Considering the return of wood to nature leads us on to the next key prediction, lifelong wellbeing. We must now be mindful of the entire lifecycle of the materials and building process and, beyond this, the health and wellbeing of those that work on and live in the buildings we erect. The World Green Building Council’s Six Principles for a Healthy, Sustainable Built Environment underlines the importance of the relationship between sustainable development and human wellbeing, detailing how harmony with nature and climate change action is linked to social values, including the health of construction workers.  Buildings made of wood have seen not only construction time, effort, and waste reduced by as much as 90%, but have had a positive impact on construction workers, whose exposure to the dust and toxic fumes of a regular building site is drastically lowered. Furthermore, timber buildings continue to have a positive impact on people throughout their lives as wood surfaces have been found to lower stress levels, improve attention and focus, and increase creativity. With the difficulty of the preceding two years, a movement towards design that benefits wellbeing is likely to be at the forefront of many minds.

Our final prediction is that net zero emission targets will no longer cut the mustard. With several governments and large companies committing to net zero targets, reducing emissions is a global target. However, with increasing pressure from those who recognise this may no longer be enough, we believe there will be a push towards climate positivity: removing more greenhouses gases from the atmosphere than are released. In an industry that is responsible for a large portion of global emissions, we think companies have started to notice the scale of the positive impact we could have if we pushed for these more ambitious targets.

Accoya is created with a different principle: the actual wood itself is changed and enhanced by boosting the presence of molecule groups that are already a natural part of the wood.  It becomes more stable, more durable…and highly resistant (or unappetising) to shipworms!

Partnering with Britton Timbers, a long-standing Accoya distributor in Australia, Accoya wood has been supplied for use for oyster seed trays and posts to Australian oyster farms since 2015 and is currently undergoing a testing programme.

Backed up with a 10-year warranty for this application, Accoya offers a unique solution to the challenge for oyster farms. It is sustainable, non-toxic and has an excellent reputation around the world for many applications, but this application is unique and could change the industry.

With the help of sustainable construction and the use of non-toxic materials, many future benefits are being realised. And here are just 5 of the great reasons why building sustainable stadiums promotes a healthier environment¹:

1. Water preservation: because a lot of water is needed in stadiums to water and prepare the real grass pitches, clean the venue or for sanitary reasons, water consumption in stadiums are very high. When considering how to reduce water consumption, green initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and recycling can be considered.
2. Energy preservation: in order to reduce the use of energy, more and more stadiums are being made to conserve energy consumption, and even being equipped with solar and wind power to provide them with an alternative energy source.
3. Low pollution: nowadays, more and more stadiums are built with healthier, more sustainably-sourced and recycled materials, such as wood, plastic and paper. With the help of using greener building materials that help fight global resource depletion, the amount of waste and pollution in the environment is reduced and the destructive impacts of construction are minimised.
4. Financial benefits: by choosing greener and longer-lasting materials for stadiums, environmentally-friendly projects will be
   cheaper in the long run when the maintenance and operation of the buildings are taken into account. Moreover, the value of the project can actually increase over time, while the costs of water, energy, maintenance and insurance premiums can decrease.
5. Reduced health risks to the community: using non-toxic materials can not only reduce health problems within the community, but also safety risks while stadia are constructed and in use for years after!

So now you have been introduced to world’s leading sustainable sporting stadiums, the real question is: How can you contribute to making a sustainable stadium?

As we know, many of the commonly used building materials are made of non-renewable resources, such as PVC or aluminium, which are finite, depleting resources, and often come with heavy energy and emissions costs. Every day, more and more pollution is released and CO2 is added to the surface air. However, our world can also provide us with raw materials that offer a long-term solution to both of these impacts: this material is wood, from well-managed and sustainable forests.

By specifying Accoya wood, you are already one step closer to helping build a more sustainable stadium by selecting it as your material for decking, cladding, windows and doors – frames or any other application. Accoya wood is sourced from fast growing trees and sustainably certified forests and offers many benefits to application-oriented industries around the world! Its high performance, unrivalled durability and sustainable credentials make it the perfect solution; a truly unique combination of qualities.

Thanks to our unique acetylation process, Accoya wood is highly resistant to decay – meaning it lasts and stores carbon for decades, making it a perfect alternative not only to carbon-intensive and resource-depleting materials, but also to slower-growing and unsustainably sourced hardwoods.

