VISENDUM® as a smart and sustainable alternative to the use of tropical timber
Why use VISENDUM® European Engineered Wood as an alternative to tropical wood?
For sustainability, health and hygiene, technical and quality reasons. In addition, tropical woods imported from America, Asia or Africa cannot be recycled at the end of their useful life for reuse, nor can they offer up to 25 years of warranty as VISENDUM® does.
Natural Wood and how nature has not foreseen its use outdoors
Nature creates trees, not wood planks. Natural wood is composed, fundamentally, of fibers (cellulose and hemicellulose) and lignin. In a similar way to reinforced concrete, the iron rods would be the fibers and the cement would be the lignin.
After millions of years of evolution, the trees have developed their bark to protect the wood against external inclemencies: ultraviolet rays from the sun, water, snow, ice, termites, lignivorous fungi. When processing logs into lumber, the tree’s protective bark is removed. If the wood is used indoors, the building acts as the bark, protecting the wood, so its response is acceptable.
Without its protective bark, wood lignin degrades due to sunlight and water. Even if we spend 30 €/m2 each year on maintenance with oils and varnishes, it will be difficult to prevent the wood from bursting, splintering, turning grey, rotting or being grazed by termites or lignivorous fungi.
Avoiding rainforest deforestation
In the process of obtaining tropical wood, an enormous amount of greenhouse CO2 is generated: construction of hundreds of kilometers of access roads to the rainforest, felling of the tropical forest, transport to dryers, drying of the wood, transport to the port, shipment by boat to the European port, application of protective varnishes or the production process of the varnishes itself.
VISENDUM® Technological Wood, however, offers incredibly long durability and is composed of recycled PEFC pinewood from European sawmill residues, which means that VISENDUM® constitutes a storage of CO2 that will not be returned to the atmosphere until the product can no longer be recycled (we can recycle up to 250 years!). Therefore, the greater the amount of wood contained in the profile, the greater the amount of CO2 not released into the atmosphere. In addition, since it is manufactured in Europe, emissions are reduced by transporting the material to its place of installation.
As it is a product made of recycled materials, we are avoiding the felling of more trees and taking advantage of waste that would otherwise be wasted or burned. In this way we manage to continue storing carbon in our material, contributing to reduce the greenhouse effect that produces climate change.
By using about 12m2 of VISENDUM® Technological Wood, we prevent the deforestation of 150m2 of rainforest.
While natural and tropical wood requires periodic maintenance such as iroko, wenge, acajou, teak, ipé, jatoba, mahogany, cumaru, mukali, kotibé, merbau, okume, samba, American cedar, bubinga, niangon, siopo, tali, tatajuba and zebrano, VISENDUM® Engineered Wood does not require any special maintenance to preserve its condition or appearance. This avoids the use of environmentally aggressive products such as oils and varnishes and frees the owner or user of the product from any concern other than its sporadic cleaning.
Types of tropical woods imported by deforesting jungles
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Advantages of VISENDUM® Technological Wood
VISENDUM® Technological Wood is a material that can be worked in the same way as natural/tropical wood, being able to carry out outdoor cabinetmaking works. As it has a solid section, it allows carving, cutting, fitting and sanding in the same way as wood, which allows an infinite number of applications: from any type of outdoor furniture, going from decking, cladding and sun protection to harbors and swimming pool beaches.
Years of experience and research have allowed us to develop this product that meets the safety and health needs that society expects.
VISENDUM® Technological Wood does not splinter, is immune to fungi and termites, is non-slip and does not alter its color or appearance with the passage of time.
All these qualities make VISENDUM® the preferred solution by most designers for public, maritime and swimming pool environments, as well as for areas with extreme climatology, since it fully complies with the requirements of European and Spanish regulations, offering durability, quality and technical support. Proof of this are our countless installations throughout the world with the best architects.
