Accoya®

WHAT IS IT

Accoya® is the world’s leading high technology wood. Created from sustainably sourced softwood, Accoya® matches or exceeds the durability, stability and beauty of the very best tropical hardwoods.

The Accoya® wood production process takes sustainably-sourced, fast growing softwood and, in a non-toxic process that ‘enables nature’, creates a new durable, stable and beautiful product - that has the very best environmental credentials.

A new world of high performance, sustainable, low maintenance products - including windows, doors, decking, louvers & shading, cladding, and glulam structural beams - is opened up by Accoya® wood. The exceptional properties of durability, stability, strength and beauty have even led to Accoya® wood being used as the main construction material in heavy traffic road bridges..

Accoya® - is helping to protect the world’s precious hardwood resources and is guaranteed for 50 years in exterior use and 25 years when used in the ground. This long life also provides an added benefit - helping to reduce carbon emissions.

Accoya® wood creates beautiful and sustainable possibilities, even in demanding applications.

WHERE CAN IT BE USED

While mankind may hate extremes of cold, wet and even heat, Accoya® wood can withstand the toughest environments. Accoya® has been tested over prolonged periods in all types of weathering conditions, above ground, below ground and even in water. It has been used successfully around the world in many different climates from desert to jungle environments.

Not only is its durability proven, but it has also been shown to retain its appearance, requiring much less frequent maintenance than most other solutions. This gives added reassurance to manufacturers, architects, specifiers, builders and property owners alike and makes Accoya® the ideal choice for a diverse range of external applications.

WHY IS IT GREEN

By significantly enhancing the durability and dimensional stability of fast-growing and abundantly available certified wood, Accoya® provides compelling environmental advantages over slow-growing hardwoods (which are often unsustainably sourced), woods treated with toxic chemicals, and non-renewable carbon-intensive materials such as plastics, steel and concrete.

• Accoya® wood is non-toxic, protecting the environment from poisons in treatments leaching into the earth
• Accoya® wood may be safely reused and recycled
• the manufacturing process adds nothing to the wood that does not already occur naturally within it
• Durability class 1 - the most durable wood possible
• improved carbon sequestration potential
• lower lifetime material consumption versus other materials
• improved dimensional stability and UV resistance greatly improves the life of coatings
• hardness is increased
• Accoya® wood has highly improved thermal insulation in comparison with commonly used wood species
• Accoya® wood is ideal for applications where energy conservation is important
• produced from abundantly available and fast-growing sources such as Radiata Pine
• sustainably sourced, including, FSC, PEFC and other regionally certified woods
• Accoya® wood is an environmentally compatible substitute for carbon intensive materials
• helps to mitigate global warming
• fully reusable and recyclable
• reuse is recommended but Accoya® wood may be safely incinerated for bio-energy or composted
• the process does not compromise the wood’s natural beauty
• Cradle to CradleSM Gold Certificate

OTHER INFORMATION

Extensive laboratory and field testing by leading institutes around the world (including in New Zealand, USA, UK, Sweden, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, the Netherlands and Japan) has shown the performance of acetylated wood to be extremely reliable.

Accoya® wood has been thoroughly tested for dimensional stability, durability, UV resistance, paint retention and in-ground conditions to ensure optimal performance. Indeed, it is so reliable that for many years it has been – and continues to be – used by scientists as the benchmark against which other treatments and modifications are measured.

LEED Credits:

• MR 7.0 Certified Timber
• ID 1.X Innovative in Design credits for exterior wall framing, exterior wall siding, flooring, floor framing, interior wall framing, decking, cabinets, counters, doors, trim, window framing, roof framing, and sheathing