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  In addition to types of green flooring, there are products that can be used in conjunction with flooring that may possess green qualities. The most common are adhesives and cleaners.

There are further considerations than just the actual flooring that will be purchased. The installation method and products used should be taken into consideration as well as how the final product will be maintained.

Adhesives

Adhesives are just as important to consider when purchasing flooring as the flooring itself. Adhesives with harmful toxins can damage indoor air quality by giving off harmful gasses.

Tips for Adhesives:

• Choose low VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds)
• Do not contain formaldehyde
• Qualify for the Carpet and Rug Institutes Indoor Air Quality green label

Cleaners

Cleaners may also contribute to indoor air quality and should, therefore, be considered as part of a green flooring project.

Tips for Cleaners:

• Choose products with natural ingredients
• Consider homemade cleaners like vinegar, baking soda or mild dishwashing detergent
• Read labels thoroughly for ingredients

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile can be viewed as more green in some lights than in others. Its weight uses more fuel for transportation than other products, which leaves its overall green value unclear.

Benefits of Ceramic Tile:

• Rarely releases emissions
• Some contain recycled content
• Long lasting and not replaced frequently
• Requires little maintenance

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Linoleum

Linoleum is not a new product and has always had many environmental benefits. The natural raw materials used to create Linoleum are available in abundance: linseed oil, rosin, wood flour, cork flour, ecologically responsible pigments and jute. The plants and trees that supply linoleum’s raw materials also contribute to the production of oxygen and the subsequent reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses present in the atmosphere.

Benefits of Linoleum:

• Made from all natural materials
• Natural raw materials used are available in abundance
• Raw materials are harvested with little energy use
• Main energy resource is the sun
• Can be recycled
• Can be safely added to landfill refuse sites (natural decomposition)
• Fully biodegradable
• Does not release harmful substances or gases
• Adhesives are available that are 100% solvent free and meet all low VOC requirements
• Does not require chemicals to maintain
• Not adverse to air quality

Hardwood

Hardwood is a great green flooring choice because of its natural, renewable, and recyclable properties. Not all hardwoods, however, are automatically environmentally friendly. Hardwoods that are harvested without replanting the forest can lead to an adverse impact on the environment. There are a variety of programs that certify which hardwood products are environmentally friendly. The key is to look for the certification label or materials to verify that a product meets green standards. The most common product certification programs are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) that certify wood from specially-managed forests.

Purchase hardwood floors. It is recommend that hardwood flooring be certified as environmentally friendly to ensure that the wood is not “clear cut[cm1] ” (is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in a forest sector are cut down) but harvested in a sustainable fashion. Only 4% of the nation’s own native, old-growth forests are still standing. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer and consumer of timber woods and products.

Benefits of Hardwood:

• Natural Resource
• Enduring lifecycle
• Renewable
• Recyclable
• Suitable for a “healthy home” environment
• Forests are managed for replanting

Natural Stone

There is no generally accepted data on the environmental impacts of using stone as a building material. Likely impacts relate to water and energy consumption, yields from raw materials, recyclability, and other measures that are considered in life cycle assessments, as well as energy used in transportation, processing, and selling the material.

 Benefits of Stone:

• Natural product
• Enduring lifecycle
• Easy to maintain
• Recyclable
• Quarry and manufacturing use best practices
• Can be reclaimed

Carpet

According to the Carpet and Rug Institute, the carpet industry is minimizing carpet’s impact on the environment through the new “3 Rs,” which stand for reduce, reuse and recycle. When carpet reaches the end of its long life, it is reused to make new carpet or is recycled into a variety of products. The Green Label and Green Label Plus programs from the Carpet and Rug Institute ensure that customers are purchasing among the lowest-emitting carpet, adhesive, and cushion products on the market.

  Benefits of Carpet:

Bamboo

Bamboo is a rapidly renewing resource that matures in three years. There has just recently been a bamboo introduced as certified to meeting various environmental production or preservation standards, so it is important to try to learn as much as you can about the bamboo you are interested in before purchasing it. Most bamboo is grown in Asia and the impact of transporting it to the United States market should be considered.

 Benefits of Bamboo:

• Rapidly renewing
• Quickly matures
• Regenerates without replanting
• Requires minimal fertilization or pesticides

Green Flooring Solutions – Types of green flooring

Trying to determine whether a particular product is “green” can be a daunting experience. It is important to work with a retailer who is knowledgeable about green flooring products. These dealers can help identify products that are certified as environmentally friendly, assist in ensuring the installation meets environmental standards and provide information about the various green programs that are available. These can often lead to tax benefits and even better financing of your new home or floor.

Each flooring type has green solutions. Products discussed here include cork, bamboo, carpet, stone, hardwood, linoleum, and ceramic tile.

Cork 

Cork represents a special kind of renewable resource because it is a harvested resource (only the bark is harvested from the tree). Cork floors are made from the waste cork that makes wine stoppers. A law in the 1930’s called “The 9 Year Law” was passed to keep cork from being harvested any sooner than every 9 years. The tree has to reach 60 cm in circumference before it can be harvested. The first harvest from a cork tree can only occur at age 25.

Benefits of Cork:

• Renewable resource
• Recycled product
• Never harvested before it’s mature
• Tree is not destroyed or damaged when harvested
• Maximum benefits are achieved by using water-based finishes and adhesives

What is Green Flooring and the factors that determine green?

Green flooring includes any flooring that is sustainable, eco-friendly, contains recycled content, is recyclable, leaves a small carbon footprint or has low VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compound). There are different degrees of green associated with different types of flooring.

Other considerations:

Raw Materials

• Consider products that begin as a natural product (wool, wood, cork) or are made from recycled materials
• Soda bottles can be melted down and recycled into carpet fiber
• Certain carpet manufacturers have the ability to take post consumer carpet and break it down to its original raw material. The new material can be manufactured back into carpet without any degradation of quality to performance or styling.
• How products are harvested is critical
• Try to select sustainably harvested products
• Consider salvaged products
• Choose products that are certified as environmentally friendly

Transportation

• Be cautious of products that have to be transported long distances
• Choose products made or grown within 500 miles
• Shop locally when possible from vendors that supply locally

Installation

• Use adhesives with low VOC’s
• Choose water-based finishes over solvent based ones
• Refer to the adhesives listed here:

Use and Maintenance

• Once installed, some floors continue to give off gas compounds
• Avoid less durable floors, which have to be replaced more often
• Avoid high maintenance floors that use harsh chemicals
• Consider floors that don’t have to be refinished

End of life

• Ask yourself, what will happen to the floor when it has reached the end of its life cycle? 
• Can the floor be recycled or reused? 
• Can the floor be donated? 
• In general, synthetic products don’t decay, but they can be recycled