Accoya wood combines the performance of non-renewable materials with the virtues of sustainable wood
(31/03/2010)

With climate change an increasing threat to our environment, low carbon yet high performance materials based on renewable resources are high on the agenda. These would replace non-renewable, carbon intensive, materials such as metals, plastics and concrete.

Accoya® wood, the high technology wood from Accsys Technologies PLC, has been billed as a low carbon alternative compared to other conventional construction materials. This follows a recent assessment by Camco, a leading environmental consultancy.

Accoya® wood combines the high performance of non-renewable materials with the virtues of fast growing, sustainable wood. The carbon footprint assessment conducted by Camco reveals that Accoya® wood has a very low carbon footprint compared with other building materials such as aluminium, steel, PVC and unsustainably sourced tropical timber.

In a carbon footprint assessment, the greenhouse gas emissions, causing global warming, can be measured over the life cycle of a product or material.

Camco assessed the carbon footprint of Accoya® wood based on a cradle to gate scenario, i.e. greenhouse gas emissions released between harvesting the sustainably sourced wood through to the Accoya® wood leaving the factory gate. Translation of the cradle to gate results of the study to applications (cradle to grave), such as window frames and bridges, reveals that Accoya® wood scores significantly better in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than metals (steel, aluminium), plastics (PVC), unsustainably sourced timber and concrete, and is competitive with sustainably sourced (certified) tropical hardwood.

Luke Purse, the Camco Consultant who led the study, comments: “Both the construction and procurement sectors are becoming increasingly aware of the sustainability agenda and, crucially, so are their clients. Many are choosing sustainable products or materials. Our study demonstrates that Accoya® is certainly a ‘low carbon’ option compared to many construction materials.”

It should be noted that the annual yield of renewable materials is not included in the carbon footprint assessment. This provides an important additional environmental credential for Accoya® wood, since fast growing softwood species such as Radiata Pine are primarily used in its production.

Radiata Pine even outperforms giant bamboo – known to grow incredibly fast – in terms of annual yield. This means that there is an ample supply of timber from certified sources for the production of Accoya® wood to replace scarcely available certified tropical hardwood in demanding exterior applications.

The environmental performance of Accoya® wood will continuously be assessed and independently proven by pursuing only the most highly respected eco-labels such as Cradle to CradleSM certification, and the execution of a fully peer reviewed ISO 14040/44 compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study by Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, one of the world’s leading science institutes.

Paul Clegg, Chief Executive Officer of Accsys Technologies PLC comments: “There is currently a heavy focus on forests and wood products as they can act as a potential carbon sink to mitigate climate change and substitute carbon intensive non-renewable materials. Traditionally, carbon intensive non-renewable materials are chosen in building projects, but Accoya® wood has revolutionised the industry by providing the best of both worlds in presenting a high performing, yet sustainable wood with a low carbon footprint.”