Green Articles of Interest
Surface Impact - Paul Steinbach, athleticbusiness.com
“Hardwood gymnasium floors have been in existence as long as there have been gymnasiums, and for good reason. They provide a forgiving, long-lasting and aesthetically pleasing surface for a variety of indoor ball sports and fitness activities. Harwood is so durable, in fact, that a well-maintained court made from maple, birch or beech is likely to outlive the gym it’s in.
Now, in the midst of an international green movement, hardwood’s reputation has been further burnished. Thanks to managed harvesting, and the fact that a hardwood species’ shade-tolerant nature allows it to regenerate all by itself, there is more stanind timber in the United States currently than there was in the late 1800’s. That includes more than 200 million acres of certified sustainable forestland, where fie tons of carbon per acre is sequestered each year in hard maple stands owned by commercial mills. Even growers that aren’t certified by the likes of the Froest Stewardship Council (an international organization requiring chain-of-custody documentation) are more likely than not to practice sustainability. Their very future in business depends on it. Says one certified grower, “We’re pulling carbon out of the atmosphere, storing it in trees for 100 years and then taking that tree before it starts to deteriorating and putting it into a product that lasts 40 to 50 years. That’s two generations.”
http://www.athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=2348&zoneid=1
Bamboozled by Bamboo – Tracy Powell, National Hardwood Lumber Association
'...to say that bamboo is a viable and sustainable hardwood replacement is a stretch, according to
many in the LEED certification and hardwood industries, despite how bamboo producers market
their wares as “green."'
http://www.maplefloor.org/bamboofeature.pdf
Bamboo Flooring – Is It Really Treehugger Green? – Lloyd Alter, Treehugger.com
“Right now if we had to choose between bamboo and, say, locally cut FSC certified maple flooring, a strong case could be made that the maple is environmentally a better choice.”
http://treehugger.com/files/2005/09/bamboo_flooring.php
Is Bamboo Flooring Really Green? – Karen Aho, MSN Real Estate
“Bamboo flooring earns builders a point with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. But oversight of specific bamboo producers is lacking. What the Forest Stewardship Council does for wood products, rating suppliers for sustainability practices, has yet to be established for bamboo.”
http://realestate.msn.com/Improve/Green/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=6229250>1=10932
Bamboo Flooring, Environmental Silver Bullet or Faux Savior? – Dr. Jim Bowyer, Dovetail Partners, Inc.
“In an era in which the environmental attributes of materials are increasingly questioned, and production details increasingly available, it is remarkable that a product such as bamboo flooring has been so firmly embraced by the green movement without vigorous attempts to determine what impacts result from its production and use. Investigation reveals many environmental concerns associated with growing, harvesting, and converting bamboo to a useful product. Clearly, the green status currently accorded bamboo products needs serious re-evaluation.”
http://www.dovetailinc.org/reportView.php?action=displayReport&reportID=30
Reinventing the Hardwood Industry: One Company at a Time – Dr. Jeff Howe, Dovetail Reports
“Obviously there are alternative definitions of a colony, but in many ways the term conveys a form of economic interdependence that we are seeing develop today between various nations around the globe. It is becoming increasingly common for China, as an example, to purchase their hardwood lumber in the U.S. and sell it back to us in the form of furniture, cabinets, and other value added hardwood products. There are costs and benefits to this reality. Unfortunately, however, the majority of costs are borne by the U.S. hardwood products industry while many of the benefits are received by China.”
http://www.dovetailinc.org/reportView.php?action=displayReport&reportID=68
Keeping Wood Green – Dr. Jeff Howe, Dovetail Reports
“They key is to recognize that it is not only what these consumers actively seek that is important, but also what they are avoiding! Consumers find it difficult to believe that wood can be a green product, and they doubt that the wood industry is a trustworthy messenger in the green marketplace. This distrust is the basis of the very recognizable willingness of a significant percentage of the market to jump to wood substitutes, almost at the drop of a hat, regardless of the lack of validity of the claims of the alternate material. It is one reason certification is still a “desired state” of trust, and any weakening in the system designed to engender that trust potentially eliminates it.”
http://dovetailinc.org/dovetailcomm1104.html
Manufacturing Bamboo Flooring – Hardwoodinstaller.com
“Bamboo flooring originates from the bamboo stalk. After harvest, which typically takes between six and eight years for more mature bamboos, "logs" are sliced and ready for further processing. Following the slicing process, strips are cut near the approximate width of what we see in the horizontal bamboo appearance.”
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwoodinstaller/bamboo-manufacturing.htm LEED for New Construction – USGCB
“The LEED for New Construction Rating System is designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, including office buildings, high-rise residential buildings, government buildings, recreational facilities, manufacturing plants and laboratories.”
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=220#v2.0
Proof that Wood Flooring is Green – NWFA Industry Research Foundation’s Life Cycle Analysis for Solid Hardwood Flooring, NWFA
“Public awareness about environmental issues is at an all-time high, & increasingly, consumers are doing their part by choosing products that have a minimal impact on the environment. Fortunately, the facts are clear: wood flooring is the only flooring option available that is completely sustainable. In addition, wood flooring also has the least impact on our environment. It’s carbon neutral, uses fewer fossil fuels in its production, has less water consumption in its production, & has the longest service life of all flooring options.”
http://nwfa.org/member/tipMonth.aspx?id=37
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