Tag Archives: FSC Ipe

Brazil and All U.S. Locations are FSC® Certified!

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We have some very exciting news to share with you! We’ve just obtained FSC® certification for our Brazilian mill, and our remaining U.S. locations in Sarasota, FL, Buffalo, NY, and Los Angeles, CA. These locations join Grover, NC, which has been FSC® certified for many years.

For over two decades, we’ve been committed to bringing our customers sustainably harvested decking from responsibly managed forests. Having all five of our locations FSC® certified only strengthens this promise. Although we’ve been heavily involved in the decking supply chain, it was imperative for us to open our Brazilian mill so that we’d have complete and total control over every aspect of the process. We can ensure that all harvesting is done sustainably while maintaining a consistently high level of quality.

Thanks to all our efforts, we can provide our customers with FSC® material at a lower cost since there’s no middle man and no broker. All FSC® certified decking will come directly from our Brazil mill to one of our U.S. locations, and finally to your home or jobsite.

Buy Ipe Responsibly

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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.

      Wholesale Decking is Available

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      Ipe decking is such a reliable, durable, and YES, renewable wood material that it is gaining increased notoriety throughout the world. In the United States, this exotic hardwood is being used in a variety of commercial applications. Local cities and municipalities that need commercial decking are even starting to use ipe in eco-friendly parks and bridges. In doing research I have found architects using ipe for both siding and sunscreens.

      From hotels, to resorts, to restaurants, to office buildings, there are many commercial decking options available. By far, the one clear cut favorite among architects, designers, and business owners is ipe decking and Brazilian walnut flooring. The main reason for this is because commercial ipe can be both cultivated and harvested from environmentally safe and sound forestry practices. At AdvantageLumber.com, offer wholesale decking and are constantly shipping eco-friendly ipe to commercial building projects throughout the United States.

      Commercial Decking

      With green building gaining increasing popularity, Continue reading →

      Deck Design of the Week – Ipe Used in NYC’s High Line Park

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      Deck Design of the Week

      New York City High Line Park

      New York City is constantly evolving. From the people to the architecture, New Yorkers are used to the constant changes that take place. As any New Yorker knows, there are a lot of places that can make the city seem brand new. One such place is the newly opened High Line Park. If there’s anything that New Yorkers know how to do is how to turn something ugly into something fun, exciting, and invigorating. The fact that people actually thought of turning an abandoned transit line into a park is nothing short of genius.

      Below is a news report which will give you a walk through and explanation of the history and future of the NYC High Line Park. Why would I decide to highlight this park instead of a regular old deck? Well, for the past couple of days I’ve been looking to highlight commercial or very unique ways that people use ipe wood and ipe decking.

      And, if you visit the area you’ll see that the designers of the NYC High Line Park used ipe for the benches, lounges, as well as a wonderful amphitheater.

      Project managers who are interested in building with this material can count on Advantage. The ipe decking we sell comes from managed forests that use sustainable forestry practices. While there are other companies that try to say that their decking is eco-friendly, they don’t have the history and commitment to the environment that we do. For every tree that we use, we plant five more. We are also members of the United States Green Building Council as well as the Forest Stewardship Council. Simply put, we don’t just sell eco-friendly wood such as certified FSC Ipe, we actually practice what we preach.

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

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      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 promote eco-friendly products as well as promoting energy efficiency, they were creating the largest green roof in all of New York City.

      What makes this green building project even worth mentioning? Well, if you haven’t guessed by now, they used ipe wood as part of the green roof project! What’s even better is that they chose FSC ipe!

      Once again, this proves that ipe wood is fast becoming a standard hardwood when it comes to green building projects and eco-friendly construction. I’m happy about this because in a tough city like New York, it’s great that they chose the toughest wood possible for such a wonderful project.

      LEED Certification – The Basics of This Green Building Initiative

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      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. Continue reading →

      FSC Wood Is Perfect for Building a Green Deck

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      AdvantageLumber.com is proud to offer customers worldwide a full selection of FSC wood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Unfortunately, there are a lot of other companies who would rather say that they are eco-friendly without actually backing it up. Not every direct importer of exotic hardwoods has this highly coveted designation.

      At Advantage Lumber, we believe that in order to have a sustainable business, we must promote sustainable forestry practices. The best way to do that is to sell eco-friendly decking materials that are FSC certified. As the industry leader in exotic hardwood and ipe decking, we made the investment of both time and resources to receive this highly-coveted FSC Certification.

      We are proud to offer the following FSC Certified wood:

      A green deck made out of FSC decking comes from managed forests where additional care is taken to ensure the cultivation and harvesting processes meets FSC rules. The Forest Stewardship Council personally oversees the process and strictly enforces their rules and procedures. At Advantage Lumber, we work with the FSC to maintain sustainable forests for years to come.

      If you or your customers are concerned about the environment and want to build a green deck or patio, then direct the selection of FSC Certified decking at AdvantageLumber.com is the solution.