There’s a good reason that real wood decks are popular in this country and elsewhere, it’s a combination of beauty and touch and feel. A real wooden deck is both lovely to look at (especially in the rain, where the water highlights colors and grain) and gorgeous to walk on. There are many millions of decks in this country with the majority of them being made of natural wood. One of the most popular wood species used in the US for decking has been, until recently, Ipe and the use of this wood forms the basis of this blog, in particular when compared to the new revolutionary wooden decking material, Accoya Color®

Ipe, Latin name Tabebuia serratifolia, is a large deciduous tree that is native to lowland rainforests in Central and South America. It’s a hardwood that resembles mahogany in appearance and is commonly found in Bolivia and in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil – it’s also located in Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay among other countries.

Of course, it’s almost too good to be true. No wood from the rainforest can be sustained for ever and there are plenty of reasons why Ipe is now becoming harder to source and is simply not sustainable. According to lumber website greenworldlumber.com, 18 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been lost to deforestation and one of the victims is Ipe hardwood.

The tragedy here is that these beautiful trees, which can grow up to 150 feet in height, take between 80 to 100 years to grow before being felled, often illegally. Much of the documentation that accompanies imports of Ipe is forged and American consumers unwillingly and unknowingly buy this wood in a trade that is ruining natural rainforests.

Another major downside on the environmental side is the fact that Ipe trees grow very sparsely. It is said that in their natural rainforest habitats one Ipe tree is found in every 300,000 to 1,000,000 square feet. To get to this precious tree illegal loggers often cut down huge areas of rainforest that they have no interest in just to harvest one tree.

Because it’s so scarce these days it is a very expensive wood for both consumers and the installers too, it’s more expensive than redwood and cedar for example. Linked to the scarcity cost is the cost of installation. As it’s so incredibly tough it’s a difficult wood to work with, very unforgiving on tooling with some issues in getting fasteners to fix. All of these issues mean increased costs to consumers.

Accoya Color is the latest development in Accoya’s market offering, it’s the same hard-working and durable modified timber that is now colored a beautiful shade of grey throughout the wood. This means no additional treatments or coatings are needed, it’s ready to use straight out of the box. A great advantage for installers is that it’s a safe and reliable lumber to work with, tooling is protected which means lower costs for consumers and there’s less waste which is always good! It’s also quicker to install and holds fasteners better than Ipe.

It’s fair to say that a beautiful wood like Ipe has been overharvested for decades and this has made it unsustainable and very scarce. Accoya Color is the beautiful alternative that’s kinder to the environment. Now is the time for Accoya Color.

For more information and see projects made with Accoya Color go to www.accoya.com/products/decking/color-grey-decking/

There’s a good reason that real wood decks are popular in this country and elsewhere, it’s a combination of beauty and touch and feel. A real wooden deck is both lovely to look at (especially in the rain, where the water highlights colors and grain) and gorgeous to walk on. There are many millions of decks in this country with the majority of them being made of natural wood. One of the most popular wood species used in the US for decking has been, until recently, Ipe and the use of this wood forms the basis of this blog, in particular when compared to the new revolutionary wooden decking material, Accoya Color®

Ipe, Latin name Tabebuia serratifolia, is a large deciduous tree that is native to lowland rainforests in Central and South America. It’s a hardwood that resembles mahogany in appearance and is commonly found in Bolivia and in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil – it’s also located in Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay among other countries.

Of course, it’s almost too good to be true. No wood from the rainforest can be sustained for ever and there are plenty of reasons why Ipe is now becoming harder to source and is simply not sustainable. According to lumber website greenworldlumber.com, 18 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been lost to deforestation and one of the victims is Ipe hardwood.

The tragedy here is that these beautiful trees, which can grow up to 150 feet in height, take between 80 to 100 years to grow before being felled, often illegally. Much of the documentation that accompanies imports of Ipe is forged and American consumers unwillingly and unknowingly buy this wood in a trade that is ruining natural rainforests.

Another major downside on the environmental side is the fact that Ipe trees grow very sparsely. It is said that in their natural rainforest habitats one Ipe tree is found in every 300,000 to 1,000,000 square feet. To get to this precious tree illegal loggers often cut down huge areas of rainforest that they have no interest in just to harvest one tree.

Because it’s so scarce these days it is a very expensive wood for both consumers and the installers too, it’s more expensive than redwood and cedar for example. Linked to the scarcity cost is the cost of installation. As it’s so incredibly tough it’s a difficult wood to work with, very unforgiving on tooling with some issues in getting fasteners to fix. All of these issues mean increased costs to consumers.

