Wood could: According to a recent survey by the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA), wood floors can increase the value of a home. The survey involved real estate agents and interior designers across the country. The real estate agents agreed: 99% that homes with hardwood floors are easier to sell, 82% that they sell faster and 90% that they sell for more money. The agents reported that their clients prefer wood floors for a variety of other reasons: more than half said because they increase a home’s resale value, promote a healthier indoor living environment, and are beautiful and easy to clean and maintain. Interior designers agreed wood floors add home value and they are a decorating element that coordinates with any décor. More than 75% asserted that wood floors are environmentally friendly, easy to maintain, easy to make look like new.

PARTNERS: Armstrong World Industries has entered into a partnership with the Tropical Forest Foundation to promote responsible forest management practices. Armstrong requires its wood suppliers to adhere to all applicable laws and regulations, including those covering raw materials and labor. Though less than 5% of its wood purchases come from tropical forests, the company requires suppliers to produce documentation verifying their compliance to national and international rules and regulations governing specific tropical wood species. “By working with the Tropical Forest Foundation, we will further ensure, through third-party verification, that Armstrong wood flooring products meet the highest standards of sustainable forest management,” said Frank Ready, president and CEO of Armstrong North American Floor Products.

CHINA RISING: Demand for hard surface flooring in China is expected to rise 7.3% per year through 2010, to more than three billion square meters, outpacing growth in all other parts of the world. The surge is driven by strong gains in building construction activity as industrialization efforts continue and income levels rise. Government efforts to further increase average per capita living space and privatize home ownership, and sustained strength in foreign direct investment funding, will fuel the hard surface flooring gains. Non-resilient flooring—ceramic, laminate, wood and stone—accounts for more than 90% of overall Chinese hard surface flooring demand in square meters. Laminate flooring sales will grow nearly 16% annually through 2010, but ceramic floor tile will remain the dominant category in 2010, accounting for more than 70% of the overall hard surface flooring market in China. This data is part of a 220-page study by the Freedonia Group of Cleveland.

AWARDS: A distinguished panel of judges will decide the winners of this year’s Spectrum and Prism Awards and the winners will be officially announced on April 17, the opening day of Coverings 2007. The annual competition for outstanding achievements in the use of ceramic tile and natural stone awards $36,000 in prize money to be shared by the winners in each category. Coverings runs through April 20 and is held at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. Among the judges are Bill Weatherby of Architectural Record; Carolyn Weber of Home magazine; Christine Abbate, head of Novita Public Relations, representing Confindustria Ceramica (Italian Association of Ceramics); Peter Pentz of White, Good & Co., representing ASCER (Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association of Spain); Bob Daniels, former deputy executive director of the Tile Council of North America, and Chris Walker of Port Morris Tile & Marble Corp., representing the Tile Contractors Association of America, on behalf of the National Tile Contractors Association.

LAST CALL: The 6th Annual Memorial Golf Outing honoring the memory of Robert Kirby will be held Monday, April 23, at the North Hempstead Country Club in Long Island. It’s a full program and a worthy cause. Registration is at 8:30 a.m., buffet breakfast follows, then 11 a.m. shotgun start, lunch on the course, cocktail party and dinner round out the day. Call Steve Kurtz at 631.242.0100. This makes golf more meaningful.