“While a newly fitted kitchen and plenty of natural light have always been significant features to homebuyers, energy efficiency has risen in importance. Of course, with high – and unstable – energy bills affecting every household, this is hardly surprising. Nonetheless, for those looking to increase the buyer appeal of their existing property, it is important to note that this is now one of the key features for those looking to purchase a home. 

“By choosing windows made from high performing materials, such as Accoya, homeowners get both natural light and high efficiency, so it’s a no brainer to put replacing old windows at the top of the home improvement wish list to help reduce energy bills and increase desirability,” comments Gillian Edwards, Head of Communications and ESG at Accoya.  

While the market remains unstable, many property owners are investing in their current premises. In fact, more than half (51%) of homeowners say they are currently planning to make energy-efficient home improvements and, when it comes to higher-income households, two thirds (66%) say they’re planning on improving the energy efficiency of their property. 

However, it’s not just energy-efficient modifications that are rising in popularity. Homeowners are also looking for more sustainable products as part of an effort to reduce their property’s carbon footprint. In fact, over a third (36%) of homeowners say they would invest more in sustainable home improvements

 “While a newly fitted kitchen and plenty of natural light have always been significant features to homebuyers, energy efficiency has risen in importance. Of course, with high – and unstable – energy bills affecting every household, this is hardly surprising. Nonetheless, for those looking to increase the buyer appeal of their existing property, it is important to note that this is now one of the key features for those looking to purchase a home. 

“By choosing windows made from high performing materials, such as Accoya, homeowners get both natural light and high efficiency, so it’s a no brainer to put replacing old windows at the top of the home improvement wish list to help reduce energy bills and increase desirability,” comments Gillian Edwards, Head of Communications and ESG at Accoya.  

While the market remains unstable, many property owners are investing in their current premises. In fact, more than half (51%) of homeowners say they are currently planning to make energy-efficient home improvements and, when it comes to higher-income households, two thirds (66%) say they’re planning on improving the energy efficiency of their property. 

However, it’s not just energy-efficient modifications that are rising in popularity. Homeowners are also looking for more sustainable products as part of an effort to reduce their property’s carbon footprint. In fact, over a third (36%) of homeowners say they would invest more in sustainable home improvements

First off, we have the Hotel Rotterdam Airport. This is a special project in a special location, as it is not often that you get to build right next door to Rotterdam Airport. Accoya was chosen by both the contractor and the architects as the perfect material to use for cladding. The most important aspect of the wood was its need to be fire-resistant as well as durable, stable, and sustainable.

The underlying idea in the age we now live in is to construct safe buildings by adhering to the strict criteria that go with it. Let’s not forget the emphasis on sustainability, which is becoming increasingly important. For this project, the aspect of sustainability in connection with the environment and the surroundings is not only represented by the Accoya façade cladding but also by the plants that decorate it. In this way, all parts of the building have contributed towards creating a beautiful, stable, sustainable hotel that gives its guests a warm welcome.

Accoya was chosen for the material used for the Olive Seymour Boardwalk located at Herdsman Lake Regional Park. As a result of the previous boardwalk made using Jarrah rotting, Accoya wood was used to replace decking boards, handrails, and joists.

The RHS embarked on ambitious plans to realise their fifth garden—a 154-acre site in the former Worsley New Hall grounds, on the outskirts of Salford. White Cottage Greenhouses were commissioned to design, manufacture, and install two large mono-pitch lean-to glasshouses in the new Paradise Garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith. The garden was created within a heritage landscape and is the first RHS garden in the North West of England’s climatic and ecological conditions.

White Cottage has been successfully manufacturing painted-timber greenhouses for many years. Their ethos has always been to create a genuine timber-framed greenhouse while minimising maintenance and decay risk. This made them the perfect fit for this project.

Over the last five years, White Cottage has shifted entirely over to Accoya wood, and so there was no other material choice for the Paradise Garden superstructures. With Accoya, excessive movement in tongue and groove boards is eliminated, meaning cracks in paint are far less likely to occur. There are time savings in the joinery manufacturing process, fewer defects such as knots, and better performance all around, as well as outstanding, guaranteed durability.

A key feature of Accoya is that the coatings will last longer than on other timber products. White Cottage believes that Accoya is easier to paint and requires less preparation than other timber alternatives.

