Where can I find design values for tropical hardwoods or imported species?

• First check Table 2.1 - List of Sawn Lumber Species Combinations beginning on page 4 of the NDS Supplement . Design values for the species listed in the NDS Supplement are provided by the grading agencies.
  
  The 2005 NDS supplement Table 4F has non-North American visually graded dimension lumber including:
  
  Austrian Spruce - Austria and the Czech Republic
  
  Douglas Fir/European Larch - Austria, Czech Republic, Bavaria (Germany)
  
  Montane Pine - South Africa
  
  Norway Spruce - Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, NE France, Switzerland, Romania, Ukraine, Sweden
  
  Scots Pine - Austria, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Sweden
  
  Silver Fir - Germany, NE France, Switzerland
  
  Southern Pine - Misiones Argentina
  
  
  As for other foreign species such as mahogany, ipe, greenheart, etc., there is some design information in the Wood Handbook published by the US Dept of Agriculture Forest Service, which can be found at http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm. However, since these values are average unadjusted ultimate values, they need to be adjusted per applicable ASTM standards, such as ASTM D245, to arrive at allowable properties. A further complication is that if lumber is not grade stamped in accordance with American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) rules: http://www.alsc.org/, there is no way of knowing what type of product will be used in construction. Engineering judgment will be required to use these types of foreign species in structural applications.
  
  For additional information contact:
  Dr. Dave Green
  Phone: 608-231-9261
  Fax: 608-231-9303
  E-mail: dwgreen@fs.fed.us