Can wood really be sustainable?

Accoya wood is made by Accsys at its plant in Arnhem, in the Netherlands.

Accsys transforms fast-growing, certified sustainable wood into Accoya wood through its proprietary acetylation process. The result is a high performing product with sustainability credentials that exceed those of man-made,intensely resource depleting and heavily carbon-polluting alternatives.

For timber to be truly sustainable it needs to be certified by a credible third party.This makes it harder for organisations to make false claims and greenwash their products. Sustainable timber in the UK is verified by the FSC® and PEFC®. Both organisations ensure that high ecological, social, and ethical standards have been adhered to, through robust auditing on chain of custody on any FSC® or PEFC® timber.

Accoya is a member of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF). All members must operate under a strict Code of Conduct and are expected to complete their Responsible Purchasing Process (RPP) due diligence system.

A common measure of sustainability is the carbon footprint of a material. While it’s true that transport emissions can be an important contributing factor to a larger carbon footprint, they are only part of the equation. Studies that also take account the rapid carbon sequestration during the growth of the pine trees used for Accoya, and the carbon value of by-products (which are used by other industries and are therefore offset against carbon impacts in our process) show that the carbon footprint of Accoya wood is significantly less than those of other man-made materials such as uPVC, aluminium, concrete, and steel.

Sourcing from New Zealand does mean a long total distance travelled for our timber. We do this using the lowest impact mode possible through bulk sea IMO 2000 compliant freight, with efficient vessels and slow steaming, reducing transport emissions to a minimum. The service life of our products further reduces the relative impact of transport on lifetime carbon emissions.

The longer-lasting qualities of Accoya wood and the high-yielding nature of the softwood used to make it, add up to a product with low life-cycle carbon emissions, locking carbon up in the built environment like few other materials.

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This Blog was inspired from the blog, "Why wood is the most sustainable building material" from Accoya Timber.