As the world gets warmer, the more time we want to spend outside. The more lovely hardwood decking we lay to do so, the warmer the earth gets!
Not that hardwood is the only problem with decking - preservatives used to increase the life of timber can also be very bad for the environment. Fortunately a German entrepreneur has invented an alternative.
Discovered after accidentally spilling wax over a wooden plate he'd recieved as a present, Jan Nies realised that if he replaced all the water in the wood with wax it produced a wood which was shown to be of comparable strength to tropical hardwoods when tested by the official office for environment and nature (StAUN) in Rostock. Currently Dauerholz (literally durable wood) decking is produced using pine wood sourced from PEFC certified managed forests within Germany but they are also testing other wood types. The wax impregnated wood is said to be non-slip and performs well in resisting mould growth, dampness and insect infestation. The wax used is composed of just carbon and water and is commonly used for such things as lipsticks or cheese rind! It is said to be clean, tasteless, odourless and insoluble in almost all liquids including water and sulphuric acid - meaning no nasty run off. The melting point of the wax is over 80° C so that Dauerholz gives off no wax emissions even when heated to extremely high temperatures - so those in sunnier climates needn't worry about their veranda melting!
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| Dauerholz planks can also be used in external furniture design as demonstrated by the 'Loop' chair |
Dauerholz is not perfect - paraffin wax is essentially produced from crude oil which is obviously not environmentally friendly, but considering the amount of fuel that is necessary to transport exotic woods to deck our gardens, it probably represents a massive improvement. It also undoubtedly uses less crude oil than composite or plastic alternatives to timber decking. It is also not clear how recyclable the product is at the end of it's life, but the company has also started marketing re-treatment options for after the 15 year guarantee period.
Since many of the benefits of the product require the the raw materials are sourced locally, shipping Dauerholz to North America would negate many of the positive benefits. America also has it's own (temperate) rainforests so the benefit here would be the reduction of the felling of these old growth trees in favour of the quick growing pine. There is currently no information to suggest that the technology has been franchised to the US but it is still a new product, going into production only 3 years ago. Dauerholz will undoubtedly gain marketshare when EU legislation against the sale of non certified tropical woods comes into effect in 2013 and maybe this will spur international expansion.
References / Sources
http://www.dauerholz.de/ (For information in English - click here)
http://www.pefc.co.uk/about-pefc/about
http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/deck-wood-or-plastic.html
