Green Options in Hardsurface Floors

By Amy Ramirez, ASID Eco Committee Member
ReSource Floors, ASID Industry Partner

Thankfully “Green” is finally becoming a mainstream word. The green options amongst all finishing products are growing. However, many of these products have been “green washed”. Small steps towards being environmentally friendly are aggrandized for marketing purposes. I have actually been told that regular vinyl products are ecologically friendly because they lasts so long. Not quite. There are however some great options in the industry.

Mannington does have a sheet vinyl product, Relay RE, which is made with at least 35% recycled content. This may not seem like much but 20% of that is post consumer. They also have their Premium Tile Flooring collection that is made with content from post consumer drywall. Since the inception of his program in 2006 Mannington has reclaimed and recycled an average of 200 tons of drywall each year. www.mannington.com

Armstrong also has a number of environmentally friendly products. Migrations is a bio based VCT made of corn which of course is rapidly renewable. In addition, their Marmorette, which is their brand of linoleum, has been green before green was in. This material is made of rapidly renewable raw materials, linseed oil and jute, and contains recycled content, wood and cork flour. www.armstrong.com

There are also a variety of rubber floors that include up to 93% recycled post consumer material from truck tires.

These days there are many tiles that offer recycled content as well, however most of these are still pre consumer.

Finally, there are more options than ever if hardwood is what your client is interested in. The products containing the FSC or Forest Stewardship Councils’ certification is higher than ever before. In addition, there are many color and style options now available in the renewable products like cork, bamboo or eucalyptus.

Amy Ramirez is the Design Center Manager at ReSource Floors and has been in the flooring business for ten years. ReSource Floors has provided the premier full service flooring experience since 1989. We promote sustainable business practices throughout our organization by taking a holistic approach to the environment and our goal of sustainability. We are proud to say that we recycle most of the carpet and pad we demo from job sites, we have two LEED accredited professionals on staff to assist our customers in eco projects and we offer a wide array of environmentally friendly products in our showroom.

ReSource Floors Inc.
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http://www.resourcefloors.com/
"Service with Purpose"