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| Para-Chem Intelligent Flooring System (IFS) |
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By Emily Hooper
Do you remember when air pollution was the big, environmental concern? Legislation, electric cars and clean burning energy has helped narrow that focus to the quality of air in homes, or indoor air quality (IAQ). “IAQ is going to be a big deal, maybe even bigger than global warming,” predicted John Woolsey, vice president of sales for
Anderson Hardwood. As homes get tighter to improve energy efficiency and die-hard activists move to metropolitan centers to reduce their carbon footprints, the quality of air indoors has become increasingly important.
Some of the main factors affecting IAQ are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and isocyanates, both of which are off-gasses commonly found in flooring adhesives. Today, companies can proudly advertise the absence of these compounds with third-party verifications from organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the
Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI), the GreenGuard Environmental Institute, and Scientific Certification Systems. With their help, adhesive companies are going to great lengths to improve the floors we walk on and the air we breathe.
A.A.T.
Phone: 706.226.0610
Email: info@aatglue.comClaiming to be one of the first adhesive companies to offer a full line of environmentally friendly products, A.A.T. practices what it preaches. In addition to offering products that qualify for Green Label plus certification from CRI and LEED specifications, its manufacturing processes produce no effluence, said Gregory Wood, president.
“Our engineers and formulators recapture materials from the compounding process and reuse those materials when making other products. This reduces water consumption and keeps material from entering the water supply.”
Wood highlighted its E2 Premium Hardwood Flooring adhesive as the latest innovation in high performance glue. “E2 is the initial product offering in A.A.T.’s ecologix family of green flooring adhesives.” Formulated for engineered, solid and bamboo flooring, it contributes to LEED credits in commercial interiors, new construction and existing buildings. It is also zero VOC, solvent free, void of isocyanates and contains the proprietary antimicrobial compound, Cleanguard.
Anderson
Phone: 864.833.6250
Website: andersonfloors.comNew to the adhesive game, Anderson’s years of experience in the hardwood field continue to define its intentions. “For anything we do, we’re in the process of improving our core values: quality, innovation, design and environmental legacy,” Woolsey said. “We tried to solve problems by looking at the whole package.”
Green Grab adhesive and Triple Option, a three-in-one product, are all GreenGuard certified, as are its wood flooring products and cleaning solutions. “To my knowledge, we’re the only company in the wood industry to offer an entire flooring system that is GreenGuard certified.”
Woolsey noted Triple Option, an adhesive, concrete moisture inhibitor and sound reduction system, is very low odor, isocyanate free and offers superior bond strength and grab. Its sound deadening properties are equivalent to cork, meeting IIC and STC building code requirements and is also antimicrobial, featuring the Meta-sept system.
“It is a one component, 100% solids, cross linking, MS polymer-based adhesive formulated for the interior installation of wood block parquet, engineered wood planks and acrylic impregnated planks,” he finished.
Bostik
Phone: 800.726.7745
Website: bostik-us.comWhen asked what the manufacturer is doing to up its environmental game, Phillip Pitts, marketing manager for hardwood and rubber flooring adhesives, responded, “Nothing. We haven’t done anything because we’ve been ahead of the curve.” He said Bostik set the bar to earn LEED credits and all its products are compliant with South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations as mandated by the California state government.
Its new UltraSet Single Step streamlines the installation process as a multi-functioning adhesive, moisture vapor barrier with acoustical sound reduction. “It features zero VOCs and post consumer-recycled content from used rubber tires,” Pitts said.
With environmental and technological demands from today’s consumer, Bostik’s adhesives— particularly those for hardwood—continue to sell very well. “When most end users think of hardwood flooring, they desire traditional floors like in Grandpa’s house,” Pitts explained. “The perception is that when you walk on a floating floor, it feels hollow, like a temporary situation. It doesn’t sound or feel the same.”
DriTac
Phone: 800.394.9310
Email: info@dritac.com“The demand for environmentally friendly products has become ubiquitous in 2010,” said Larry Scott, technical director. “Low VOC products are the mandate. Combined with solvent-free make-up, products are more valuable and sought after than ever before.”
He added that DriTac’s 7500 Eco-Urethane, 1001 All-In-One and 8000 Eco-Moisture Guard have recently been certified under CRI’s Green Label Plus program for IAQ, in addition to contributing to LEED points and meeting standards established by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. In addition, the company has an entire family of green adhesives and concrete sealers that are zero VOC and solvent-free.
Scott outlined DriTac’s 1001 All-In-One as a green urethane wood flooring adhesive with concrete moisture control, sound control and crack suppression. “It also joins 7500 Eco-urethane as the only urethane adhesive products to receive CRI’s Green Label Plus certification,” he finished.
Laticrete
Phone: 800.243.4788
Email: sales@laticrete.comSince its inception 50 years ago, Laticrete has mandated all products be environmentally friendly and safe to use by contractors and homeowners, said Sean Boyle, director of marketing and product management. “Our internal actions and product requirements have enabled us to not just comply, but in most cases exceed industry requirements.” In addition to GreenGuard certification, Laticrete uses post and pre-consumer recycled content in many of its products with packaging components that are easily recyclable by end users.
