Using Ipe as Decking

When looking at the many choices homeowners have in materials for their new deck, Ipe is often overlooked because of price.  It would be a shame to miss out on this beautiful, durable wood however.

Ipe is a dark brown wood which will fade to a silver gray if left untreated. Rated as one of the most durable woods in the world, Ipe will last a lifetime with only occasional pressure washing.  The U.S. Forest products laboratory classified Ipe as “very durable 25+ years” and expects that ipe wood decking will last much longer; this is the highest category available for classification.  The US Department of Agriculture and Forestry rates Ipe as “Very resistant to attack by decay, fungi and termites.”  Ipe wood products contain no added harmful chemicals, so it can be used near water without potential contamination.  Ipe also has a fire rating equivalent to concrete and steel.

Ipe can be allowed to fade to a natural silver gray, however if you wish to maintain the original dark brown color a treatment can be applied such as Penofin Verde, a “green” alternative to other petroleum based preservatives.

One of the more famous commercial applications for Ipe has been the Atlantic City Boardwalk.  You can see the silver gray patina that has been acquired over time.  

We endeavor to deal only with suppliers that are committed to supplying Ipe in a sustainable, responsible forestry practice.

Schutte Lumber Company currently has an overstock special on 5/4×6 Ipe in 8′ and 9′ lengths. Call for more information.

Can Using More Wood Reduce Your Environmental Footprint?

Structure magazine recently posed the question, “Can using more wood reduce your environmental footprint?” The magazine explores why it’s important for designers to focus on which materials they will use, as well as the life cycle of those materials.

For example: “Some people might think that recycled products are automatically preferable even though they may require a large amount of energy to produce and transport, and the alternate choice may be wood from a local, sustainably managed forest. It isn’t that you shouldn’t use recycled materials, just that other considerations may weigh more heavily on the product’s life cycle environmental impacts, depending on the situation. It’s important for designers to be able to assess the impacts of their choices.”

Also important to keep in mind: Wood is made using the sun’s energy, so “greenhouse gas emissions are also avoided when wood is used in place of materials which require large amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture,” writes Structure magazine’s Roxane Ward.

Here’s a good case-in-point example. “The 2010 Olympic Speed Skating Oval in British Columbia, which has a six-acre free-spanning wood roof, includes almost 135,000 cubic feet of wood, stores an estimated 2,940 metric tons of CO2 and is responsible for avoided emissions of another 8,820 metric tons of CO2.”

Want more examples of how wood can reduce your environmental footprint? Looking to learn more about using sustainability as a design objective? Check out the article in Structure here.

Green-focused Building Trends for 2010

Did you know? Green building is expected to grow by more than 60 percent in 2010 alone, (using new, cumulative LEED project registrations as a proxy). Although the focus is expected to change from new construction to existing buildings, here are some trends you can expect to see this year, per the Earth Advantage Institute:

* “Right-sizing” of homes
* Carbon calculations of building materials & processes
* Continued demand for sustainable building education (with an added bonus of higher educational institutions–to the tune of 800–embracing and responding to the call for sustainability)
* More net-zero-energy buildings
* Buy-in to green building by the financial community/the retail sector embracing green building
* The smart grid & connected home

Many of these trends have already begun taking shape, thanks in part to the current administration embracing sustainable practices and increased awareness and accountability on the part of builders, homeowners and retailers alike.

Next Page »