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Core Materials

Endgrain Panels

Endgrain Balsa Panels

Gen-Eco Ultra-light Balsa end-grain panels are produced from certified plantation grown Balsa (the world’s lightest commercially grown tree). These panels are an ideal core material resulting in an extremely light and strong product. Balsa’s end-grain configuration creates optimal physical properties due to the honeycomb like structure of this unique tree. The Balsa tree can grow from a tiny seedling to an adult 90 feet high in about 5-7 years. The fast growth of Balsa trees makes them a unique environmentally friendly building material.

Balsa End-Grain panels are also used in the construction of wind turbine blades, transportation, and marine industries.

Our Balsa panels are available as both a standard end-grain panel or more typically with a MDF skin applied to both sides of the sheet.

Composite Panels

Composite Panels – Balsa/MDF

Gen-Eco Composite Panels are a combination of end-grain Balsa core with MDF skins on both sides of the panels. The MDF skin would typically be 4.75mm.

The MDF skin provides the perfect substrate for overlaying with the following:
Digital Print / Natural Timber Veneer / Laminate / Decorative Paper & Foils / Paint

Gen-Eco have an extensive range of lightweight ceiling beams constructed with our composite panel as the core material and finished in either digital print or timber veneer.

Composite Panel Falcata/MDF 

Gen-Eco Falcata panels are made from edge glued Falcata lumber. The Falcata tree is fast growing with a harvest typically occurring between 7 to 10 years. The base sheet of Falcata has a nominal density of 330kg/m³, Falcata is less than half the weight of MDF and has excellent screw holding.

Falcata is an ideal substrate as the core material for ceiling beams/fins, overlaid panels, and benchtop substrate. With 3mm MDF skins applied it can be painted and overlaid with laminate, timber veneer, paper foil and digital printing. Standard panels are available in 3600 x 38/50mm sizes.

Lightweight Solid Core Doors

Lightweight Solid-Core Doors

Gen-Eco produce a range of lightweight solid core doors using Balsa end-grain as the core layer which reduces the overall weight. Doors can be manufactured up to 2700 x 1800mm in size (even larger if required). All doors are made to order and are suitable for being finished with paint, timber veneer, laminate, and digital printing. 

The door constructions use a 127mm internal Hoop Pine or MDF frame with MDF faces. 

Ecolite Beams

Ecolite Beams

With Gen-Ecolite Beams, you are not confined by shape or even thickness - we can produce structures with thicknesses of up to 98mm in varying shapes and lengths, which are all available in your choice of timber veneers, laminates, vinyls and digital print.

The use of timber in ceilings of restaurants, cafes and kitchens has been a popular trend for several years. However the use of solid timber in these applications can be quite expensive and in most cases, a waste of a valuable resource.

Gen-Eco are able to provide non-load bearing ceiling beams and panels in many surface finishes.

Falcata Edge Glued Core

Falcata Edge Glued Core

Falcata edge glued door core is a lightweight panel for commercial door manufacture. Solid Falcata lumber is glued edge to edge to create a stable core product. The single layer version is 27.5mm thick, whilst the 33/38mm options are a 3 layer construction providing more stability.

Balsa Story

The Balsa Story

The Balsa tree is the fastest growing tree in the world.

It can grow from a tiny seedling to an adult 90 feet high in about 5-7 years.

Balsa wood is cultivated on plantations in Ecuador and is not harvested from the rain forest. By cultivating seedlings ourselves, we can guarantee continuous reforestation and safeguard the high quality of our balsa forests. Certain parts of the plantation are left to nature, to conserve the natural habitat of many animal species. In this way we preserve biodiversity for the benefit of the environment and of the population that lives and works there.

To transform natural balsa into structural end-grain balsa remarkably small amounts of energy are required. Mature trees are harvested and milled to pieces of lumber before being kiln-dried. The quality, physical properties and density of the balsa are then closely graded and glued into large blocks.

balsa-seed

These blocks are precision cut into end-grain sheets and further processed into the numerous available product configurations.

From there the end-grain panels can have thin MDF skins applied to them which allows for further value adding, including painting, applying timber veneer or digital printing.

What does responsible forest management mean for us?

We have created a complete management system to nurture and care for thousands of trees at every stage of growth, from seedling to 90-foot adult trees. Climatic conditions are charted, soil is analysed and trees are constantly examined and measured. Almost seventy years of experience of Baltek Corp. aid us in producing superior quality balsa crop after crop.

Additionally, we maintain an ongoing broad-based programme of research into the sustainability aspects of plantation management. 

Due to the Australian Governments introduction of the Illegal Logging Prohibition act & Regulation 2012, as of August 2019 Ashden Trading & GEN-ECO EWP see no value in continuing industry recognized forestry certification.

The reporting and due diligence criteria under the regulation is far more thorough and enforceable in our view to ensure sustainable and legal sourcing of Timber and Timber based products.

Ashden Trading / Gen-Eco EWP will no longer be able to offer COC documentation, however we will be identifying all products that come from sources that have a Global forestry certification to ensure that our vision of Green and Clean continues.

Further information about the Act/regulation can be found here https://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging

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