The initials “LCA” stand for many things, but in the world of the environment, LCA stands for “Life Cycle Assessment.”  Often referred to as cradle-to-grave analysis, LCA examines all the impacts of a product on the environment, from the raw materials used to how it is ultimately disposed of (or recycled).

Recently, the National Wood Flooring Association announced the results of an LCA study it commissioned with the University of Wisconsin.  The study compared the LCA of solid wood flooring in four categories: 1.  harmful emissions to air, 2.  water consumption, 3.  total primary energy consumed and 4.  product life expectancy with those of four competing floor coverings: 1.  generic VCT, 2.  generic linoleum flooring, 3.  generic nylon carpet tile and 4.  generic wool carpet tile.  The results of the study were consistent with previous European studies concluding that wood flooring has environmental advantages over other floor coverings, including less air emissions, less primary energy use and its renewable nature, among others.

If you’re looking for the near-perfect green flooring, look no further:  Marmoleum, a natural linoleum flooring material, is not only eco-friendly—it’s also health friendly and ideal for interior spaces.
 
Marmoleum is made from all natural ingredients of linseed oil/flax, wood resins, cork, limestone, and jute.  The flooring is naturally bactericidal, anti-static, and discourages the collection of dust mites—making it a great option for those affected by asthma and for babies, whose respiratory defenses are still developing.  Another well-touted plus is the flooring’s consistent temperature neutrality, which allows it to work well in all homes, even those situated in zones with extreme climates.

Marmoleum boasts a wide color palette ranging from soft, natural earth tones to boldly colored patterns.  Many Marmoleum products come as patented clic tiles, which literally click together for a seamless appearance.  Clic tiles also make for very easy installation.

It’s low maintenance in the cleaning department as well—a simple once-over with a dust mop or damp cloth will restore it to sparkly clean glory.

Don’t forget the lifespan.  Marmoleum is known to last at least 30 years and it’s purported to keep for generations beyond that . . .  This floor will last you virtually as long as you want it!

If you place your hand palm down and look at your  knuckles you will see that they are more apparent, as the “knuckles” also appear more apparent on the horizontal orientation of the bamboo.  Turn your hand and rest it on the “pinky” finger edge.  Your knuckles appear smaller and your hand more narrow, this is similar to the appearance of vertical bamboo.        

What is LEED?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the certification program by the U.S. Green Building Council.   The USGBC is the only non-profit organization in the country that certifies commercial green building projects, and the demand for its seal of approval is growing rapidly.  Building owners not only see the monetary value of building green in terms of reduced costs and perceived higher property values, and the health benefits for employees, but the public relations value is sometimes worth the effort by itself. 

It is certainly possible to build a green project without jumping over all the LEED hurdles but there’s no other program that carries such a highly visible and accepted seal of approval. 

No doubt, one of the greatest challenges of LEED is planning and managing all the additional details.   These projects require complete dedication to the goal or it is easy to get derailed.

LEED Commercial

The trend in commercial construction is to jump on the LEED bandwagon.  McGraw Hill Construction predicts that by 2010 as much as 10% of all commercial construction will be green.  Nine states have implemented mandatory LEED requirements and more are sure to follow.

Flooring products can only make a minimal contribution toward LEED certification because of the way the projects are scored.  Nevertheless, any kind of flooring can fit easily into most LEED projects.  And over the course of a large project, all those small differences can add up.

The LEED point system is organized around environmental goals, not specific products.  There’s no such thing as a LEED-certified product.  However, in order for any building materials, including flooring to help a project qualify for LEED credits it has to carry a LEED recognized certification from a third-party testing or validation service.  But there aren’t many of those. 

Scientific Certification Systems is the most notable certification agency and every approved product is in its online database.

According to USGBC, more than 80% of projects in LEED programs are awarded points for indoor air quality.  Three sections covering this issue apply to flooring.  They address coatings, sealers and adhesives for all kinds of flooring products.

Carpet in the one flooring category that can earn a LEED point all by itself.  It simply has to meet the requirements of the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus certification, or carry the SCS Sustainable Choice certification.  It doesn’t matter how much carpet is in the project, but it all has to meet the standard.

Other kinds of flooring can help earn a point when installers use adhesives and sealers that carry FloorScore certification.  Thee certification verifies that the level of volatile organic compounds falls into a particular range for each product.  All adhesives and sealers used on a project must carry the certification, or none of it counts. 

Composite wood products such as laminate and engineered hardwood can help earn a point if they are certified to contain no urea-formaldehyde.

LEED for Homes

Residential green building is likely to gain traction over the next few years.  LEED released its guideline in January, targeting the top 25% of new homes.  However, USGBC is getting some direct competition from the National Association of Home Builders, which is putting its own program in place.
Four level of certification are available and flooring makes its greatest contributions in materials and air quality.  However, for this certification, LEED has developed a list of environmentally preferable products.  Linoleum, cork, bamboo, FSC-certified wood, sealed concrete and what’s called “recycled-content flooring” all qualify. 
 