The uniquely designed piece of public artwork, Please Be Seated, was made from 1440 planks of Accoya timber and designed by London-based designers, Paul Cocksedge Studio. Accoya is a fantastic timber to use for sculptures such as this one due to its high performance, yet what is particularly outstanding is that you don’t need to sacrifice performance for non-sustainable timber. A key benefit of making Accoya the material of choice is the Cradle to Cradle Gold Certification. This recognises that Accoya is fully circular, with no added synthetic materials, fully recyclable, and non-toxic. The Accoya planks are supported by a framework of bent steel designed to be easily assembled and disassembled for travel.

The structure was fabricated in partnership with UAP, and the Accoya was sourced and supplied by a local Accoya-approved distributor, Jiangsu Dragon Wood (JDW). Paul Cocksedge Studio worked with JDW to complete and install, managing the entire process remotely as a result of COVID restrictions.

The Belgian Kalmthoutse Heide park has gained a valuable landmark: a new 42-metre-high fire watchtower. Architect NOHNIK and construction partners Bureau Bouwtechniek and Ingenieursbureau ABT Belgi created an elegant truss structure by perfectly combining wood and steel. From every angle, the fire watchtower offers a dynamic and panoramic view over the natural landscape of the Kalmthoutse Heide.

Accoya wood was the material of choice for the railings, balustrades, and fire watchtower—the ultimate contrast to the steel truss construction frame. A variation of wood thicknesses and spacing was used, creating a sophisticated look, and thanks to the colour and material combination of Accoya wood, the tower harmonises beautifully with the surrounding natural landscape.

John Alexander, Group Director of Sales, Accsys commented: “The Thames water is a tough environment with brackish salt water with active marine organisms which rapidly degrade all but the most durable wood types. It’s a real endurance test for a wood product and the performance is in line with our expectations after running sea trials of up to 13 years from the Pacific Ocean to the North Sea.”

The fenders are 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 Circular Economy, Net Zero, Environmental Net Gain, and Social Value sustainability ambitions.

Regenerative design consultancy, 540 WORLD worked with Accsys, Jacobs, Balfour Beatty and TEAM2100 to implement this important sustainability initiative, with a view to more widespread substitution of slow-growing hardwood with fast-growing, rapidly carbon-sequestering and very durable Accoya. The lack of toxic or plastic-based additives to Accoya is vital to its use in these environments, eliminating the risk of potential leaching into the water and environmental or ecological harm.

Each cubic metre of Accoya contains nearly one tonne of CO₂ absorbed by certified sustainable forests, which keeps that carbon safely stored for decades. This installation in the Thames Estuary will provide further data on long-term performance, adding to the consensus of positive data that Accsys has collected from sites in the Mediterranean and North Seas.

We are pleased to share our positive updates with you, including the successful commissioning of our fourth reactor in Arnhem and plant construction in North America, both leading to increased Accoya production capacity!

It’s been a busy time for Accoya, with several award wins, numerous projects, and the introduction of our new innovation, Accoya Color. Find out more within the RoundUp below.

With regular inspection and care, you’ll enjoy a beautiful finish for decades to come.

Inspect your joinery regularly. Any damage in the paint should be addressed immediately to prevent moisture ingress and water entrapment under the coating. Like most things, wooden joinery can greatly benefit from regular inspection, care and maintenance – just like an annual service on a boiler or car. We strongly recommend annual inspection, cleaning of the frames and maintenance.

Please speak to your coatings supplier about supporting documentation such as care and full maintenance recommendations.

This video is based on best practice techniques and will help you keep your windows looking their best for even longer.

We have already referenced some of the properties of uPVC that made it seem such a compelling material for application in window frames and even doors when launched in the 1980s:

Cheap: There is not getting away from the fact that uPVC window frames are possible to mass produce and therefore drive down the cost of manufacturing. Compared with bespoke timber framed windows uPVC can seem like a significant cost saving, although it is necessary to look at the full life cost – something we will refer to again later in the article.

Low maintenance: uPVC was introduced into the market as a wonder product that required little to no maintenance, which is an attractive proposition when faced with the alternative of timber windows, particularly with the paintwork which is prone to flake off over time. uPVC window frames do have their own issues however which are important to reference here.

• Structural integrity – even though uPVC is relatively durable, their light weight means that they’re prone to sagging. Essentially the weight of the glazing can cause the frame to bend, an issue not seen with wood or aluminium window frames
• Discoloration – over time uPVC window frames will discolour and peel. This is due to extensive UV exposure with the frames turning an unsightly yellow colour. Unlike timber frames which can be re-painted the same cannot be said with uPVC. If you’re looking to smarten up your house, you have little alternative other than replacing your windows.