Accoya Color is the latest development in Accoya’s market offering, it’s the same hard-working and durable modified timber that is now colored a beautiful shade of grey throughout the wood. This means no additional treatments or coatings are needed, it’s ready to use straight out of the box. A great advantage for installers is that it’s a safe and reliable lumber to work with, tooling is protected which means lower costs for consumers and there’s less waste which is always good! It’s also quicker to install and holds fasteners better than Ipe.

It’s fair to say that a beautiful wood like Ipe has been overharvested for decades and this has made it unsustainable and very scarce. Accoya Color is the beautiful alternative that’s kinder to the environment. Now is the time for Accoya Color.

For more information and see projects made with Accoya Color go to www.accoya.com/products/decking/color-grey-decking/

Once upon a time…

Decks throughout the US come in many forms, backyard, front porch, docks leading down to the river and so on. Redwood, Cedar and Ipe have been the traditional woods used in deck construction for hundreds of years. But, the first two require periodic treatment to seal and protect against moisture and of course the use of Ipe is now frowned upon due to potential illegal logging practices.  Until recently, there was little thought given as to what we now call the ‘provenance’ or source of the timber and also the long-term sustainability of this precious decking material.

The devastation of deforestation

Without getting too pessimistic, it’s worth noting that the clearing of tropical rainforests is still happening at an alarming rate, despite the best endeavors of governments around the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN estimates that the world has lost a billion acres of forest since 1990, mostly in Africa and South America. The Amazon Conservation group reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020.  Much of this unregulated illegal activity may find its way into the back yards of innocent consumers.

Read more here on deforestation.

Accoya Color is ideal for timber decking projects in the US. Unlike slow-grown hardwoods it is sourced from sustainably sourced softwood that is FSC® certified with 100% proof of provenance. This natural softwood is then modified using our famous patented acetylation process that results in Accoya wood – in this decking product it is also now colored a beautiful grey through to the core…Accoya® Color. To achieve this, after acetylation, the newly modified timber goes through an extra dyeing process in a purpose-built facility using organic non-toxic color pigment.

Important elements for wooden decking are the durability of the material and the degree of maintenance required after installation, most of which involve chemical treatments of some kind or other. Accoya Color is just like its traditional Accoya stablemate in that it’s very low maintenance. There is no need for additional coatings (although it coats very well) and its grey color anticipates the natural silvering of wood when exposed to weathering over the years.

As Accoya Color comes with a warranty against rot and decay, even when installed in ground (a unique feature), it results in an eco-friendly timber that lasts for decades and consequently locks away carbon too. These wooden decks are 100% recyclable too after their decking life, further increasing their sustainable street-cred.

Accoya Color is available to buy in the US from a range of our official lumberyard partners that can be found on the link below.

What is modified wood?

According to TRADA (The Timber Research and Development Association), ‘wood modification involves the action of a chemical, biological or physical agent upon the material, resulting in a property enhancement effective for the service life of the modified wood’.

It’s a bit of a mouthful, but essentially means that the properties of the wood are actually changed by the modification process – enhancing performance by changing the wood itself rather than just soaking or infusing it with other chemicals.

To avoid making this article as impenetrable as modified wood, we’re just going to focus on chemically modified wood, partly because it’s the most well-known, but mainly because it really shows the highest benefits and performance, putting it at the top end of modified woods you can buy.

What performance can you expect from acetylated wood?

Acetylated wood is unrivalled in terms of its durability and stability, especially compared to untreated or pressure-treated wood. Accoya® acetylated wood leads the modified wood industry, and it’s the only wood in the world to offer a 50-year warranty: half a century of guaranteed peace of mind, and industry experts have even stated an expected service life of 70+ years.  It even has a 25-year warranty for use in or underwater, proving its performance even in the toughest conditions.

As with all materials it will still benefit from a bit of maintenance and cleaning, but requirements are substantially reduced, and the impacts of irregular work are considerably less severe.

With these performance properties, it’s no wonder that more and more people, and expert joiners and manufacturers, are selecting Accoya as their wood of choice, for windows, doors, decking, siding, fencing and other exterior wood applications.

I make no apology for listing my own company’s products here, Accoya wood and Tricoya. 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 favorite after 14 years’, but ‘why would you want to choose anything else?’

Put simply, greenwashing is consumer deception. And with consumers continuing to spend huge amounts of money 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 transportation, and (3) fast-moving consumer goods. It’s perhaps interesting to note that these industries as well as being high profile, are 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). The idea of this campaign extends to many areas of the economy, including health service and social care, and 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 center in terms of delivering the government’s agenda. But whether you think the UK or US 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 tons 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), using Accoya and other materials for rapid on-site assembly. They are arranged in units and rising two to three-stories to create a welcoming social space on the campus alongside the larger industrial buildings.

Read more about Wilkinson Eyre Modular village project. 

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 sidng, 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, colorful 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 color as the fixtures become part of the natural environment.

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.