• Mannington manufactures only engineered hardwood flooring products as opposed to solid wood flooring.  Engineered construction is a more efficient use of natural resources.
• Logs are rotary peeled on a lathe using a knife instead of a sawblade, thus eliminating the “kerf” sawdust waste.
• All process wood waste is burned to create process steam to heat the logs, dry the veneer and heat the buildings at the mill.
• Mannington’s high quality face ply veneers are purchased from mills located in the northern United States.  Innerplies are produced from logs harvested within 100 miles of the Epes, AL mill.
• All finishing system components are made of 100% solids and contain no VOC’s (volatile organic compounds).
• Hardwood veneer layers are bonded with a water-based, solvent-free, formaldehyde-free adhesive.

Wood flooring has a great story to tell from both a macro-and micro-environmental perspective.  That is, wood flooring is good, not only for the environment in the big picture, but also for the interior environment of customers’ homes, and that is something health conscious customers should be aware of.

“One of the often untold stories about wood flooring is that because it does not collect dust and allergens, many health professionals say that wood flooring is a good choice for homes where one or more inhabitants suffer from allergies,” says Ed Korczak, CEO and executive director of the National Wood Flooring Association.

In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 50 million Americans suffer from some form of allergies and 20 million suffer from asthma.  The National Center for Healthy Housing (www.centerforhealthyhousing.org) and other recommend hard surface floors such as hardwood to help eliminate dust, animal dander, microorganisms and other potential allergens in the home.

It is our opinion that the maintenance of hard surface flooring is extremely important to the health of individuals who suffer from asthma and allergies.  If dust and dander are allowed to accumulate and swirl around in the air, then any hard surface flooring benefits are voided.  A daily routine that picks up and removes this material will prove to be more effective.

Silver Release™   helps keep all your Healthy Home™ carpets naturally fresh, clean and free from bacteria, mold and mildew using silver and copper ions.

People everywhere are more concerned than ever before about the spread of bacteria, mold and mildew.  Consumers are demanding products that contribute to a cleaner, safer environment.  Proven effective against a broad spectrum of mold and mildew, Beaulieu’s Silver Release™ patented fiber technology brings permanent, natural and effective antimicrobial protection to your carpets.

Silver, a well-known antimicrobial, has a long history of preventing illness.  In fact, the saying “born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth” is largely based on the fourteenth century practice of placing silver spoons in the mouths of wealthy children to protect them from bacteria.  During the 1800’s silver was also placed in the eyes of newborns – a practice that continues today.  More recently, the medical community has incorporated silver into treatments for burn patients as well as for use in instruments such as stents and catheters.

The key to the effectiveness of the Silver Release™ antimicrobial agent is the unique and balanced combination of silver and copper ions.  Moisture in the environment, the same moisture required for microbes to grow, initiates the release of silver and copper ions from the fibers.  These ions bind to the microbes, inactivating them.  The maximum release rate ensures continuous antimicrobial action for the life of the product. 
Benefits:

· Powerful antimicrobial technology that uses silver and copper ions – elements found in nature.
· Proven effective in inhibiting the growth of destructive microbes that cause odor, discoloration, staining, and deterioration in pre-clinical trials.
· Environmentally–friendly; silver ions are non-leaching.
· Can be woven into almost any fabric from cotton to rayon and from polypropylene to nylon, without changing the characteristics of the fiber.
· Completely safe for human and food contact.
· Built into Green Smart™, the fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, for a totally green product.  Unlike other antimicrobials  that are applied via topical coatings, the silver release additive is built into the fiber resulting in permanent antimicrobial protection that lasts the life of the  product.  It will never wear or wash off.

Although we might not normally associate carpet with improved indoor air quality, it does have a very positive effect. A misperception is that people with asthma and allergies should avoid carpet in the home. But much of today’s carpet is made from harmless materials found in clothing and other everyday fabrics, such as polyester, nylon and olefin fibers, which don’t trouble most people.  Gravity causes common household particles, such as dust, pollen and pet and insect dander, to fall to the floor. Carpet fibers trap the particles, reducing their continued circulation in the air. Proper cleaning with Carpet & Rug Institute approved vacuums effectively removes dust and allergens from the carpet, locks them in the machine and helps keep them out of the air we breathe.  For more information about indoor air quality, go to [www.carpet-rug.org]
 

Healthy

Wood flooring has a great story to tell from both a macro- and micro-environmental perspective.  That is, wood flooring is good, not only for the environment in the big picture, but also for the interior environment of customers’ homes, and that is something health conscious customers should be aware of.

“One of the often untold stories about wood flooring is that because it does not collect dust and allergens, many health professionals say that wood flooring is a good choice for homes where one or more inhabitants suffer from allergies,” says Ed Korczak, CEO and executive director of the National Wood Flooring Association.

In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 50 million Americans suffer from some form of allergies and 20 million suffer from asthma.  The National Center for Healthy Housing (www.centerforhealthyhousing.org) and other recommend hard surface floors such as hardwood to help eliminate dust, animal dander, microorganisms and other potential allergens in the home.

