As appeared in the November/December 2007 edition of ASID's
Texas
Gulf Coast Chapter's newsletter, "The Angle."
Original article submitted by Kim M. Wahlgren of "Hardwood Floors."
Concern for the environment is back at the forefront of almost everyone´s mind. Everywhere you look someone is talking about the green movement or trying to get their product approved by some green labeling organization. Global warming is a daily topic on the news. Major corporations, even Wal-Mart, are rolling out their own green initiatives. Green building has become more prevalent, including a high-profile overhaul of the entire U.S. Capital complex. Many federal, state and local municipalities have mandated green building for publicly funded new construction.
Whether or not you are concerned about the environmental issues, some of your potential customers certainly are. To satisfy them, we must become green-savvy and able to source green products. Keep in mind that “green” means different things to different people. Here is an overview of some of the aspects that can come into play when discussing environmental wood flooring products.
Where To Start
A first step in discussing wood flooring as a green product is to throw out conventional logic. That logic says that cutting down trees is bad and destroys the forest. Actually, the majority of professionally managed hardwood forest in the U.S. and Canada today are sustainably harvested. This means that foresters analyze each area of the forest tree by tree and decide what percentage to remove, leaving the majority to grow and the ecosystem intact. In reality, most of the forest in the U.S. and Canada are destroyed by development, and not the need for timber. When forests are given an economic value, it creates an incentive to maintain areas as forest, and not as subdivisions, strip malls or parking lots. Trees are the ultimate renewable resource, helping reduce global-warming-causing carbon dioxide in the process.
The green story for wood includes not only the forest but also the flooring mill. The latest floor manufacturing equipment scans each piece of lumber for its most efficient use, and oftentimes, the wood dust created in the milling process is then used to power the mill or the dry kilns. Engineered wood flooring, by its nature uses the raw material even more efficiently than solid wood flooring.
To lend scientific support to these facts, the NWFA’s Industry Research Foundation has contracted with the University of Wisconsin to conduct an environmental impact study on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of solid wood flooring versus non-wood flooring alternatives. LCA also referred to as Life Cycle Analysis or “cradle-to grave” analysis is defined by the ISO as a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle. In this study, wood flooring’s impact in terms of energy consumption, air pollution, water pollution, solid-waste pollution and climate change will be examined relative to competing non-wood products. The results are scheduled for release in October, and an LCA study for engineered wood flooring is to be done next.
Hardwood Flooring Choices
Based on what is already known about wood flooring, it is logical to assume that the LCA study will reveal wood to be an especially green product when compared with other types of floor coverings. But many environmentally minded customers will want to know more than that; they will ask: Which wood floor is the most green of all?
While the answer to this question is debatable to some people in the industry, some wood flooring products have impeccable environmental credentials. Reclaimed flooring, whether recovered form the bottom of a river or milled from an old factory floor, is one of them. Another is Cork flooring, made from the bark of a type of oak tree that grows in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The bark is harvested and grows back without harming the tree. Bamboo (which is a type of grass) is also considered to be green because of its ability to rapidly regenerate. However discriminating environmental customers take care to avoid bamboo products constructed with urea-formaldehyde-based adhesives (some would argue that rapid regeneration doesn’t make a product any greener than wood products from a sustainably managed hardwood forest).
Consumers who purchase domestic species can be reasonably confident that the wood came from a sustainably harvested forest. On the other hand with the multitude of exotic species from around the world, it is often difficult to know exactly where the wood came from. Prompted by recent widespread media attention paid to illegal logging overseas, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the source for their tropical woods.
Those looking for a guarantee that their hardwood floor (whether in North America or abroad) came from a sustainably managed forest must turn to one of the certification systems currently in place.
Building Green
More than likely in the near future you will probably find yourself working on a green-certified construction project. If so, you need to know what the green construction certification programs are, and which wood flooring certifications they accept.
Wood Accessories
Eco-friendly wood flooring also involves other products such as finishes and adhesives that should also be green. There is no easy definition for an “environmentally responsible” finish or adhesive. Customers want different features – some want to avoid products containing petroleum, while others focus on “natural” ingredients. Some may consider the safety involved when using the product, yet others take proximity of manufacturing into account. Still others try to consider the entire LCA of those products although formal LCA is not yet readily available for most finishes and adhesives. Independent green product certification systems such as Green guard or Green Seal exist but are not widely used in the wood flooring industry.
All this considered, the easiest aspect to focus on is VOC content but just because a solvent doesn’t emit VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) as defined by the EPA, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s harmless. The EPA considers VOCs to be organic compounds that react with nitrogen oxide in heat and sunlight to create ground-level smog. The solvents used in finishes and adhesives determine the VOC content levels. This us usually measured in grams per liter (g/l). The EPA says that architectural coatings (including wood floor finishes) are second only to automobiles between consumer and commercial products as producers of VOC emissions.
VOC laws for most finishes have gotten tougher in recent years, especially in California and the Northeast. This resulted in some of the oil modified polyurethane manufacturers reformulating their products to have lower VOC contents. Nationally, current regulations mandate that VOC levels for most wood floor finishes be less than 450 g/l. In the Northeast and California regulations are tougher. In the Northeast the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) has a VOC limit of 350 g/l. The state of California has a limit set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) of 350g/l. The Los Angeles area is set at a lower level of 275 g/l by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD).
Waterborne finishes tend to have the lowest VOC levels, and some waterborne products have extremely low levels. Check with the manufacturer and the product’s MSDS. Some products, such as shellac, wax or natural oils seem like they would be environmentally friendly (shellac is created by secretions from the lac bug), however the added solvents that enable the products to be applied to a wood floor have to be considered. The bottom line, regardless of type for any product the contractor should check the MSDS and directions. They give insight into the actual solvents used and can also offer red flags, such as suggestions to turnoff all sources of ignition when using the product (a good indication that a powerful solvent is involved).
Adhesives have also undergone major changes due to VOC laws and the demand for green products. It’s a common joke among veteran wood flooring contractors that years ago they did not have to do drugs – their wood flooring adhesives were enough. Fortunately, for environmentally concerned consumers (and installers), adhesives have come a long way. Today, the CARB limit is 15% by weight (and due to change on January 1, 2009 to 7%) and the SCAQMD limit is 100 g/l. There currently are no EPA limits for wood flooring adhesives, but they are expected to adopt the CARB limits.
Several manufactures now offer no-VOC, solvent-free wood floor adhesives. There are no hard and fast rules for which types of adhesives typically have relatively low or no VOCs. There are several high-solids, polymeric resin adhesives and at least one moisture-cure adhesive on the market that are no-VOC or trace-VOC solvent-free. Details on VOC levels and solvents are available to contractors by checking with the manufacturer, and also make sure the adhesive works with the flooring they’ve chosen. Again, MSDS and product directions are a good source for insight on solvents in products.
Building certification programs vary on how they treat finishes and adhesives:
LEED-New Construction and LEED for Homes: Adhesives and finishes must comply with the VOC limits of the SCAQMD rules (275 g/l for wood floor finish and 100 g/l for wood flooring adhesives).
NAHB Model Green Building Guidelines: Wood flooring finishes and adhesives are not specifically addressed.
Green Globes: Credit is given under Indoor Environment rules for “low emitting, chemically inert and non-toxic” chemicals, adhesives and sealant (including floor finishes).
Wake up everybody, this time around the green movement is not just a fad. Law requires low-VOC products, and green building is increasingly being chosen and even mandated. It is a must that wood flooring professionals become fluent in the green aspects of the industry, it is not only environmentally responsible but its also good for business.