Green Bay Chooses Ipe Decking for Major Commercial Project

Great news out of Wisconsin! The city of Green Bay is well on its way to completed a major municipal project called the City Deck. Of course, this news wouldn’t make this blog without the additional nugget that this commercial project is using ipe decking. Think about it… What other hardwood decking will be able …

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Deck Design of the Week – Ipe In North Carolina

Deck Design of the Week Ipe Near Raleigh, North Carolina What do designers and architects use when they need to use wood? They choose ipe. One example of this is the country home located near Raleigh, North Carolina and built by Michael Rantilla (click to see pics). A true testament to modern architecture, this country …

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A Wood Dock Made of Ipe – A Solid Choice

One of the many uses for ipe wood is dock construction. There are many reasons why professional dock builders throughout the country use this premium hardwood. Ipe is not porous like composite decking or other inferior docking materials You can build a dock with confidence knowing that it requires very little maintenance Ipe docks have …

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Commercial Uses for Ipe Wood

Ipe wood is not just for decking and flooring. Many people are using this versatile hardwood for siding, and even wall applications. In addition, it’s not uncommon to see docks, wharfs, and even bridges use ipe decking.

Some very famous landmarks have used ipe hardwood including the Brooklyn Bridge walkway, Las Vegas’ Treasure Island, and many famous boardwalks across the country including the Atlantic City and Miami Boardwalks.

If you read this blog often, it’s easy to see why ipe decking is used for many commercial applications. Whenever the elements might be an issue, there is no doubt that you have to use the very best wood materials.

ipe-dock

Think about it…

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Ipe Decking & Fire – What You Need to Know

One feature of ipe decking that I most often forget to mention is how ipe handles fire. This kind of information is important to know because many deck owners use tiki torches, grills, and firepits on their deck. While we all try to be careful, there is always the chance, however remote, that one of those things could tip over and spark a fire.

There have been many instances where a dog bumped into a charcoal grill and spilled over some briquettes, or a guest tips over a seemingly put out tiki torch and a fire gets started. In those situations, you must react quickly to properly put out the fire before it spreads to the rest of your deck.

If you have a deck made of ipe, or are considering building an ipe deck, you need to know that ipe has a fire spread rating that is the same as concrete! What does this mean? Unlike other hardwoods that spread fire rapidly, fire tends to remain isolated around its point of origin. In this way, the damage that the fire has made is contained in a much smaller region on your deck. Of course, calling the proper authorities and attempting to put out the fire right away is absolutely critical and recommended.

Interestingly enough, ipe wood has up to a Class A fire rating for flame spread. Here is a table that shows the ratings given to ipe decking from the National Fire Protection Agency (Note, there are other third party certification companies that show similar results. Results will vary based on the moisture content, origin, and species).

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LEED Requirements & Ipe Wood

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:

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U.S. Postal Service – Uses Ipe Wood for Green Roof Project

Who says the US Government can’t do anything right? Recently, the United States Postal Service unveiled its new Green Roof for one of its major mail processing facilities. As a New York City native, I can tell you that the building in question is H-U-G-E. This building is so big, that when they decided to …

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