Natural Poplar Bark Siding update
Yesterday I posted about a company in N.C that harvests and sells natural poplar bark building materials. Within a few hours, I heard from Bark House, another company that specializes in poplar and tulip tree shingles and other natural architectural features made of tree parts. I looked over their website, it’s hosts a lot of good and interesting information there not to mention an excellent gallery of projects.
This is an interesting snapshot from their website:
Highland Craftsmen Gets Nod as Cool Product from GreenBuild 2009
Alex Wilson of BuildGreen.com had this to say about HC’s Bark House Poplar Siding:
“MBDC had a booth focused on its Cradle to Cradle product certification, where it displayed Bark House, a residential siding made by Highland Craftsmen from the bark of the tulip tree (Leriodendron tulipifera), which is sometimes—incorrectly—referred to as a poplar. The bark, a byproduct, is peeled from recently felled trees, cut to size, flattened, fully kiln-dried, and heat-sterilized. The bark itself provides its own “backing” and weatherproof layer. And it looks really cool—rather like, well, bark. The cost is fairly reasonable, too: about $6–$9 per square foot ($70–$100/m2) for the material or $12–$14 per square foot ($130–$150/m2) installed. BuildingGreen reviewed Bark House for our GreenSpec directory, but I had never really grasped one of the real beauties of this product: when you want to replace it, you just pull it off and throw it into the woods to decompose. The product has become one of the few building products to earn a Cradle to Cradle Gold rating from MBDC.”
Alex Wilson of BuildGreen.com had this to say about HC’s Bark House Poplar Siding:
“MBDC had a booth focused on its Cradle to Cradle product certification, where it displayed Bark House, a residential siding made by Highland Craftsmen from the bark of the tulip tree (Leriodendron tulipifera), which is sometimes—incorrectly—referred to as a poplar. The bark, a byproduct, is peeled from recently felled trees, cut to size, flattened, fully kiln-dried, and heat-sterilized. The bark itself provides its own “backing” and weatherproof layer. And it looks really cool—rather like, well, bark. The cost is fairly reasonable, too: about $6–$9 per square foot ($70–$100/m2) for the material or $12–$14 per square foot ($130–$150/m2) installed. BuildingGreen reviewed Bark House for our GreenSpec directory, but I had never really grasped one of the real beauties of this product: when you want to replace it, you just pull it off and throw it into the woods to decompose. The product has become one of the few building products to earn a Cradle to Cradle Gold rating from MBDC.”
And finally, this is a link to a book they authored on the subject:
Bark House Style: Sustainable Designs by Nature
If you are interested in this natural building material, I would be sure to check out both companies:
Enjoy!
Zeta
Posted on January 07, 2010
