The ECO Panel System

As the name suggests our buildings are ecologically friendly. They also have properties of extreme strength that make them highly suitable for areas prone to HURRICANES (Cyclones) and EARTHQUAKES.

The name is actually derived for these latter properties:

E     arthquake

C     yclone

O     pposing

Strength Attributes

The ECO Panel building system was designed primarily for the Pacific and Middle Eastern markets to withstand extremes in high winds and seismic forces.

Testimony to this is the cottage built in Rarotonga adjacent to the international Airport in early 2005. The building was still not completed when 5 cyclones hit the island with winds exceeding 200km/hr, waves in excess of 2m and large boulders pounding the front wall. The cottage sustained no damage whatsoever, whereas all of the surrounding buildings were flattened.

Computer modelling has been conducted by POWELL FENWICK Consulting Engineers in Christchurch New Zealand to confirm the various engineering attributes of this building system. These include:

ü      Seismic Strength

ü      High Wind Strength

ü      Fire Resistance

ü      Thermal conductivity

An engineers certificate (producer statement) is available in both metric and imperial versions with the various strength and engineering attributes for all standard designs.

Fire Resistance

Laminated timber is very good for fire resistance, the outer layers charring and preventing and major structural deformation for considerably longer periods than that of steel.

Eco Friendly

ALL of the structural lining and cladding materials used in ECO Panel buildings are made from renewable plantation timbers.

These include Plywoods, Laminated Veneered Lumber (LVL), Finger Jointed Structural framing and Pineus Radiata finishing timbers.

Further to using a renewable resource, we are also using a combination of products that collectively form a building of very high strength.  This negates the need for heavy, expensive products such as steel often used to strengthen conventional timber members.

Environmental Benefits

All timber is sourced from managed plantations that provide an ongoing and sustainable supply of raw timber.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during their growth. The CO2 is used in photosynthesis and then stored in the cells of the wood, thus removing CO2 from the atmosphere, helping to reduce global warming.

Energy Efficiencies

Plywood and LVL products are very energy efficient, as it only requires a small amount of energy to manufacture compared with other building materials. As an example, a 12mm sheet of cladding plywood requires 10 times less energy to produce than a single common house brick. 

Steel also requires considerably more energy to produce than timber products.  A steel framed house results in the release of 3.5tons of carbon (the production of the steel material); whereas the equivalent timber framed house can store 3.1 tons of carbon.

A lightweight timber framed house has less than half the amount of embodied energy (752) compared to a concrete slab, steel framed brick veneer house (1781).