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Green flooring options
April 07, 2009
By Jessica Tobacman, marketing & communications coordinator for NARI
This article was first published in Home Improvement Magazine.
There are many options for green flooring materials. Substances that don’t off-gas, are made from waste products or that reuse items are preferable, recommends Ron Cowgill, CR, CKBR, president of D&R Services Unlimited in Glenview, Ill. These include rubber flooring, which is made from recycled tires.
Using locally produced, reclaimed wood is another environmentally friendly option. These materials have low carbon footprints because they travel only short distances to their destinations and because they have been cut down prior to use in current projects, so they aren’t comprised of any new wood. Although reclaimed lumber is unlikely to have a perfectly smooth texture, contractors can still use it for flooring. Another option is to improve upon its texture for use throughout the house, including in flooring. “[It] can be milled and sanded down for anywhere,” Cowgill says.
Although there are many green products on the market, many companies are marketing their items for sale as environmentally friendly, whether they are or not. “Anybody can put a green angle on any product. … You really have to pay attention,” Cowgill notes.
Trade-offs, courtesy of Cowgill
- Laminated flooring, including glulams or glued laminated timber, is a product that may or many not be considered green, depending on which factors are taken into consideration. Flooring that is laminated reduces the number of trees that are felled and the amount of lumber that reaches the landfill, but cannot be recycled.
- Bamboo is another option that involves trade-offs. Although it can be thought of as green because it is durable and sustainable, it appears less environmentally friendly when its embodied energy is calculated. The energy used to manufacture and send bamboo to the location where it is installed is high in the United States because remodelers usually ship it from China.
- Cork is another product that may be thought of as green if a major factor taken into consideration is sustainability. It comes from the bark of the cork oak tree. Approximately every decade, the cork is peeled off the trunk and branches. The bark grows back and its removal does not disturb the growth of the tree itself.
- A downside to using cork flooring, however, is that it also has a large carbon footprint when shipped to the United States because of the distance from the point of origin to the supply location. As a somewhat soft substance it is advantageous to install cork in rooms such as the kitchen or bathroom, and to avoid hallways and foyers, which have a lot of foot traffic.
- Marmoleum, or natural linoleum, is flooring plagued with a different problem. It is clearly a green product, made from natural items, including linseed oil and jute. Although Marmoleum is heavily marketed, it’s highly unpopular, largely because the style is reminiscent of that of the floors of older homes.
- “[In contrast,] everyone wants ceramic tile and wood.” Any type of reclaimed lumber is environmentally friendly. Ceramic tile is relatively durable, doesn’t off-gas, is mildew- and mold-resistant, and often incorporates recycled materials. However, it does require periodic maintenance and more energy to produce it than to make some alternatives, including bamboo and wood.
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