Just think about it. Who wouldn’t want beautiful installations from a material that has a longer lifespan while simultaneously increasing global carbon storage and providing us with a climate-proof alternative to concrete, metal and plastic, all for the sake of a more sustainable environment?

And don’t forget; you are opting for a premium product with exceptional stability that can easily last twice as long and require less upkeep than other alternatives – so in the long run the running costs can be much cheaper too.

Accoya wood may not be competing in the Olympics, but it has it’s very own Gold: Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold to be precise, marking it as the top performer in the building materials industry.

To give you some inspiration and ideas, let’s look at a couple of the few sustainable projects where Accoya has contributed to a more sustainable world by helping to build a greener sports stadium!

The outdoor velodrome, designed by Sander Douma Architects, was specified with Accoya wood for the 200m cycling track in Assen, the Netherlands, making it the perfect place for cyclists to train for their future cycling races while enjoying some fresh air.

The outdoor velodrome not only gives cyclists a feeling of freedom, but also creates benefits for the cyclists by giving them less resistance and more speed when cycling on the track. This is thanks to our unique modification process, which makes Accoya the perfect material for both internal and external applications of the sports stadium.

What happens at the end of its product life? Can the wood also have circular economy benefits?

As well as lasting for decades (and with a warranty for 50 years for above ground use), Accoya doesn’t contain any plastics or new elements that aren’t found naturally in wood: it’s biodegradable and can be handled in the same manner as raw wood at the end of life through recycling, composting or as a bio-based fuel source (as stated in the company’s KOMO product certificate and further evidenced by SHR – Wood Research Foundation Netherlands).  It can even be up-cycled into Tricoya wood chips, which are used to make high performance wood panels that can last decades more!

What about the transition to net zero economy?

At Accsys and through our flagship Accoya wood product, we believe that our actions and those actions of our customers can help contribute to one of the biggest challenges of our time – combatting climate change and the transition to a net zero economy.

Wood sequesters carbon, meaning that it captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locks it in for its useful life, and the more durable and long lasting wood, alongside its use at end of life, can have a positive influence on the environment. Last year, our products locked in and safely stored around 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This means that everyone involved in the process to use Accoya, from making and distributing it to the owner living with it, has helped take the equivalent of roughly 120 million miles of car driving emissions out of the atmosphere and store it safely in a useful, beautiful product.

1. Less Stress

Perhaps one of the areas with the most comprehensive research is around stress. In short, natural environments and wood in par­ticular help reduce stress and improve wellbeing. Over the past ten years, several studies have come to the same conclusion.

One study⁸ showed that adding plants or even posters of plants into hospital waiting rooms had the potential to reduce patients’ feelings of stress. Another study⁹ put 119 students into four different rooms:

• a room with wood and plants
• a room with wood and no plants
• a room with no wood but with plants
• a room with no wood and no plants

The plants had no influence on the result, but the wood did. Students had lower stress levels in the wooden rooms.

Similarly, the newly refurbished National Oncology Institute waiting room in Bratislava, Slovakia was the location for a 2019 study.¹⁰ Visitors were measured for respiration, heart rate, cortisol level and blood pressure before, during and after their stay in the wooden room.

The participants described their emotions as predominantly satisfied or very satisfied and their cortisol levels decreased by 7.5%, implying a stress-reducing effect.

4. Creativity boost

In the past ten years, different research groups have come up with the same conclusion: wood grain as a texture positively influences creativity. The most recent evidence comes from a 2019 Slovakian study¹ where people were tested in different simulated living room environments.

The surroundings that had the most positive effect on creativity were the ones using both warm and cold colours as well as natural materials such as wood and textiles. These surroundings also had the most positive effect on problem-solving capability, understanding and thinking ability.

On the other hand, the environment with strong colours, artificial wood imitations and synthetic textiles, triggered stress in the participants. The same study also tested people by putting them in front of three different walls and allowing them to touch the wall. Brain activity increased when looking at the wooden wall compared to looking at walls made from chipboard or white laminate.

Back in 2010, a different study² examined creative performance in different environments and this also showed how exposed wood or stone surfaces have a higher potential for creativity. This was compared to artificially produced surfaces such as drywall, plastic laminate, glass, carpet or synthetic fibres.

I make no apology for listing my own company’s products here, Accoya wood and Tricoya (in the form of Medite Tricoya Extreme in the UK). Even if I wasn’t involved in these products I would have them on my list because they are such a great example of how we don’t necessarily need to compromise performance in our bid to use more sustainable products.

