Dec 4 2008
EcoTimber launched the online "Eco Friendly Flooring Guide" to explain the importance of supply chains, sources, and the manufacturing process of wood flooring in qualifying for "eco-friendly" status.
As the demand for environmentally friendly products and green building (or LEED buildings) rises, so does the demand for high quality and qualified eco friendly flooring products including bamboo flooring, engineered hardwoods and FSC Certified floors.
The Eco Friendly Flooring Guide provides a thorough overview on sustainability and health (http://www.ecotimber.com/guide/flooring-sustainability-health.html) in forestry, logging and the hardwood flooring industry. Understanding the impact wood flooring has on the environment as well as health and indoor air quality are critical components for environmentally friendly flooring manufacturing.
"Even within the hardwood flooring industry, there is a lot of confusion out there regarding the definitions of terms like 'green' and 'eco friendly'," said EcoTimber's Marketing Director, Brad van Unen. "For example, take sustainable forestry. We believe strongly that the Forest Stewardship Council's standards are the most stringent of any certification body. But it's not enough simply to say that our floors are FSC certified. So we developed the Guide to show what exactly FSC certification means, and how it compares to competing claims, many of which we see simply as greenwashing."
The Guide also reviews the importance of the supply chain and sources in developing eco-friendly floors, FSC certification and LEED credit points, wood treatments and finishes, environmental factors, as well as what to look for in sustainable hardwood flooring products.