Smith & Fong’s Durapalm® Line of Coconut and Sugar Palm Wood Products
Alterna is proud to be the architectural representative and master distributor for Smith & Fong’s Plyboo® bamboo and Durapalm® coconut and sugar palm building materials in the Southeast United States and Latin America. Since 1989, Smith & Fong has been the most trusted name in bamboo and palm building products, which include flooring, architectural plywood, veneers and wall paneling. Smith & Fong’s products provide endless possibilities for architects and interior designers, whether the focus is on green building or cutting-edge design.
Smith & Fong’s Durapalm flooring, plywood and paneling products are made from 100% solid coconut or sugar palm wood. This exotic material will enhance any interior space with the distinctive beauty of the tropics, not to mention meaningful sustainable attributes.
The sustainability story for Durapalm products begins where the palm wood is sourced...
....namely from coconut and sugar palm plantations throughout Southeast Asia. After plantation-grown coconut or sugar palm trees stop bearing fruit, they are typically cut down by farmers, who plant new ones in their place. Smith & Fong reclaims this discarded palm wood, which is technically a post-industrial waste, and gives it a new life in the form of stunning building materials like flooring, plywood and wall paneling. Despite the fact that palm wood is relatively soft at its core, the outer edges are extremely dense and primarily used to make Durapalm products. Durapalm flooring, for example, is as hard as flooring made from red oak and therefore suitable for both residential and commercial applications. In terms of indoor air quality, all Durapalm products are urea-formaldehyde free and therefore will not off-gas formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals. As such, all Durapalm products will help earn LEED™ credits in the Indoor Environmental Quality category.
As tropical rainforests continue to be tapped for the world’s voracious timber needs, coconut and sugar palms have been an overlooked and under-utilized resource. With more than 150 species growing in countries from Southeast Asia to Africa and Central America, palms hold great potential for sustainable export lumber products in the developing world.
Smith & Fong is committed to unlocking this potential in order to preserve tropical rainforests and the ecosystems that they support.
Learn more about Smith & Fong's Durapalm line of coconut and sugar palm wood products.
For more information, pricing or samples, please contact a Smith & Fong product specialist at Alterna.
