The Making of Abodo Vaaro® Fire

Today, Vaaro stands as a new class of feature timber, building on Abodo’s unrelenting determination to innovate which started long before the first board ever left the pilot plant.

Five Years in the Making

The early development of Vaaro was supported in part by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), whose funding helped accelerate the research phase.

From the outset, the Abodo team understood that creating a product with advanced performance characteristics would require deep technical expertise and a global testing footprint.

Ben Campbell, Abodo Head of Innovation and Daan Olthuis, Abodo R&D Manager, worked closely with local and international testing partners to ensure that Vaaro’s credentials could be backed by rigorous, independently verified data. This commitment became a defining feature of the project.

Mastering the Complex World of Compliance

As Vaaro moved from concept to reality, the team navigated the intricate landscape of international fire standards across New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Europe, and the United States.

Distributor partners and testing providers including BRANZ in New Zealand, RISE in Sweden and QAI Laboratories in USA who were instrumental in this process.

This led to one of the most impressive chapters in Vaaro’s story; its weathering testing programme. Going beyond international standards the team designed a long-term natural weathering study, alongside accelerated weathering testing, spanning three continents.

• Accelerated Weathering
  In controlled chambers, boards were exposed to cycles of water, UV, and heat to simulate years of outdoor exposure in a compressed timeframe in accordance with the ASTM 2898 standard that is called for in most markets. These accelerated weathering procedures emulate long-term exterior exposure, demonstrating excellent leach resistance properties.

• Natural Weathering
  At the same time, exposure racks of Vaaro boards were installed at RISE, Sweden in accordance with EN927-3 standard where the product will continue to be tested in the years to come. In New Zealand boards are tested annually and audited by independent experts, with the programme set to run for the next 15 years. After one year of natural weathering, Vaaro achieved its target classification – an early milestone that supports the team’s rigorous approach.

As a result of this extensive testing Vaaro conforms to the new European, USA and New Zealand requirements for exterior performance of fire retardant treated wood products including classification to EN 16755 DRF EXT INT1 INT2.

Putting the product through real-world natural weathering testing provides an additional level of confidence around performance, in addition to the accelerated testing programme.

Density, Durability and Total Cost of Ownership

Vaaro’s enhanced density – around 650 kg/m³ compared to Vulcan’s 420 kg/m³ – gives it a noticeably harder, more robust feel.

Its durability performance aligns with well-known Class 1 durability hardwood species such as padouk, kwila (merbau) and higher than western red cedar, but with the added benefit of engineered consistency and sustainable sourcing (including FSC® certification). This means that Vaaro is offered with a 40 year durability warranty against fungal attack, subject to warranty conditions.

For exterior cladding, these properties of Vaaro timber mean longer service life, improved coating performance and reduced maintenance cycles – which in turn results in a lower total cost of ownership.

Engineered for Machining, Certified for Fire Compliance*

One of Vaaro’s most distinctive advantages is its ability to maintain performance even after machining. Because the active ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the timber, customers can machine blanks directly (within certain strict specifications) without undermining the product’s fire compliance* classification.

This is a unique advantage of Vaaro: Abodo’s international distributor partners can stock blanks and machine them to profile as needed, allowing them to respond quickly and cost effectively.

It eliminates long lead times and reduces the risk of damage that can occur when fully profiled products are shipped from a single manufacturing site.