Renewable

Consumers who buy green focus on many issues, but products that come from renewable resources rank high on the list, and wood flooring fits that bill perfectly.  Whether wood flooring is made from domestic North American hardwoods or from exotic imported species, the good news is that the world’s forests are alive and well and proliferating. 

According to a recent report by the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, the U.S. has one of the world’s largest and most productive forest resources, with more than two billion acres of forest area – and annual growth of U.S. forested acres exceeds harvests by 37% each year.  The nations’ forest land area is still about two-thirds the size it was 400 years ago, in spite of the conversion of 370 million acres of forest land to other uses, principally to agriculture.  The resort’s authors add that more trees are growing in America’s forests today than at any time since the early 1900’s.  Net annual forest growth has increased62% since 1952 and total growth per acre has increased 71%.  Nationally, standing timber volume per acre in U.S. forests is 30% greater today than it was in 1952.

There’s also good news in other parts of the world, according to a November 2006 report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  “Contrary to common belief, forests in many nations are expanding, not shrinking,” the researchers concluded, adding that from 1990 to 2005, forest area increased in 18 of the 50 nations studied.

“There is a trend towards in improvement in forests both in terms of the area they cover and in terms of their condition,” said Roger Sedjo of Resources for the Future, an independent institute in Washington, D.C.  The researchers used data from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
That’s true for most species in North America, but some imported species have gained environmental cachet.  High on the list of renewable wood sources are cork and bamboo, both of which have become increasingly popular in recent years, in part because both species are able to regenerate quickly.

Recyclable

Reclaimed wood flooring has also grown in popularity in recent years, with several companies specializing I the manufacture of wood flooring made from reclaimed structural timers, as well as timber recovered from river bottoms.  If newly harvested timber is environmentally responsible – and it is when it is harvested from sustainably managed forests- reclaimed wood will appeal even more to some consumers.  SmartWood Certification Systems, an international sustainability certification body, estimates that reclaiming one million board feet of lumber preserves on thousand acres of old growth forest.

The National Wood Flooring Association currently lists more than 130 companies specializing in reclaimed wood flooring in 21 species, ranging from beech to walnut.

Sustainable

Many wood flooring manufacturers have gone the extra mile to ensure that their products come from sustainably managed forest resources, whether the source in sin North America or elsewhere. 

“As an industry, we believe that only wood logged and approved by the country of origin for export should be used in wood flooring,” says NWFA’s Korczak.

You may also find that wood flooring will appeal to a segment of the building trades that emphasizes green building principles.  The National Association of Home Builders, for example, has developed a green-building program that recognizes, among other things, the use of renewable and recycled materials such as wood flooring.

Will all customers place a high value on eco-friendly flooring?  Probably not, but being able to address the green aspects of wood flooring may just be the key selling point that will enable customers to purchase the wood floors they want with a clear environmental conscience.

The Author:  Rick Berg, is a technical writer/advisor for the National Wood Flooring Association.  Rick also writes for Floor Focus Magazine where this article appeared in the February 2008 Issue.

One of the most pressing environmental concerns in our day is what to do with the billions of pounds of post-consumer waste that is discarded every year. This waste is rapidly filling our landfills and can pose serious environmental threats. As the largest recycler in the flooring industry, Mohawk has developed several initiatives to address this problem, and these initiatives are already making a real difference for the environment. We are taking all kinds of items that have reached the end of their natural life cycle – items that would otherwise be thrown away – and are using them to make high quality carpet backings, carpet cores, nylon resins, and other products. Here are some examples of post-consumer waste we are keeping out of landfills and putting to good use.

Plastic Bottles – As one of the world’s largest recyclers of plastic bottles, we take approximately 25% of all the plastic beverage and food bottles collected in North America. and recycle them into carpet fibers. This diverts an enormous amount of PET plastic from landfills.

Tires / Crumb Rubber – Tires are one of the largest and most hazardous kinds of post-consumer waste. We divert over 30 million lbs. of tires from landfills every year by turning the resulting crumb rubber into thousands of designer doormats. That represents 2.1 million tires, 83 times the number of tires on taxicabs in the whole city of Chicago.

Auto Glass – Several of our most popular backing systems now contain significant amounts of post-consumer automobile glass in their material make up.

Bottle Caps / Labels – In addition to recycling the bottles themselves, we even capture the bottle caps and labels and use them to make high quality plastic carpet cores.

Shrink-Wrap – In an effort to divert even more plastic from landfills, we take used shrink-wrap and incorporate it into the manufacture of our carpet cores.  

Fibers – The extrusion and tufting of our various carpet face fibers results in significant amounts of PET waste. Instead of simply disposing of this waste, we send it to our materials reclamation center and recycle it for use in other products such as synthetic carpet padding.  

Post-Consumer Carpet – Through our ReCover program, we collect old carpet that is being replaced and recycle. Not only do we use collected Mohawk carpeting, but we will even pick up and recycle other manufacturers’ brands. This eliminates virtually all of the major environmental effects of carpet replacement.

Latex – We recycle latex based carpets and use the resulting post-consumer content to make more carpeting by processing the carpet material through several ingenious steps and purifying it to make many new carpet components, such as backing systems.