[Greenbuilding] Is Ipe Sustainable

[Jefro]

Excellent points about old growth.  I was NOT aware of the cedar issues, 
thanks very much for pointing those out.

FWIW---our redwood and doug fir are indeed local, as we buy only from 
local millers.  In fact, on our project this fall we'll be using lumber 
from our own property, which is evidently the only way to ensure that 
these days! 


Tim Keating wrote:
> 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)
>>>
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>
>