A Tigerwood deck highlights how wood decking is beautiful, versatile, & eco-friendly.

These days, being green and using eco-friendly products is more than a trend. Our whole economy is starting to recognize and value materials and items that have been manufactured and/or promote a healthy, green, and eco-savvy lifestyle. Even the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has shown us that there can be a heavy price to pay when we rely too much on environmentally problematic and damaging resources and materials.

What does this have to do with wood decking?

Well, there is a huge marketing push led by composite decking companies to cast all wood decking as non-eco-friendly. These companies want you to believe that all wood decking comes from illegal logging and that it decimates the world’s forests. Here’s the truth, as an FSC certified lumber supplier, the wood decking that we sell here at Advantage comes from eco-friendly forestry practices.

Here are 5 things you need to know about Green Decking:

1. Species like Tigerwood, Garapa, Cumaru, and Ipe are renewable resources. With the growing number of managed forests and with the LACEY Act in place, you can find many green decking options that come from sustainable forestry methods.
2. Composite decking is not as eco-friendly, or as dependable as advertised. In fact, because it originates from oil-based plastics and can’t be recycled, you can disqualify plastic decking from the list of eco-friendly products.
3. FSC wood decking is available and can help you gain LEED certification credits. However, FSC certified decking shouldn’t be the be-all-end-all of green decking options. Just because FSC decking is more expensive, doesn’t mean that you’ll get superior boards. So, be careful about buying certified FSC wood just based on the label. Make sure you get Premium/Clear grade material. When you buy decking from Advantage, you will be purchasing decking material that comes from the same areas and are harvested using the exact same FSC standards.
4. Not all green decking is expensive. Unfortunately, many eco-friendly wood products jack up their prices just because they put the green label on their products. Let’s be clear, Tigerwood decking and other hardwood species were just as green and 100% free of chemical additives years ago. These days, we’re just paying attention and valuing the inherent qualities that make these wood decking products “green.”
5. When you strip away all the hype you’ll find that wood decking, especially the exotic hardwoods, are eco-friendly from a purely practical perspective. They last for decades, don’t require chemicals to resist decay and insects, are a renewable resource, don’t emit gasses or contain toxins (like formaldehyde or dioxin), were harvested using sustainable forestry methods, and will not have to be replaced. When you’re long gone from your home, you can also rest assured that the decking is 100% biodegradable.

These benefits mean that you can buy and build a green deck with confidence knowing that your purchase is an environmentally sound one that won’t negatively impact the environment.

If you have questions, or find this information of interest, share it with your network, and leave us a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.

Green Home in Michigan

Yesterday, you saw the beginning stages of a green building project designed by Danny Forster, host of Build it Bigger & Extreme Engineering on the Discovery Channel. The finished Omena Lake front home is truly spectacular. Two features that are of particular interest are the extended deck / living room area and the eco-roof. In fact, Danny even shows you how eco-roofing is installed. I have to say, I learned a lot about green building and design from Danny. When he explains how they analyzed the wind patterns of the area to position the home in such a way that wind would keep the home cool throughout the day, I was blown away (pun very much intended)!

Here’s Danny giving you an extended tour of the newly completed Green home:

MyNorth.com Video: Danny Forster’s Cool, Green House Completed

I was also thankful that Danny gave such a clear and concise description of how eco-friendly wood is cultivated and harvested. This is important to note because according to Danny, he used certified FSC wood throughout the home. So, all of the ipe decking you see comes from sustainable forestry practices that have been monitored by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Why did he use FSC Ipe Decking? If you recall, Danny is trying to get as high of a LEED rating as possible. In fact, because of all of the brilliant designs ideas and the eco-friendly products that he used, Danny has told me that the home received LEED Gold status. That’s pretty significant because this home is only one of seven in all of Michigan to receive that level of LEED certification.

We hope that this home inspires you to use green building materials and techniques. Finally, for those that think that green building is expensive, think again. Danny specifically makes the point that building this green home, even with all of its features and eco-friendly wood and materials, cost the same as any home in the area.

Also, thanks to Danny Forster for taking the time to answer my emails and for the information he provided.

Green Building in Michigan

Today’s Deck Design of the week is a two-parter. We’re going to look at the before and after phases of building a green home that has some wonderful sustainable and eco-friendly features.

The mind behind this home’s beauty is Danny Forster, host of Extreme Engineering and Build it Bigger on the Discovery Channel. He’s also a Harvard grad and, as evidenced by the lake front home in Michigan, a heck of an architect.

Today, we’re going to see Danny take you through a behind the scenes look at how a Green home is constructed. This Omena Lake front home is also going for either Gold or Platinum LEED certification, so you can tell that there are some serious and revolutionary design and architectural elements being used for this home.

As you can also see, there is no shortage of ipe being used in this home. Danny Forster has used both ipe decking and ipe siding in ways that are, at once beautiful, but also eco-friendly.

MyNorth.com Video: Danny Forster’s Cool, Green House

Tomorrow, we’ll see the finished product. If you’re planning to build a green home or are curious about LEED for homes, you’ll definitely want to take notes. You’ll also get some wonderful design and energy-saving ideas that are truly unique.