Rezaul Karim Chowdhury

Bangladeshi environmental innovator promoting bamboo construction

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury (b. 1972) is a pioneering environmental engineer from Bangladesh whose bamboo-based construction techniques are revolutionizing disaster-resilient housing. Growing up in coastal Bangladesh, he witnessed the devastation of cyclones and floods that destroyed traditional homes. After earning an engineering degree from Khulna University, he founded Bamboo House Foundation in 1998 to develop affordable, eco-friendly housing solutions. His patented bamboo-composite building method uses locally sourced materials treated with non-toxic preservatives, creating structures 300% stronger than conventional wood-frame houses. Over 20,000 bamboo houses have been built using his techniques across 12 countries, including post-disaster zones in Haiti and Nepal. The World Green Building Council named his designs among top 10 sustainable innovations in 2018. His 2020 book 《Building with Bamboo: A Disaster Resilient Solution》 has become a textbook in architecture schools worldwide. The UNDP adopted his model for their Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Program, impacting over half a million people in flood-prone regions. In 2022, he launched the Global Bamboo Network, training engineers from 34 countries in his methods. His work directly addresses UN SDGs #9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure) and #13 (Climate Action), earning him the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2021. Recent projects include bamboo bridges in Colombia's conflict zones and earthquake-resistant schools in Pakistan.