[Greenbuilding] Alternatives to Pressure Treated Wood

[Tim Vireo Keating]

David,

I recently spoke with the chief scientist at the 
USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory 
about this. He had quite a lot to say. He's tried 
to obtain the original data for fire-spread 
testing that the ipê importers cite but has, to 
date, been unable to do so.

Because of this, he had to tell someone asking 
him for the proof that it wasn't available and 
suggested they do their own test. He asked this 
person to let him know the results. According to 
him, the results were mixed, with ipê having a 
Class B rating (as opposed to the touted Class A) 
in some tests.

Domestic hardwoods are generally considered to 
have a Class C rating for flame spread. 
Wood-plastic composites are considered to have a 
Class C rating. My guess is that RPL would have a 
Class C as well.

FYI, an anecdotal test done by Wildwood with 
black locust showed a similar flame spread and 
ignition with that of ipê.

tim

At 10:24 AM -0400 10/18/07, David Bergman wrote:
>A side issue here is that, last time I checked, none of the plastic
>alternatives had a flame spread rating. When I've looked into doing
>roof decks here in NYC, where the rating is required if the deck is
>over a certain size, the only viable option is Ipe, because it is fire rated.
>
>David
>DAVID BERGMAN ARCHITECT / FIRE & WATER LIGHTING + FURNITURE
>architecture . interiors . ecodesign . lighting . furniture
>bergman at cyberg.com    www.cyberg.com
>241 Eldridge Street #3R, New York, NY 10002
>t 212 475 3106    f 212 677 7291
>
>At 11:36 AM 10/17/2007, Alan Abrams wrote:
>>  >
>>  >There is cedar or redwood or ironwood/Ipe or whatever else you might
>>  >find, none of which (well, maybe Ipe) could be considered sustainable
>>  >(the Ipe distributors say it's grown sustainably, rainforest activists
>>  >typically say there's no such thing as a sustainably grown rainforest
>>  >tree, last I heard...).
>>
>>FWIW, Ipe has been almost unobtainable in the DC area this fall...
>>
>>Coincidentally, it had been priced at roughly the same cost as Trex, which
>>we prefer to Ipe for the same reasons raised above--despite ipe's aesthetic
>>virtues and greater rigidity.
>>
>>I'm aware that there are composite products that are reputed to have higher
>>portions of post consumer recycled content than Trex--but the brand x
>>products seem to come and go--whereas Trex has reliable distribution, lots
>>of sizes, proven performance, etc.
>>
>>-Alan Abrams
>>
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