, which indicate that within certain boundary conditions and with consideration of the recommendations following the case study, bamboo is a very sustainable building material for Western countries and can be competitive to materials more commonly used. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.