No longer at risk of traditional wood failure gives you confidence of longevity. Meaning any deck, cladding, windows or doors, boat, desk, fence, shed, giant wooden octopus, or whatever else you want to make, it’s going to last so much longer than any traditional alternative.
So Accoya® is an investment in our future. Call 01278 228204 or send a message via the contact form today to discuss your timber project.
Here at Somerset Joinery Solutions we are proud to be approved Accoya manufacturers! However, have you ever heard of an Accoya tree? Probably not, as they don’t exist. Accoya starts life as Radiata Pine as is almost exclusively grown and harvested from managed forests in New Zealand. Due to the fast-growing cycle of Radiata Pine, trees are usually felled after around 30 years. This means there is an abundant supply of timber.
Following the Radiata Pine tree being felled, it is then sawn into quare edged boards in mills prior to commencing its journey into becoming Accoya. Radiata Pine becomes Accoya through a non-toxic process called acetylation which uses acetic acid, which in its diluted form is vinegar! In simple terms the Radiata Pine is subjected to acetic acid, which in turns it into a hardwood by preventing the cells in the timber from being able to absorb water. So, in essence Accoya is pickled timber!
To understand the benefits of using an acetylated timber, we should point out the importance of acetylated wood not absorbing water. When making anything out of timber, its water that’s one of the main contributors to any issues that may arise.
If you can keep timber dry and well maintained then it’s one of the greatest materials of all time. But when you bring water into the equation problems begin to happen. With untreated, badly treated or unmodified timber, water can bring a whole host of problems including rotting, warping, splintering, swelling, shrinking and being food for hungry insects.
Therefore, the acetylation process removes the issue at source and makes it so dimensionally stable which maintains its original shape, dimensions, is perfect for coating and has outstanding durability.
Accoya has it’s own grading criteria. A1 has small and very few knots or defects. A2 and A3 have a higher instance of knots and defects (although still very few). There is also a B grade that has large knots and would not be suitable for making windows or doors.
Accoya should be treated like oak. Whereby we have to give careful thought to the types of fixings we are planning to use. Accoya is normally used in external or wet internal applications. The water will dramatically accelerate the corrosion of many metals. Therefore, when Somerset Joinery Solutions are manufacturing bespoke joinery items in Accoya we have to use good quality stainless steel fixings for maximum durability and to prevent corrosion.
Somerset Joinery Solutions have manufactured a wide range of windows and doors and have many experienced joiners able to manufacture high end bespoke joinery items. Then using our skilled sprayer we can offer to fully finish these items using our Accoya approved Sherwin Williams spray applied coating system which enables us to deliver high end Accoya products for you to enjoy for years to come.
What Does Acetylation Mean for Accoya?
Subjecting a softwood to a vinegar, which turns it into a hardwood by preventing the cells in the wood from being able to absorb water.
So acetylated wood is… Pickled wood?
More or less. Yes.
Ok the chemistry behind ‘turns it into’ is a little complex, and the vinegar is acetic anhydride. Not quite the malt vinegar for your fish and chips. But the principle is there. Acetylation is non-toxic.
To understand the benefits of using acetylated timber, we should point out the importance of acetylated wood not absorbing water.
When making anything out of wood, its water that’s one of the main trouble makers.
Keep wood dry and well maintained and it’s one of the greatest materials of all time. But introduce water? Problems begin to seep in. With untreated, badly treated or unmodified wood, water can bring a whole host of problems including rotting, warping, splintering, swelling, shrinking and being food for hungry insects.
So acetylation wood technology removes the issue at source; rather than treating wood with a toxic chemical trying to stop rot or insect attack and not helping with other helping with other water issues. The result is real wood that doesn’t rot. It doesn’t warp, swell or shrink. It doesn’t splinter and it isn’t termite chow. In fact removing all these traditional issues means that acetylated wood presents even more benefits than just ‘not failing’. It is so dimensionally stable (maintains its original shape and dimensions) that it’s perfect for coating and has outstanding durability. This wood, our wood, is branded Accoya®. Accoya® is acetylated wood. In fact Accoya® is the only acetylated wood, and in our opinion the only wood worth considering.