Durability: One of the key selling points of uPVC window frames is claimed durability – probably the most important factor when deciding what type of window frames you go with. Compared to soft wood timber frames uPVC undoubtedly has a clear advantage here, but as we know different types of wood have different properties and we must be careful not to lump them all together. What is the best way of establishing how durable a product really is? Well, looking to see what the manufacturer warranty or guarantee offered is a good place to start. You will struggle to find a uPVC window maker that offer a warranty of more than 10 years on the uPVC elements of the window. There are plenty examples of uPVC windows that have lasted longer than 10 years, but it gives you an insight into how long they expect their product to last. By contrast, the best performing wood brands such as Accoya wood have been offering warranties of up to 50 years on their product.

Whilst it was the Romans that pioneered the use of glass for windows, wood has long been the preferred choice of material for window frames. The size of one’s window through history has often represented wealth and class, and as window making techniques evolved, so the size of windows has increased. In the seventeenth century the fashion became to have taller, rather than wide windows, and to facilitate this they were often divided into four. In the same century the sash window was invented with the top sash fixed and the bottom sash sliding upwards.

In term of the species of wood used, oak and pine were the two most common, with oak offering better durability than the softwood pine.

The very thing that makes wood so good to look at and to touch, is also part of its inherent limitation as a building material… Wood is a natural, organic material which over time and subject to certain conditions like rain will decay or rot. However, whereas all uPVC broadly has the same properties and performance, wood covers a huge spectrum of performance from the cheapest low performance softwood, all the way through more robust hardwoods, and to the pinnacle of high performance and durability – acetylated wood, otherwise known as Accoya. Like we discussed on uPVC, you really need to determine how long you expect to be living in your house… Cheaper softwood window frames might last 7-10 years, slightly worse than uPVC, whereas a hardwood window frame (such as iroko, sapele, or even oak) could be expected to last anywhere from 10-30 years. This would depend on the exposure of the window (to sun and rain), the climate, or even the quality of the wood, which can vary batch to batch. For the belt and braces approach, an Accoya window frame is warranted for 50 years, with an expected service life from between 77-90 years, according to a recent study by the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

On 29th and 30th June 2022, at the Windmill Village Hotel, Golf & Spa in Coventry, the 8th WPA annual two day event took place to celebrate all that is good in the timber industry.

On the evening of 29th June was the awards ceremony to recognise the achievements of businesses in the wood protection technology sector.

Accsys entered the awards category ‘Modified Wood Project of the Year’ with the new Google HQ in Kings Cross, London. Although the project is not yet finished, the use of Accoya is extensive and once completed, the building will be first of its kind – a landscaper. The Google HQ will be longer than the Shard is tall and features the world’s largest timber and glass façade.

The project won the category, showing that Accoya wood has been used to enhance the performance of the building and meet specific design requirements.

Designed by Heatherwick Studio and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

Wood is an organic material, and it changes over time as it reacts with the sun and the rain, developing new colours and textures: a process known as weathering.

Accoya, as a natural wood product, is no different

Like other wood species, uncoated Accoya wood will weather over time to an elegant slivery grey colour when left outside and exposed to the elements.

Unlike other woods however, weathering does not affect the durability, stability or performance of Accoya.

During the weathering transition process the surface colour of Accoya can appear patchy due to the different levels of sunlight and rain coming into contact with the wood, but over time it evens out to a beautiful silvery grey effect that lasts for decades to come.

Because Accoya has such great dimensional stability, coatings are not so stressed by shrinking and swelling forces that affect all other types of wood – meaning they last and look better for longer. For certain applications such as windows it is industry standard for frames to be coated to protect the other parts of the window fittings and mechanisms.

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.

So much attention is paid to the interiors of our homes, but the exterior is what makes the first impression. A beautifully designed façade enhances the architecture and sets the tone and feel of a home before guests even set foot inside. With its warm, natural appeal and virtually limitless design potential, wood cladding has emerged as a major trend in exteriors. Here are six of-the-moment ways to use it to give your property serious street appeal.

While standard wood cladding has its benefits, it’s not suitable for every project or homeowner, as it requires ongoing maintenance and can deteriorate over time. Today you’ll find innovative alternatives that provide all the warmth and natural appeal of wood, with minimal maintenance requirements and far superior durability. Accoya’s acetylated wood cladding can withstand even tough weather conditions, is resistant to rotting, and if left untreated will weather naturally to a beautiful silvery grey.

Accoya wood has impressive environmental credentials too. It’s fully sustainable, and every panel comes with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. It is also 100 percent nontoxic, so you can have peace of mind knowing it’s a healthy choice for you and your family.

