ANAHEIM, CALIF.—With just about every company and organization promoting some type of environmentally friendly product, service or program, trying to decipher what is real or just a marketing ploy is becoming increasingly difficult.

To help its members better identify what is “genuinely green in the areas of manufacturing, products and construction in the flooring industry” the World Floor Covering Association ( WFCA), through its legal counsel, Crowell & Moring, created “Green Flooring: A Primer for Members of the World Floor Covering Association.”

Chris Davis, the association’s president and CEO, explained the purpose behind the WFCA-funded primer. “It provides an introduction to relevant green assessment programs so WFCA members may better understand which of their products and practices may be characterized as environmentally friendly.”

According to the authors, “Manufacturers are promoting their green products, home owners are demanding green construction and renovations, and certain local governments are encouraging or requiring environmentally friendly building practices. But what is green construction and what flooring products will meet the green demand?”

By understanding this information, Davis added, “members will be better able to capitalize on the demand for green products and communicate what is truly green to their customers.”

The guide is broken into five sections: introduction to green rating systems, commercial building standards, residential building standards, verifying that products are green and benefits of being green.

Section one examines the two most well known rating systems being used by manufacturers, builders, designers and various government entities— Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Green Globes. The next two sections get more in depth by not only explaining each one but showing how flooring can contribute to these certifications in both the residential and commercial sectors.

Section four looks at and explains the numerous programs that certify products are environmentally friendly, including third-party organizations such as SCS and FloorScore. It also examines the multiple-attribute, flooring-specific certification systems such as NSF-140.

The final section of the guide discusses the various benefits of being green, including the ability to successfully bid on a public job; government incentives such as tax credits, grants and loans; long-term value; financing opportunities, and public relations/marketing, including some important considerations to ensure you comply with Federal Trade Commission guidelines to prevent deception in environmental marketing claims.

All in one place

“Until now, no single document has been able to categorically reveal whether construction practices and products of flooring are environmentally friendly,” Davis said. “Past and existing guides have widely varying degrees of third-party oversight and stringency, and many have been criticized as being manipulated by those who simply want a green seal of approval for marketing or public relations purposes. The area of green building has further been complicated by the fact there are different standards for commercial and residential construction projects and separate standards for renovations. There are also countless claims that various products are eco-friendly, many with little or no explanation or verification.”

This guide, which is an exclusive benefit to WFCA members, puts the most common and popular programs and criteria for what is considered green in one comprehensive booklet. And because the green movement is ever changing in that new technologies are continually emerging so that what is not green today may be tomorrow, Davis called the primer a “living document.”

To receive the green flooring primer, WFCA members need to go to the Document Center in the members only section of the association’s professional Web site, www.wfca-pro.org. For more on the guide or WFCA, call 800.624.6880.