Acetylated wood

Acetylated wood is a modified wood product, manufactured by treatment of softwood with acetic anhydride. Accoya® is a prominent brand of acetylated wood, and a trademark of Accsys Technologies PLC.

Acetylated wood is marketed as both a non-toxic alternative to treated timbers and an alternative to rarer timbers with high rot and weathering resistance. The use of acetylated softwood timber from sustainable sources may provide a benefit over other materials in terms of reduced carbon footprint and embodied energy. Acetylated wood products are also marketed as having high durability and dimensional stability and as a viable alternative to higher-energy man-made materials."[1]

Attributes

Accoya® wood gives environmental advantages over slow-growing hardwoods, woods treated with toxic chemicals, and non-renewable carbon-intensive materials such as plastics, metals and concrete.

Accoya wood is FSC and PEFC and Cradle to Cradle design certified.[2]

Accoya wood has a durability classification of 1 (EN350-2. Classification Tests: EN113, EN252, ENV807).[3] The New Zealand Forest Research Institute performed durability testing of Accoya and concluded; "Radiata pine sapwood, declared as Accoya produced by the Accsys Technologies process was exposed in accelerated decay chambers and in exterior ground contact tests. After six years, the Accoya wood had some discolouration but only occasional minor decay. It was in better condition than the heartwood of four naturally durable species and radiata pine treated with CCA to the H3.2 and H4 specifications".[4]

Public presentation

In May 2008 Accoya wood was featured on a live version of the Channel 4 program Grand Designs presented by British designer, Kevin McCloud. The challenge was to build a sustainable house in just one week, using traditional techniques and materials in conjunction with modern technology. Once completed, the house was dismantled to be re-erected for display at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Innovation Park in Watford.

It has been used in the building of road bridges, the largest of which opened in the Netherlands in autumn 2008 to support two lanes of traffic across a 30 metre span, which has a design life of 80 years.[5]

It has been tried and tested around the world leading to projects including Moses Bridge in the Netherlands,[6] RIBA award winning Haven Project in the UK,[7] and The OVO in Istanbul.[8]

Accoya wood is inspected by notified certification body, SKH (Netherlands), within the KOMO guidelines for modified wood, in accordance with assessment directive BRL 0605.

References

  1. ↑ "Accoya Wood". Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Performance". Accsys Technologies 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Accoya Wood". Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Durability of Accoya Radiata Sapwood" (PDF). Scion Newzealand 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Accoya is being hailed as a 'new wood species'.". greenspec.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Blackburn, Allison (14 May 2014). "Sunken Moses Bridge in Netherlands gives you walking across water effect".
  7. ↑ "Use of Accoya helps Haven land RIBA Award". Accsys Technologies 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Accoya wood art structure inspires the people of Istanbul". ArchiExpo. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2014.

External links

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