With public awareness
about
environmental issues at an all-time high,
consumers, designers, architects, and
builders increasingly are
doing their part by choosing products
that have a minimal impact on the
environment. When it
comes to flooring, the facts are clear:
wood
flooring is an environmentally friendly
flooring option.
Wood flooring is the most abundantly
renewable flooring
material available. Sustainable
forest management makes it
possible to harvest wood
without any negative impact on the environment,
because trees are a renewable resource that
can be replaced time and
time again.
Wood is produced in a factory called a forest by
a renewable source of energy called the sun.
Growing trees absorb harmful carbon
dioxide and release
life-giving oxygen, making wood your green
flooring choice.
Check out the facts:
Hardwood forests are sustainable
– Average annual
net growth for hardwoods is greater
than average annual removals
(Source: US
Department of Agriculture Forest Service)
Hardwood floors are healthy
– Indoor air quality
is excellent with wood floors
(Source: US Environmental
Protection Agency)
Wood reduces global warming
– It is a carbon
neutral product that produces oxygen during its
growth cycle and stores carbon during its
service life
(Source: University of Wisconsin
Wood Products Program
Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
Wood floors save natural
resources – They use
less water and energy to produce than
other flooring options
(Source: University of
Wisconsin Wood
Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle
Analysis)
Wood is renewable – While it
takes most hardwood
trees 40-60 years to mature, the inventory
planted today won’t be needed for
100-plus years
(Source: National Wood Flooring
Association)
Wood floors last hundreds of
years – They won’t
need to be replaced as often as other flooring
options (Source:
National Association of Home Builders)
Wood reduces landfill waste
– At the end of its
service life, wood flooring can be burned as
fuel or recycled
(Source: University of
Wisconsin Wood Products
Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle
Analysis)
Wood may earn LEED points –
wood is recognized by
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design program for improved indoor air
quality, material use
and location proximity, and sustainably
sourced materials
(Source: US Green Building Council)
Want to know more about the many
environmental benefits
of wood floors? Get the facts you need by
downloading a copy of the University of
Wisconsin Wood
Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life
Cycle Analysis at www.nwfa.org under the
“What’s New” link.
You also can access a variety of
information about wood
floors by visiting the “All About
Wood Floors” link on the National Wood
Flooring Association’s
web site at www.woodfloors.org.
The National Wood Flooring
Association is a not-forprofit
trade organization of more than 4,200
wood flooring
professionals working worldwide to educate
consumers, designers, architects, and
builders in the uses
and benefits of wood flooring.
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