Photosynthesis is the best means we have of capturing carbon from the atmosphere and in the form of trees we have natural “production units” that convert it for us into a very versatile building material – wood. Using more wood in construction is vital as we aim for that carbon neutral target, yet so often specifiers choose carbon-intensive man-made materials that they have confidence in over wood because of concerns over the durability and stability of the latter.

Both Accoya (solid wood) and Tricoya (panels) are based on sustainably-grown timber which is tweaked at the molecular level by a chemical reaction called acetylation to vastly improve the performance of the wood in a non-toxic manner, thus locking in all of that sequestered carbon for decades longer than would otherwise be the case in products that are much more reliable and predictable than those made from un-acetylated wood. Both Accoya and Tricoya afford us the opportunity to significantly increase the amount of timber we use in construction without compromising on service life expectations or performance, even in challenging external applications.

Since that very first batch in 2007 Accsys has expanded our offering in both availability and scope to give even greater choice and versatility to the construction industry. We’ve constantly refined and developed our Accoya production processes and buying options, and developed Tricoya®, many of the Accoya’s long list of benefits to the world in panel form, unlocking vast creative and functional potential for a more sustainable built environment. We’ll be opening the world’s first Tricoya plant this year, an exciting prospect and quite amazing in the context of Accoya’s 14^th ‘birthday’!

As we’re celebrating Accoya today though, we shouldn’t forget to also mention that the new www.accoya.com launched recently, with updated branding and a whole new way to see and showcase the product and its uses in stunning detail – as well as simplifying the path to purchase.

So, maybe the question isn’t ‘why is Accoya still a favourite after 14 years’, but ‘why would you want to choose anything else?’

Put simply greenwashing is consumer deception. And with consumers in the UK reportedly spending GBP 41 billion on ‘eco-friendly’ products, greenwashing is a growing problem.

This was highlighted last month by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) with a new probe into misleading environmental claims. The CMA will be actively investigating how products and services claiming to be ‘eco-friendly’ are being marketed, and whether consumers could be being misled. This will be on a global scale – to action this investigation the CMA has teamed up with the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets as part of a project with the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).

Greenwashing can appear in a multitude of ways.

To really understand it I have listed several forms that it can take below.

Justin Peckham, Accsys Head of Sales for UK and Ireland

So, it’s clear that greenwashing is a real problem. That’s why I’m so encouraged by the CMA’s announcement. But one element immediately struck me given my role as Accsys Head of Sales for the UK and Ireland – the investigation has a special focus on certain industries, and unfortunately, construction isn’t one of them. The CMA is specifically looking at: (1) textiles and fashion, (2) travel and transport, and (3) fast-moving consumer goods. It’s perhaps interesting to note that these industries as well as being high profile is also very much consumer facing. It’s clear that the CMA is looking above all to protect consumers from being duped. This however shouldn’t detract from our collective responsibility within the construction industry to shine a light on not only the good but also the bad and ugly when it comes to brands making sustainability and eco-friendly claims.

Given the impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry over the last 10 months, it might be argued that we should now be concentrating our efforts on recovery. But few will have avoided the UK government’s mantra around ‘building back better’, (a line also used by the Biden camp in the recent presidential elections). This campaign extends to many areas of the UK economy including our health service and social care, but it isn’t hard to see the relevancy of the campaign when it comes to the construction industry. With social housing and green energy and infrastructure as cornerstones to the #buildbackbetter movement, the construction industry is front and centre in terms of delivering the government’s agenda. But whether you think the UK government is proposing nothing more than glib rhetoric and nice soundbites, it’s worth reflecting on why the construction industry needs to up its game? Some key statistics:

• 39% of global energy use is accounted for by building and construction
• 60% of the urban development required by 2030 is yet to be built
• 73% of people would change their habits to reduce their environmental impact

The entire structure of the building, including the external walls, is CLT timber combined with glulam columns and beams with Accoya external wall cladding. This project calculated to sequester 180 tonnes of carbon, which in terms of embodied energy, much more than offsets the transport from Austria.

Read more about the Christies Care Home project.

Designed by WilkinsonEyre, the village can accommodate up to 50 students with visiting staff. The high-quality and energy efficient living pods are prefabricated from cross-laminated timber (CLT), Accoya and other materials for rapid on-site assembly. Arranged in units and rising two to three-stories to create a welcoming social space to the campus alongside the larger industrial buildings.

