When looking for a flooring product to put in your home, you might want to consider this alternative, instead of traditonal flooring. Today's average consumer is interested in healthy living and looks for products that support this ideal. Natural Cork is one of those products

Natural Cork is environmentally correct as well as improving health and comfort for human indoor living. In our homes, Natural Cork floors create a warm, comfortable, resilient surface that is gentle underfoot, is anti-microbial, will not spread flame, and is inherently resistant to molds, mildews, and common pests. From harvest to production to installation, cork is environmentally sustainable, non-toxic, and healthy.
 

Natural Cork floors contribute to satisfying LEED credits for Rapidly Renewable Resources, Recycled Content, and Low Emitting Materials under the LEED Rating System. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings as administered by U.S. Green Building Council. USFloors is a member of the USGBC.

The determining factor for indoor air quality is the quantity of noxious emanations from volatile organic compounds in adhesives and finishes. Natural Cork floors are produced with adhesives and finishes from European manufacturers and meet the E1 standard, a European test method to measure formaldehyde emissions. Natural Cork core board material that provides the structure for the cork veneer is also formaldehyde-free.

Cork wall tiles provide excellent thermal and acoustic insulation. They are also resilient: marks and indentations typically disappear within a few minutes. Cork is naturally fire resistant, and also resists mold, mildew, and microbial growth. Suberin, a naturally-occuring substance in the cork, also repels insects. Long-lasting, easy to maintain, and non-toxic.

http://www.usfloorsllc.com/products/natural-cork-collection/cork-maintenance/green-building-with-natural-cork/

Photo credit: elgreco in bethesda

The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) at the University of Washington conducted a study on the environmental impact of lumber production.  They have interesting findings that might shock you regarding the sustainablility of wood.  Wood is among the most energy-efficient and environmentally friendly of all building materials.  Wood buildings are readily adapted and are a renewable resource, a characteristic of unparalleled value.  

CORRIM is a non-profit consortium of 15 research institutions formed to research the use of wood as a renewable material. In the study, CORRIM used typical building designs to construct hypothetical homes, and then compared the environmental benefits of wood-framed versus steel-framed houses in a cold climate and wood versus concrete in a warm climate.  The study looked at environmental effects across the entire life cycle of the home and produced the following results:

Energy Use:

• Construction of the wood-frame home used 17% less energy than the matching steel-frame home.
• Construction of the wood-frame home used 16% less energy than the matching concrete-frame home.
• The energy consumption measured included not just electricity, but also diesel and fuel oil to extract and haul materials, natural gas to generate steam in lumber mills, and electricity for steel mills.  

Global Warming:

• The global warming potential of the wood-frame home was 26% lower than the steel-frame home.
• The global warming potential for the wood-frame home was 31% lower than for the concrete-frame home.
• Using wood products instead of steel or concrete can further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels because more than half the energy used by wood mills comes from biomass – bark, sawdust and other residuals – a renewable source of energy.  

These floors look beautiful. For those of you who haven’t followed this project on a regular basis, the floors are approx. 100 year old reclaimed long-leaf pine. The material comes out of an old church in South Texas and has been milled to T/G material. The floors had been installed for about 2 months and had plenty of tile to acclimate. Sanding was done with a dust reduction system to reduce the amount of sanding dust produced during the finishing process. The products used for sealing and finishing are another example of how we continually use the best green building products in the industry. Finishing products are made by Bona and are low VOC Greenguard certified products. Visit Bona’s website for more info. During the finishing process there was never any of the strong odor usually associated with finishing wood floors. This is especially beneficial in a green renovation or remodeling project if we are only working on part of the home and the owners live there while we work.