[Greenbuilding] Is Ipe Sustainable

[Tim Keating]

Jefro,

Unfortunately, western red cedar is not a good option. The old growth 
WRC has been virtually logged out of the US and nearly all old growth 
WRC is now coming from BC, where it's being liquidated in clear-cut 
logging operations by Weyerhauser and others. While one could have 
assumed a few hundred years ago that if a product was native to one's 
locale it was harvested locally, the same can no longer be assumed. 
One could say the same about shrimp but I can tell you that a Red 
Lobster near the gulf coast of the US is more likely to be serving up 
shrimp farmed in Thailand or Ecuador than they are shrimp from local 
shrimpers.

Again, if you can find a local sawyer who's sourcing from local 
suppliers, that's great. But by walking into a lumber yard, you're 
involving yourself in a global timber trade, whether or not the tree 
can be found in your back yard.

As for redwood, if it's old growth (clear), it should be avoided. The 
west is probably down to about 4% of the old growth redwoods that 
were there when Europeans arrived in the area.

tim keating

At 9:46 PM -0700 7/24/06, Jefro wrote:
>In Portland I would recommend redwood or western red cedar.  Both 
>are relatively local (within 300 miles, I would think), quite rot 
>resistant, and beautiful.  Cedar is less expensive by about 30% in 
>my neck of the woods (northern California).
>
>A local fish shop made an outside deck from ipe and it is quite 
>beautiful, but takes scratches as all wood does.  Makes a highly 
>expensive deck look cheap in no time.  I'd rather start with a cheap 
>deck and take good care of it.
>Kat wrote:
>>Is there a material anyone would recommend for deck rails and posts 
>>(uncovered deck) for Portland, Oregon?  Something local, nice 
>>looking, rot-resistant?  We have a client who wants to make their 
>>deck rails and posts with ipe and I'd love to give them another 
>>option, but I don't have any experience with materials.
>>
>>-Kathleen (the lowly drafter)
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Greenbuilding email list
>>List info: 
>>http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_listserv.repp.org
>>List email: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
>>Managed by BuildingGreen, Inc. http://www.buildinggreen.com
>>       publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec(r)
>>Hosted and archived by REPP / CREST http://www.crest.org
>>
>>


-- 


"The Earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the
measure of our bodies are the same..."
     	                               - Hinmaton Yalatkit, Nez Perce chief
____________________________________________

R   A   I   N   F   O   R   E   S   T        R   E   L   I   E   F

Sparing  the  World's  Rainforests  from  Consumption

Rainforest Relief works to protect the world's remaining tropical
and temperate rainforests by reducing the demand for the products
and materials of rainforest destruction such as timber and paper,
industrial agricultural products such as bananas, beef, coffee,
chocolate and cut flowers, and mining products
such as oil, gold and aluminum.

New York, NY: phone: (917) 543-4064
Portland, OR: (503) 236-3031
http://www.rainforestrelief.org
info at rainforestrelief.org
122 W. 27th Street  *  New York, NY 10001  USA

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><