Company: Kebony
Founders: Roy Johannesen (Laeng), Trond Johannesen (Laeng), Frederik Vogt-Lorentzen, Trygve Fjetland, Rolf H Reierskog, and Marc Schneider
Website: https://kebony.com/
About Kebony
Kebony is the leading global producer of dually modified™ wood, offering the global construction industry a market-leading technological solution that combats deforestation and helps the world lower its carbon emissions.
As an increasing number of common tropical timber species, such as Ipe and Cumaru, are regulated to safeguard the future of the planet’s precious rainforest habitats, Kebony provides a quality, beautiful, and long-lasting building alternative to protected hardwoods, while adhering to the new and vital international standards of healthy, sustainable architecture.
Developed in Norway, the patent-protected Kebony technology transforms FSC-certified softwoods, such as pine, into new products with the same, and in some case superior, aesthetic and mechanical characteristics to tropical hardwoods. The wood is infused with a bio-based liquid, activating a reaction in the wood cell walls to become 50% thicker, increasing the dimensional stability, durability, and hardness of the wood.
While hardwoods can take 80-200 years to grow, fast-growing softwoods used for Kebony products grow in as little as 25-30 years, and during the growth of these trees and crops used as raw materials, carbon is captured from the atmosphere, further contributing to CO2 sequestration. The resulting products provide the most sustainable and long-lasting alternative to endangered tropical hardwoods, eliminating the need for the harvest of the planet’s key carbon sinks, and mitigating the effects of climate change by facilitating a significant reduction in global CO2 emissions within the international building and construction industry.
The resulting wood has a significantly reduced water sensitivity, does not splinter, and contains no toxins or chemicals, as well as staying cooler in heat, reducing maintenance demands and offering an excellent solution for many different projects and applications. Kebony wood has been featured in projects located in extreme climates all over the world, including deserts, rainforests, and the Arctic Circle.
Founded in 1997, Kebony has supported the revolution of a greener, more sustainable global construction industry for over twenty-five years. In 2018, to meet with growing consumer demand, Kebony opened its second manufacturing facility in Flanders, Belgium, doubling its annual production capacity and supply to key markets across the globe. The company continues to secure major new investment in support of even further expansion, most recently in 2021, when Kebony announced the completion of a EUR 30m investment round led by Jolt Capital and Lightrock.
Today, Kebony’s cladding and decking products are used in over 100 countries, in projects ranging from private residential schemes to major cultural regeneration programmes, including decking renovations at Battersea Power Station, United Kingdom, and Berlin Tempelhof Airport, Germany. In July 2023, Kebony confirmed the appointment of a dedicated sales office in the Middle East, bringing the company’s pioneering wood products to key new global market, and offering support to the sustainable development of the regions rapidly growing urban, tourism and hospitality sectors.
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