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.

Deck Design of the Week

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.

Deck Design of the Week

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.

If you’re in the market to buy ipe and are scrambling to find out if the ipe you’re purchasing has been cultivated through eco-friendly means, don’t worry, once you read this, you’ll be able to make your purchase with peace of mind.

Here’s a guide to buying ipe decking responsibly:

• Make sure the supplier is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
  • This is critical since many ipe dealers choose to simply slap a sticker or banner on their site saying that their decking is environmentally safe.
• If you’re trying to get your building or deck LEED certified, then make sure you get the FSC certificate right away. Any company that fails to provide this should be questioned.
• Ask if the ipe supplier has an environmental policy that you can read and research.

These tips will take contacting the suppliers directly. And, if you end up getting your answers right away and in a respectful manner, then you can rest assured that you’ve really chosen the right company.

When you contact us for ipe decking, you’ll get all of your questions answered as well as the best ipe prices in the market today.

There are many different LEED requirements that builders and architects can take advantage of. One particular credit is the MRc7 credit.

If a green building project uses a certain percentage of FSC wood, they can qualify for this LEED credit. If you want to qualify for this LEED credit, your project must have installed at least 50% of FSC wood. An exemplary performance Innovation in Design credit can be attained if you use 95% FSC certified wood.

There are many different kinds of FSC wood available including:

• FSC Ipe
• FSC Cumaru
• FSC Tigerwood
• FSC Garapa

The great thing about building green and LEED construction projects is that they are extremely creative. The green building revolution is certainly pushing the envelope when it comes to how hardwoods like ipe wood can be utilized. One such example that I recently found was the recently opened Eco Park in the Discovery Green Conservancy project in Houston, Texas. 60% of the wood used throughout the whole park used ipe hardwood. Using ipe hardwood helped the Discovery Green park project earn a Gold level LEED certification.

The designers and planners of Discovery Green chose ipe for the following reasons:

• Mold, mildew, and rot resistant
• Extremely strong & dense
• Insect resistant
• Requires very little maintenance

At Advantage Trim & Lumber, we can help you get your LEED Certification with our FSC lumber, FSC flooring, and FSC decking products. Since 1992, we have been the leader in establishing sustainable forestry practices that lead to the overall health of the environment. We are also members of the United States Green Building Council and the Forest Stewardship Council. Visit our main website to learn more.

The LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) was established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide the construction and building industries with a verifiable system to define exactly what a green building is. Using a point system, an eco-friendly building can achieve LEED certification. The more points a green building accumulates, the more prestigious the LEED Certification. If you think all it takes to get LEED Certified is screwing in a couple of compact fluorescent light bulbs, think again.  The USGBC has put in place a set of strict policies and procedures that must be followed. The good news is that there are various ways that a building project can earn LEED certified.

Here are the various LEED Certification levels:

• LEED Certified – 40-49 points
• LEED Silver – 50-59 points
• LEED Gold – 60-79 points
• LEED Platinum – 80 points & over

The Materials Resource Credit 7 (MRc7) is a great LEED credit to plan for. The Materials Resource Credit 7 (MRc7) mandates the use of eco-friendly wood. However, not just any eco-friendly lumber will do. The Forest Stewardship Council designates FSC certified wood and the USGBC and LEED has been specifically chosen to work with them to fulfill this crucial LEED credit. Since the FSC has strict guidelines as to how hardwoods like ipe, tigerwood, garapa, and camaru are to be managed and cultivated, FSC certified wood has become a key component for inclusion in LEED projects. In order to qualify for the LEED MRc7 credit, your green building needs to install a certain percentage of FSC certified ipe or other wood The percentage will change depending on the type of building or project. In order to even qualify for the credit, the required minimum of installed FSC wood  must be 50%. You can also earn an exemplary performance Innovation in Design credit if your project contains at least 95% FSC certified wood.

Because every LEED Credit counts, the use of FSC certified wood can be a great help. As an international direct importer of eco-friendly hardwoods, Advantage Trim and Lumber Company offers a full selection of quality FSC Certified wood like ipe decking. They can ship anywhere in the United States, or the world.