Read more about Wilkinson Eyre Modular village project. 

• Environment Agency chooses Accoya to replace hardwood for assets that support bio-diversity

• Accsys donated the wood to gather further data on durability and longevity in marine environments, adding to positive testing results from the Mediterranean and North Sea.

Fenders are not only an essential part of flood management assets in the Thames Estuary, they also provide unique bio-diversity niches in tidal waters, promoting healthy and diverse habitats.

Accoya wood, donated by Accsys via its distributor International Timber, is being used by the Environment Agency’s TEAM2100 programme as proof of concept that it can replace hardwood, provide habitat and contribute to achieving the organisation’s Net Zero ambition.

Accoya is a revolutionary, modified and dimensionally stable wood. It delivers remarkable levels of performance and is a product that will stand the test of time.

Accoya wood is made by Accsys at its factory in Arnhem, The Netherlands.

Accsys transforms fast-growing certified sustainable wood into Accoya wood through a proprietary acetylation process. The result is a high-performing product with sustainability credentials greater than those of man-made materials, intensive resource depleting and highly carbon polluting alternatives.

This gives the world the choice to build sustainably, offering new opportunities for the built environment.

Check out these great projects located in Belgium built with Accoya!

The Police station in the small town of Molenbeek in Belgium was designed by Architectenbureau Emmanuel Bouffioux. After 5 years since the Accoya was installed in 2015, the facade is just as stable and shows a beautiful silver-grey weathering.

During a visit to the Police station, we were particularly curious about the performance of the Accoya wood as this project features challenging lines. The facade was a joy to see.

In projects like this, you truly see just how stable Accoya really is and where we can make a difference. We are convinced that this type of structure with good long-term results is only possible with Accoya.

Xavier Deruyttere- Martal Houtimport, Accoya Distributor in Belgium and Luxembourg

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Houben built the new headquarters of the FNG Group in Mechelen, Antwerp. FNG is a Belgian fashion house known for the brands Fred & Ginger, Van Hassels, CKS and Baker Bridge.

The building was designed by Stéphane Beel Architects and is very eye-catching in the Mechelen station area.

The terrace was made of durable Accoya wood that hardly shrinks and swells, so that the terrace remains perfectly stable.

From the world’s largest covered mangrove to the park restaurant furniture and the window frames and facade of the gift shop, Accoya wood is loved by the Arnhem zoo:

“By choosing Accoya you make a sustainable choice. Because of our experience with the wood in previous projects in the park and because we are convinced of the quality, we do not hesitate to use the sustainable wood again”.

• Frank Simon, Technology Manager, Burgers’ Zoo

The  600m2 bistro bar and catering pavilion known as FortVier was created by four friends as a place to enjoy and celebrate life. Designed by H²A Architecture and Urban Planning, it features Accoya wood for the cladding, roof, and unique decorative logo.  With a largely open and free floor plan the building also has internal folding walls and can be rearranged inside into café, restaurant and party room areas.

“We deliberately chose Accoya because it is the ultimate sustainable product with a natural look.”

• Vivian Trienen, Director of the FortVier College Foundation

With the citizens’ initiative ‘Here once stood a church’, a long-held wish to return the old stained-glass windows of the Kleine Eusebiuskerk Church (demolished in 1990) to their original location in the Coehoornpark has been fulfilled.

Accsys was proud to support this by sponsoring the Accoya wood frames, working with local carpenters and craftsmen to create the unique, colourful and historic gate.

Café het Moortgat on the Ruiterstaart in Arnhem has commissioned Collectief Soepel from Arnhem to make a folding façade bench with weather-resistant wood. Offering an unexpected place to rest in front of the cafe, or enjoy a coffee in the sun, the bench can fold away at quiet times. Collectief Flexible chose Accoya because of the beautiful natural appearance of the wood combined with its durability for outdoor use.

Foodhall Arnhem, located on the Rijnkade in Arnhem, brings over a dozen world cuisines together in one place. The food hall hosts enthusiastic entrepreneurs and culinary talents providing a huge variety of the tastiest meals, snacks and drinks. Welcoming visitors is the beautiful entrance made of sustainable Accoya wood.

