Sustainability Brochure
12Pages

modified wood by Accsys Technologies ACCSYS TO A BETTER WORLD ACCOYA SUSTAINABILITY GUIDE www.accoya.com /sustainability

PROBLEM: LINEAR ECONOMY BASED ON NON-RENEWABLE MATERIALS As a result of increasing global population and consumption, and a make-take-waste mentality, our planet is overexploited resulting in depletion of resources, mass deforestation of tropical forests, a huge waste problem, toxic emissions and global warming. Against this backdrop it seems unimaginable to keep mass consuming endangered materials like tropical hardwood and materials from non-renewable resources such as plastics, concrete and metals. It is evident that our current linear economy model, often reliant on non renewable...

sourcing composting waste production recycling bio-energy energy consumption SOLUTION: BIOBASED CIRCULAR ECONOMY BASED ON RENEWABLE MATERIALS A shift towards a biobased paradigm is urgently needed, based on abundantly available - and easily recyclable renewable resources, with the same high level performance as the best man made materials. acetylation is a revolutionary wood modification process, which has been known and studied for over 80 years, it involves the reaction of wood (or wood particles) with acetic anhydride, through which the free -oh (hydroxyl) groups – causing the shrink and...

PRODUCTION PHASE PROBLEM carbon sequestration in wood through the photosynthesis process trees absorb co² and solar energy in their creation of wood, while releasing oxygen in return. depending on the density of the wood (the denser, the more carbon is stored), 1 m³ of wood may store over 1 ton of co² for its useful life! source: building with wood = the active form of climate protection (2011) center of life and food sciences weihenstephan technische universität münchen Current consumption in human society shows a strong addiction to non renewable materials and fossil fuels while...

SOLUTION annual yield comparison A natural solution for the problem of ecosystem deterioration and global warming is actually already available but often overlooked: wood from well managed sources. fast growing softwood species such as radiata pine are primarily used to produce accoya®. this means that there is an ample supply of timber from certified sources for the production of accoya® wood to replace scarcely available certified tropical hardwood and other compromised non renewable building materials for demanding exterior applications. Forests are an important carbon sink by filtering...

PROBLEM carbon sequestration potential leading independent carbon footprint and life cycle assessment (lca) standards such as ilcd and pas 2050:2011 allow for the carbon sequestered in the wood during its useful life to be included as a negative co² value, which is an important consideration for accoya due to its superior durability and therefore longer life span. this credit is included in the cradle to grave carbon footprint comparison performed by delft university of technology in 2013 (see right page). for example, one of the two road bridges in sneek, the netherlands comprises 1200...

SOLUTION carbon negative window frames Through acetylation the downsides of wood are overcome, providing Accoya® wood and Tricoya® wood elements several environmental gains during use. • n a cradle to grave carbon footprint i assessment, greenhouse gas emissions (in co² equivalent) during the life cycle of a product can be measured. • ncludes end of life scenario (recycling, dump i or incineration for energy) and carbon sequestration of wood (pas 2050:2011) over a 100 year time frame. • xcludes annual yield, which is an extra e green benefit for renewable materials, but especially for...

PROBLEM recycling strategy – the ladder of lansink we recommend that users of accoya® wood and tricoya® adopt the recycling strategies known as the “ladder of lansink”. this model largely follows the guidelines of the cradle to cradle philosophy to close biological and technological cycles as much as possible and re-use materials in applications with the same or even higher added value (up-cycling). the model consists of the following possible waste management scenarios in which prevention is the preferred option and dumping the least: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 prevention - avoid waste 2 revention -...

SOLUTION In the end of life phase Accoya® has no limits. Accoya® is a non toxic product and therefore fully biodegradable. As a result, Accoya® can be handled in the same manner as untreated natural wood at the end of its life and therefore fits perfectly in the Cradle to Cradle design philosophy for which it has been awarded the Gold certification as one of few products worldwide. Following the “Ladder of Lansink” recycling strategy (see left), we recommend that Accoya® is re-used in applications with the same or even higher added value (up-cycling). Another high added value end of life...

PROVEN GREEN PERFORMANCE As outlined in the previous pages, in every stage of the life cycle Accoya provides compelling environmental advantages. As we value transparency at Accsys, all claims about sustainability are always referenced to recognised standards. Therefore, the environmental performance of Accoya® is thoroughly tested and published following uncompromising leading independent international methodologies such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA following ISO 14040/44) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD following ISO 14025). For example, official LCA / carbon footprint studies...

WOOD WITHOUT COMPROMISE TERRACED HOUSES windows & doors the netherlands OVO SCULPTURE unlimited solutions turkey OAKLEIGH CHURCH windows usa decking, cladding & glulam beams united kingdom unlimited solutions israel SNEEK BRIDGE structural applications the netherlands

HOW DO YOU PICK BUILDING MATERIALS THAT ARE SUSTAINABLE WITHOUT GIVING UP PERFORMANCE? CAN YOU REALLY BUILD AND HELP THE ENVIRONMENT AT THE SAME TIME? GET THE ANSWERS... IN JUST 3 MINUTES WATCH THE MOVIE ON ACCOYA.COM h t he watc ith your w by movie e device is mobilnning th a s c r co d e q Accsys Technologies Royal Albert House Sheet Street Windsor SL4 1BE United Kingdom Accsys Technologies Postbus 2147 6802 CC ARNHEM The Netherlands Accsys Technologies 5000 Quorum Drive #620 Dallas, Texas 75254 USA www.accsysplc.com www.accoya.com www.tricoya.com UK Patent No: 2 456 915, South Africa...