No water. No movement. No problem!
We source all our wood from sustainable wood farms. So all the wood used is purposefully grown. This means we increase biomass; our acetylated wood is a carbon sink, good for the environment.
Cutting down rainforests is an issue with unsustainably sourced wood, and a problem with some traditional hardwoods.
An exotic hardwood tree may take hundreds of years to grow. Vast swathes of rainforest are cut down to find these old trees, to be turned into someone’s deck. Resulting in a huge carbon footprint and the destruction of natural resources.
What we want to do is provide even higher quality wood, but without any of the negative impact. Plus hardwoods aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Oak, Teak, etc will still warp, rot, splinter, etc. Acetylated wood won’t.
Regardless of responsibly, sustainably sourced or not, most wood carries a carbon footprint higher than Accoya®. Our acetylated wood has an exceptionally low carbon footprint compared with alternatives.
So rounding back to the original question of what is acetylation? Technically it’s a chemical process. But we could say that acetylation is an opportunity for peace of mind, to invest in our homes and protect our planet.
Accoya turns everything you know about wood on its head.
The benefits of Accoya mean that timber projects can now be designed with absolute confidence. Accoya is stable wood and warrantied. Our quality mark signals the Accoya difference.
Since that inaugural batch back in 2007 the world has changed a lot and our business has evolved and grown, but there are at least two things that we have all been able to rely on: the high quality and lasting appeal of our Accoya wood, and the support of our partners.
Over the last 14 years, Accsys has worked with distributors to bring Accoya to the world. We’ve developed partnerships and relationships in Europe, the USA and Americas, Japan and across Australasia to name just a few. Our distributors and manufacturers really are key to our success. Many have transformed their businesses by using Accoya to make long-lasting products which come without the issues and callbacks experienced with other wood species. It’s one sign of true confidence in the quality of our wood that distributors who were with us from the very beginning are still actively selling and marketing Accoya today.
So, today we’d like to thank all our friends, colleagues and associates and partners – the distributors, sub-distributors, manufacturers and system partners – who have helped us shape the future for sustainable, long-lasting building materials since 2007. We also want to thank the architects, specifiers, developers and homeowners for choosing Accoya and making the world a more sustainable place – and it’s always a privilege to see our wood showcased in so many stunning designs and settings around the world!
Accoya is made using sustainable, responsibly grown and harvested FSC® certified wood and is Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold overall with a Platinum rating for Material Health. Its unparalleled structural stability, incredible durability and excellent sustainability credentials make it a truly unmatched product for a wide range of applications and situations.
Accoya has been used in projects around the world as a high-performance timber of choice for years, and it all started in Scotland back in 2006. The first worldwide Accoya project took place in Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland when architectural designer Gordon Aitkin installed Accoya cladding on his own new family home. For him, sustainability and durability were crucial in the harsh Scottish climate.
It’s due to Accoya’s exceptional dimensional stability, barely shrinking or swelling at all, that coatings will last longer even in tough environmental climates. It’s not just up in Scotland that we’ve been able to see first-hand the exceptional performance of Accoya though – there are projects all over the world, from Antarctica to Asia, beaches to mountaintops, and almost everywhere in between. With our commitment to quality, we also have testing rigs set up in Arnhem in the Netherlands that have monitored the performance of Accoya over the last decade with leading coatings company Remmers. After 14 years of exposure, the tests showed no visible coating degradation even with zero maintenance.
In recent years, sustainability has become a key global focus and the building industry is no exception. Architects, designers and manufacturers now look to use building materials which not only perform well and look good but come with genuine sustainability credentials.
Accoya wood’s green credentials are wide-ranging and well-established, with its Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold status really standing out amongst other building materials. Cradle to Cradle is a globally recognised measure of safer, more sustainable products made for the circular economy. Brands like Google and M&S, for example, are now adopting Accoya for innovative wooden facades because of our unique combination of sustainability and high-performance advantages.
Looking beyond the product itself, last year we launched the Accsys 2020 Sustainability Report. This sets out our strategy for and approach and commitment to sustainability across all aspects of our business. It really does underline our purpose at Accsys: changing wood to change the world, with today marking 14 years of doing just that.
