Article Number : 5081 |
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| Date | 11/30/2009 9:35:01 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=5081 |
| Abstract | Consumers and the A&D community are demanding the use of environmentally friendly building materials such as conventional hardwood and specialty woods like cork and bamboo, but green means much more than... |
| Article | Consumers and the A&D community are demanding the use of environmentally friendly building materials such as conventional hardwood and specialty woods like cork and bamboo, but green means much more than being renewable. In addition to life cycle, one must consider how the resources are grown and harvested, used in a finished product, and what happens once its useful life is over. Traditional Hardwood Wood is one of the flooring options that does not usually end up in a landfill after its service life. Wood is recyclable—materials are salvaged from a variety of sources, including old barns and factories—which has become a popular high-end design trend. “Wood recovered from riverbeds is another growing segment of the wood flooring industry,” said Ed Korczak, executive director and CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA). “Logs that sank during logging operations years ago are being recovered by a number of companies and used to create truly unique flooring.” Indeed, the ecological benefits of wood flooring are one of its strongest selling points, experts say. Many leading health associations recommend the product as ideal for healthier living. There are no emissions of methane or nitrogen oxide and minimal emissions for carbon dioxide, according to a recent life cycle analysis of solid wood flooring conducted by the University of Wisconsin. Many environmental groups recognize the process of trees removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen as making wood a carbon neutral substance. With new guidelines for responsible forest management and flooring certification programs, industry watchers say wood is quickly becoming the preferred flooring of many eco-friendly builders, architects, specifiers, designers and consumers. “The impact of the U.S. Green building Council (USGBC) opening up its rules to other certifications will highly contribute to more LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) projects that will use wood as a building material in all aspects of construction,” said Luc Robitaille, vice president at Mirage. Regeneration is a promising statistic as well. The U.S. Forest Service reports the average annual net growth for hardwoods is greater than average annual removals. For every cubic foot of hardwood removed, 1.66 cubic feet is added and current hardwood volume of 328 billion cubic feet represents a 90% increase since 1953. Cork Cork as flooring has been used for a century or longer primarily in commercial applications, but the growing interest in green living is making the product a more popular choice for residential design. From harvest to installation, cork flooring is environmentally sustainable, non-toxic and healthy—perhaps the most environmentally friendly of all flooring surfaces, some would argue. Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree and grown in the Mediterranean region with a life span up to 250 years. After the first 25 years of growth, the tree is stripped of its bark for the first time using traditional hand labor methods. This process is repeated every nine years, with little or no affect on the health of the tree. During each harvest, about 50% of the bark is removed. Unlike traditional wood flooring, the entire tree is not cut down, only the outside is removed. Harvesting does not harm the tree and a new layer of cork bark grows, making it a renewable resource. Ultimately, old age is what kills the trees, not the harvesting process. Similar to growth of the raw material, manufacturing methods are also geared to protect the environment. To produce cork flooring, virgin cork bark and post- industrial waste cork from the manufacturing of other cork products such as wine stoppers is ground into small granules. During the manufacturing process, all raw materials are consumed, either for the finished flooring product or as an energy source. Production waste of cork dust and tree trimmings are burned in furnaces that supply heat to bake the cork tiles. For people with allergies, cork flooring is an ideal surface. It is antimicrobial and less likely to be affected by mold and mildew. The benefits of cork don’t end there. The bark contains a substance called suberin, a natural insect repellent and waterproofing agent. Suberin also protects cork from fire and when it is burned it does not release any toxic gasses. If that’s not enough, the insulating properties of cork flooring contribute to energy efficiency. Even a cork underlayment will provide significant insulation in the cold months, experts say. Bamboo Unlike many hardwood floors that can take dozens of years to reforest, bamboo grows abundantly and replenishes quickly. Environmentally, it’s hard to argue with a wood that matures in three years, regenerates without replanting, and requires minimal fertilization or pesticides. Retailers are becoming more savvy to the environmental benefits of bamboo flooring, primarily because the consumer is starting to ask more in-depth questions about the green attributes of the products they’re purchasing, according to David Knight, president and CEO of Teragren, a leading supplier of bamboo flooring. Indeed, the stars are aligning in bamboo’s favor. The market for green homes is expected to rise to $20 billion over the next few years, stated a 2007 report by McGraw-Hill Construction and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). And according to the New Sustainability Initiative (NSI), green flooring is on its way as the fastest-growing green building product by 2011. Within the growing green market is a demographic that pays close attention to environmental quality within the home and buys products accordingly, said Max Harris, a partner with Fairfax, Va.-based Green Floors, a retailer that specializes in selling environmentally safe flooring products. |