If you’re looking to make a statement with a bold exterior, consider giving your home the shou-sugi-ban treatment. This ancient Japanese technique involves charring the wood to preserve and strengthen it. The charring turns the wood a deep charcoal black while revealing its texture and grain. Not only does this wood treatment make for a striking façade, but it minimizes maintenance.

Natural appeal aside, wood cladding gives you endlessly creative ways to express your personal style. Take this three-story office building designed and occupied by architectural firm Dillon Kyle Architects in Houston, for example. It’s clad in 2,500 Accoya boards that have an abstract leaf-like pattern carved into the wood. The pattern references the oak trees that line the neighbourhood, and it adds not just texture and softness to the modern structure but a unique personal touch.

“The Accoya wood boards are unsealed and allowed to weather over time,” says Peter Klein, associate principal architect at Dillon Kyle Architects. “The idea was to use a material where you couldn’t tell where the patterns started and stopped — just one big continuous object.”

As the wood cladding would play a pivotal role in the look and performance of the building, the firm took their time choosing the right one. “Even left untreated, it didn’t warp or mildew or mould, and that let us know we were on the right path,” Klein says. “The neutral grey tones coupled with its long-term durability, resistance to rot and insects made Accoya wood the ideal material for this project.”

Running slender boards vertically, as the architect has done here, is a clever design technique for making a low roof or ceiling appear higher. You can use this strategy both outside your home with wood cladding and inside with wood wall lining.

If room height is not a concern, consider mixing vertical and horizontal patterns for added texture and interest inside or outside your home.

More: Learn more about Accoya’s range of sustainable, acetylated wood products by visiting our homepage here.

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.

A week earlier, the company was also listed as a runner up on the shortlist for the IR Society Best Practice Award for Best ESG Communication. This marks a year of substantial progress in Accsys’ development of its Environmental, Social and Governance strategy and reporting: making sure the growing positive environmental impact of increasing its supply of products is matched with increasingly improved performance and transparency as a responsible and ethical business.

Rob Harris, CEO, said:
“I’m delighted to see the hard work of our talented and committed colleagues recognised and rewarded by the people and organisations leading our industry. I want to say ‘congratulations and thank you’ to everyone who helps make this possible – every single person and role in our business contributes to and deserves credit for these achievements. Our fantastic customers, distributors, and architects, specifiers, joiners and builders who make great use of our products every day are a big part of our success too. Thank you all!”

In London on 25th November 2021, the Wood Awards winners were announced.

Held at the Building Centre, 8 projects were awarded after successfully being chosen during the rigorous judging process.

The prestigious awards celebrate excellence in architecture and product design in wood.

Accoya wood was used in two winning projects and in one highly commended project, details below.

See more information and the full list of 2021 winners here.

Accoya used for internal joinery and interior at this property in London.

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.

Barangaroo House

A three-storey restaurant in Sydney’s CBD, was one of the first in the city to use Accoya wood cladding and is a remarkable example of why this natural look is an increasingly popular choice for the beautification of our cities. Nested amongst the modernist city architecture, it makes use of the distinctive Japanese charring technique, Shou Sugi Ban, to create a striking building that breathes life into the otherwise sterile landscape. The Barangaroo project is a globally renowned urban renewal project that has sustainability and well-being at its heart, so it is hard to think of a more fitting product for this than Accoya.

What’s more, is that Accoya is durable across the entire range of climates. Its use in Britain, as seen above in north London, proves a resilience in wet conditions, and Barangaroo House exemplifies its durability in Sydney’s hot and humid summers. This guaranteed sustainability means that not only will this striking example of wood cladding architecture makes this corner of the city more beautiful, it will do so for lifetimes to come.

The TTJ Awards are organised by the Timber Trade Journal Online. The awards showcase the timber sector as a major, modern and forward-looking industry and recognise its achievements in areas that are vital to business success.

The 25th anniversary awards took place on Friday 17th September 2021 in London. A number of Accsys employees attended the awards, as well as, some of our customers, agency partners and many other companies working in the timber industry.

We are thrilled to announce that we were awarded the Excellence in Marketing Award, sponsored by Combilift, at The TTJ Awards 2021 ceremony. We were very proud to be nominated and we were up against other deserving winners, so to be given this award is a great achievement for Accsys and Accoya.

Photographed left and below: Jason Mohammad – Presenter, Laura Keily & George Neel – Accsys, Tommy Cadden – Combilift.

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.