Changes in product emissions have helped the market, especially when it comes to installers and building owners, Boyle said. “New regulations and programs that test and establish minimum performance standards help weed out manufacturers that claim great performance without providing the data to support it.”
New to the market this year is 125 Sound & Crack adhesive, a single component tile glue mixed with water for anti-fracture and sound protection in one step. It is made from 30% post-consumer recycled content and certified as low VOC under GreenGuard’s Children & Schools program. “125 Sound & Crack adhesive is the most economical, fastest and easiest product available for any anti-fracture/sound control installations.”
Mapei
Phone: 800.426.2734
Website: mapei.usAnother claimant of green pioneering, the supplier has complied with South Coast Air Quality Management District for several years, said Neil McMurdie, director of research and development for Mapei Americas. “We continue to strive to lower VOCs and enhance formulations to make them as environmentally responsible as possible and have actually seen improvement in performance by taking this approach.”
Jeff Johnson, product line manager for floor covering installation systems, said rapidly renewable materials improved handling characteristics and reduced odors, while maintaining performance attributes such as bond strength, shear strength and elongation. “Raw material suppliers have been improving their products too, by making latexes with higher filler loading so we can make higher-solids products that perform better for certain applications.”
Johnson added rapidly renewable resources contributes to LEED points in category MR6, rapidly renewable resources. “It also combines a moisture barrier with a strong adhesive, making the installer’s job easier with a secure installation for wood floors.”
Para-Chem
Phone: 864.967.7691
Email: adhesivehelp@parachem.com“Para-Chem has always considered itself a green advocate,” said Sonny Callaham, flooring application technical support. “In the late 1980s we made the conscious decision to be green long before the market dictated what that meant, as it does today.”
The biggest change the company has seen over the years is the way green has changed building demands. U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED specifications have, “changed the way architects, general contractors and specifiers build and design buildings,” Callahm said. “Specifically for the flooring industry, we are now gaining LEED credits not only for using low emitting raw materials but for extracting them regionally to help reduce outside air quality (OAQ) through reduced vehicle emissions.”
Continuing to improve OAQ, Para-Chem has a three-in-one product, Intelligent Flooring System (IFS), that reduces travel to the job-site, ultimately reducing the installer’s transit time and vehicle emissions. “No longer are there multiple trips by the installer to go out to the location to install one product for a moisture barrier, another for a sound barrier and a final product to install the wood flooring,” Callaham explained. “Reduced trips to the job-site, reduced waste and improved efficiency means more money in the contractor’s pocket: going green can save you green.”
Spray-Lock
Phone: 423.305.6151
Website: spraylock.comA producer of adhesives for VCT, LVT, modular carpet tile, vinyl sheet goods and approved rubber flooring, Spray-Lock adhesives are approved by major flooring companies such as Mohawk,
Tarkett, Earthwerks, CBC and LG Hausys, said Fred Land, CEO. Further product credentials include FloorScore and CRI’s Green Label Plus certification, in addition to zero VOCs according to EPA test method 24.
“We see our customers looking for an environmentally friendly, high performance adhesive,” Land said, and cited one of the largest retail companies in the world that recently reduced glue consumption in its building program by over 4.7 million pounds using Spray-Lock adhesives.
One of the unique products is the 3500 sheet good adhesive, used largely in hospitals because it does not contain epoxy. “It allows new flooring to be put in without shutting off the HVAC system due to the fact that our adhesives do not atomize,” Land explained. It’s quick drying properties also allow for immediate contact from other trade traffic to hospital beds.
W.F. Taylor
Phone: 800.868.4583
Website: wftaylor.comThis manufacturer outlines its eco stewardship as, “Way ahead of the industry,” said Gary Liddington, business manager, manufacturing brands. “Long before it became fashionable, the company was working with EPA and CRI officials to improve IAQ with respect to adhesives.” For example, the Envirotec line, first introduced in the late 1980s, meets all Green Label Plus program requirements with solvent free adhesives for carpet, resilient and wood installation.
Environmental stewardship has continued to play a role in product development, Liddington continued. The 1990s featured the Envirotec adhesives and in the early 2000s, Taylor lauded the proprietary Meta-Tec technology system.
According to W.F. Taylor president, Jack Raidy, those products are GreenGuard certified and meet requirements for the California Collaborative for High Performance Schools, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and LEED credits for low-emitting materials.
Today the company highlights the MS Plus Advance Wood Flooring adhesive as the best example of its corporate policy and direction by combining environmental legacy with ultimate performance products containing no solvents or isocyanates.
“Taylor combined this very safe MS Plus Advance chemistry with a unique dual curing system and user friendly characteristics such as easy cleanup, virtually no odor and ease of application,” Liddington said.
