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Building with tropical timber
High quality, sustainable, beautiful: often the best solution!
For decades, tropical timber has been a special, natural construction material thanks to its great quality features, resilience and durability. And not without reason: No matter whether ayous, ipé or cumaru – tropical timber is unique when it comes to resistance against harsh weather, pests and chemicals. The exotic precious timber is characterised by its aesthetic colours and fine grains. It comes from the tropical rainforests of Asia, Africa and Central and South America, and is very different from regional timber types.
Tropical timber is suitable for a wide range of technical solutions, including and especially for demanding tasks and architectural challenges. The focus: Building planners, architects and decision-makers planning their projects with this high-quality raw material, which is often the best solution thanks to its special properties. A positive side effect: The use of timber in construction offers considerable potential for saving CO2 and, at the same time, offers added value in the countries where it is produced. Thanks to its properties, tropical timber can be used to replace other, environmentally damaging, construction materials such as concrete, ceramic, plastic and steel.
Of course, harvesting tropical timber requires fixed rules. Tropical forests have to be cultivated sustainably for species to be preserved, for people to have employment and an income, and for creating a real alternative to turning land into grazing pastures or plantations. Only certified timber can become an environmentally-friendly construction material which can be used with confidence.
What’s so special about tropical timbers?
Extremely robust and resistant against harsh weather, pests, fungi and many chemicals – these main quality features characterise all tropical timber types. At the same time, the precious timber contributes to pleasant and healthy indoor air hygiene. This is also the reason why exotic types are frequently used for special applications in industrial and road construction as well as in parks and gardens.
What is the precious timber suitable for?
Tropical timbers are often used outdoors because of their excellent resilience. They require little maintenance, which makes them the ideal timber for window frames and external doors. Within the home, the exotic types impress with their intensive, dark, warm, red and brown colours and grains, which is why they are especially precious and of a high quality. Their use in baths and saunas has also been proven in light of their excellent resistance against moisture and heat.
Why purchase from a specialist?
The quality of imported tropical timbers can vary greatly. This is why we recommend always purchasing tropical timber from specialist retail to get the required quality for your individual purposes at home and in the garden. At the same time, the specialist timber trade also guarantees the legal and fair origin of the tropical timber by ensuring that it comes from demonstrably responsible forest management. Many of the timbers also bear the sustainability seal. Therefore, we trade in timber from FSC and PEFC-certified forests as much as possible. This ensures compliance with the laws of the respective country, protection of animal and plant species, and that all rights of the local population and employees are respected.
How can we safeguard the future using tropical timber?
Boycotting tropical timber is not a solution. Boycotts primarily damage the legal and responsible harvesting of timber, which takes the value out of the forest. This results in more and more parts of virgin forest being cleared and either turned into useable areas for livestock farming or logged for soya and palm oil plantations. Only sustainable and responsible forestry management can save forest areas from destruction and protect them in the long term. By purchasing tropical timber from assured sources, you are directly contributing to preserving the forests. This means that the next generations will also be able to build with the valuable raw material timber.
