Green Products

We have seen tremendous growth in the green residential market during the past two years. How does the green movement impact the flooring industry?

Flooring represents the interior foundation of a home and it is a critical component of any green home rating system. It’s important for homeowners to understand that the choices they make on flooring has an impact on our environment; from the energy of the product, to its regular content, to its impact on the occupant’s health. The most important thing to realize is that the green movement is not a fad-it’s a vital component in the future direction of sustainable homes. Consumers are clearly more aware of environmental issues. As a result, sustainability has become a popular focus.

Wood Industry

Anderson

All of Anderson's products come from verified sustainable forests. The company was also the first to introduce engineered hardwood construction that produces almost 50 percent more finished product from every tree harvested; to use solvent-free stains and finishes on wood products; and the first to introduce PermaColor, a chemical-free way of shading wood.

Armstrong

More than 90 percent of Armstrong hardwood is domestically sourced, and the company has a vested interest in protecting the forests where its raw materials originate.

BR-111

BR-111 Exotic Hardwood Flooring offers 25 exotic wood species in eight different product lines that are all eco-consciously harvested, preserving Brazil’s natural resources. BR-111’s Design and Architectural Series features plywood cores that are made from pre-consumer recycled materials.

Mohawk

Mohawk is engineered hardwoods are now made with PureBond Technology, a process which replaces urea formaldehyde adhesives traditionally used in the manufacturing of composite wood products. The company is also reclaiming wood from around the world. Reclaimed wood products utilize antique elm and heart pine flooring recovered from structures in the United States and Asia.

Mannington

All of Mannington’s offerings produced in North America are FloorScore certified for indoor air quality – the most stringent indoor air quality standards.

Cork

Targeting the ever-growing environmentally conscious consumers is a smart choice and cork has always been a great environmental choice. It contains recycled content and is a rapidly renewable resource. It is hypoallergenic and insulating. Cork helps global warming, a quality which should make cork's future strong in any country.

Bamboo

Bamboo’s eco-friendly attributes are plentiful. Bamboo flooring is a beautiful, versatile fiber that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and gentle on the environment making it an ideal choice for environmentally conscious builders, architects, designers and consumers.

Rapidly renewable: Growing up to two feet daily, Moso bamboo reaches full maturity in six years, compared with 60 years or more for hardwood trees. It can also be harvested repeatedly from the same root system.

Relieving pressure on degraded forests: Bamboo relieves pressure on degraded forests and reduces global warming. Bamboo’s leafy canopy releases 35 percent more oxygen than a grove of hardwood trees.

Bamboo’s eco-friendly attributes are plentiful. One misperception in the marketplace is that all bamboo flooring is soft and not as durable as expected.

Carpet Industry

Dixie Home

In 2009, Dixie Home introduced DuraSilk, a PET continuous filament eco-friendly fiber system. DuraSilk features a soft hand along with resistance to crushing, piling. soling and staining.

Mastland

Masland’s Collection includes a range of cut-pile styles that are constructed of 100 percent Stainmaster Luxerell BCF Nylon, a fiber proven to be an excellent choice for sustainability.

Mohawk

Thirty seven percent of the SmartStrand polymer is made from renewable content like corn sugar and is estimated to save the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline for every seven yards of SmartStrand made – a savings that adds up to 10 million gallons each year. Mohawk’s EverStrand PET recycled product line is responsible for the diversion of more than 3 billion plastic bottles from landfills each year. The EverStrand products feature up to 100 percent post-consumer recycled content. Mohawk also uses latex in its backings from DowChemical made with a technology process powered with methane gas recovered from the landfill.

Beaulieu’s environmental initiatives

Beauliew recognizes the importance of conventional approaches to sustainability and have made significant reductions in waste generated while lowering water and energy usage. Turning post-consumer trash into a tile backing system called Nexterra, it uses the highest post-consumer recycled content, PET soda and water bottles in the marketplace.

Top 5 Sustainable Selling Points:

Carpet

• Indoor air quality-carpet reduces the number of airborne allergens by trapping them in the fiber until they can be vacuumed away
• Carpet adds a layer of soft insulation, reducing heat and energy costs
• Sound absorption.
• Many carpets contain recycled materials
• Carpets can be recycled.

Wood

• Sustainable growth
• A natural resource
• Can be recycled or reclaimed and made into new products
• Easy to maintain
• Durable

Vinyl

• Affordable
• Long life cycle
• Easy to maintain
• Wide range of design
• Recyclable

Laminates

• On average, 75 percent or more of a laminate floorboard is comprised of recycled wood chips or sawdust
• Glueless installations
• Nearly void of volatile organic compounds, laminates are certified for aiding in healthy indoor environments
• Improving laminate technology enables it to have a long product lifecycle
• When customers decide to upgrade to another floor, they can donate their laminate floors to charity or recycle them

Ceramic Tile and Stone

• Ceramic tile is made of materials that can come from the earth, including clay, quartz and silica
• Ceramic tile promotes a healthy indoor air quality because it does not absorb odors from smoke, paint fumes or other containments.
• Tiles made of recycled content help divert waste materials that would otherwise end up in the landfill
• When maintained properly, ceramic tile can be cleaned with hot water alone no chemicals required
• Although tile is energy intensive to produce, the negative environmental impacts can be offset by tiles longevity

Jim Boyd’s Flooring America located in Timonium near Baltimore, Hunt Valley, Cockeysville, Towson, and Baltimore County, Maryland, MD.
Baltimore’s premier green flooring products showroom and installation throughout the Baltimore-Maryland Area.

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