The walkway to the entrance of the Accsys offices is equipped with designer outdoor lighting: the STRADA by timberlab. It is a lamppost made of layers of Accoya wood, carefully curved into shape for a durable, elegant lighting solution that blends organic materials with modern techniques and aesthetics.  Left untreated, the wood will weather over time to a silvered colour as the fixtures become part of the natural environment.

Your home’s exterior says a lot about your style. Here’s a look at four home exterior trends we’re seeing.

1. Increased Use of Natural Wood

Home designers are increasingly using natural products like stone and wood – partly because they look good and partly because they want to use sustainable products. Accoya is made using FSC^® certified, responsibly harvested wood. It is also non-toxic and contains no harmful chemicals.

3. Using Texture to Make a Feel-Good Statement

One popular way to add texture and drama is with Shou Sugi Ban, a traditional Japanese art of charring wood. The process leaves a beautiful dark charcoal finish on Accoya that complements the wood grain. The practice is well-suited for cladding or siding options because it provides excellent durability that will stand up to the elements. You can use it all over your home, or just to create an eye-catching feature that will stand out from the rest of your home’s exterior.

The outdoor kitchen has been on the rise for years. Indeed in some circles, it is almost common to have one. Though why would an outdoor kitchen suit you?

The first reason is a simple one. Cooking indoors in the summer isn’t always pleasant when we have high temperatures. The second reason; it is much more fun to eat outside than inside. In the United Kingdom, this isn’t always possible due to our changing weather throughout the year but when you get the chance, you usually want to make the most of it. 

The materials of your outdoor kitchen must be able to survive well in all weather conditions. Scaffolding wood is a commonly used option but unfortunately not very durable due to its vulnerability to moisture. A more suitable material is Accoya wood or Medite Tricoya Extreme MDF board. This wood has been preserved through an environmentally friendly acetylation process so that it hardly shrinks or swells and has an outdoor warranty of 50 years against rot. This means that not only can you enjoy an environmentally friendly choice but your outdoor kitchen can be enjoyed by future generations. If you choose a countertop, then limestone is recommended for this. Granite is also a popular option (but more expensive). If you want to create a Mediterranean atmosphere, you can also opt for Portuguese concrete tiles. 

This means that Bees, along with a large number of other insects, ensure that plants are fertilised. Because insects fly from flower to flower in search of pollen and nectar, they can fertilise flowers, allowing the plant to start bearing fruit. This fruit in turn ensures the reproduction of the plant. Therefore, insects play an essential role in the reproductive cycle of many plants.

The number of bees is declining rapidly. Wild bees and solitary bees are struggling in a landscape with less and less flowers.

If you drive on the A13 towards Rotterdam, the Netherlands, you will see a tall wooden building from a distance, called the Melarium. It is a work of art and used as a centre for nature, bees and art. The building has shutters on the outside as underneath are where the beehives are. Local Beekeepers have a number of beehives inside the Melarium.

The building itself symbolises a bee. “You can see the head, chest and abdomen of the insect. You may also have noticed that it has a lot of small windows. They symbolise the bee’s eyes.” What’s also special is that it is made from sustainable Accoya wood and that the Melarium is completely self-sufficient. “Energy is generated by solar panels and there is a stove where wood from the forest is burned. The toilet is flushed with rainwater: we supply drinking water with jerrycans.”

Towns with a lot of rural areas have a unique opportunity to contribute here.

The effect of installing a beehive is much greater than just “the bees themselves and a little honey.” It can not only be an interesting object, but it is also about people being aware of the fact that a bee is very important for biodiversity and therefore also for our earth, they become interested in the profession but also how they can contribute, like; sow more plants and flowers and use fewer pesticides, etc.

As per a Japanese study, plastic, metal and glass is impersonal in the workplace and has shown to increase blood pressure and stress levels. Whereas environments rich in natural materials, especially wood, can decrease blood pressure and stress levels.

Less stress, lower blood pressure, healthier immune system. These all add up to healthier and happier employees. This leads to better productivity and ultimately benefits the company, and the economy. Everyone’s a winner.

Volatile Organic Compounds. These are chemicals released through the burning of fossil fuels, processing with synthetic materials, and can be present in every day consumer products. These are a socially acceptable poison on human health. Socially acceptable as for many years they were a by-product that may have been misunderstood, or in the balance of cost vs reward deemed worth the health risk. But today, with increasing concern around personal and planetary health, these are poisons that we don’t need to accept. And the easiest way to start reducing them in our day to day is to start without them, rather than starting to remove them.