life cycle considerations and types
Flooring
InterfaceFLOR carpet tile is manufactured under its EcoMetrics system that monitors manufacturing waste reduction, renewable energy, carbon emissions, water and energy usage, and the percentage of recycled and bio-based materials in its products.
by Jim Taggart
The ‘take, make and waste’ system upon which most of our industries were founded is the legacy of a time when resources seemed limitless; there were fewer people to consume them, and our material needs were less.
Today our perception has changed and our industries are adjusting to a new reality. Some lead, some follow and some drag their feet - and in this regard the flooring industry is no different from any other.
Until recently, most product specifiers concerned themselves primarily with cost, performance and appearance, but that has changed with the advent of green design and the introduction of more holistic evaluation criteria. As the focus of designers broadens, so does that of product manufacturers and many are adopting life cycle analysis [LCA] as an aid to product comparison and evaluation.
According to the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, a complete life cycle analysis of a product or assembly will address:
- a. Resource extraction and product/materials transport,
- b. Material processing and product manufacturing,
- c. On-site building construction requirements,
- d. Occupancy and maintenance considerations, and
- e. Building decommissioning and demolition.
In the context of flooring materials, the basic considerations of LCA should include the type of energy consumed in extracting raw materials and processing the product; the toxicity of constituent materials or by-products; the emission of volatile organic compounds [VOCs] associated with manufacture, installation and maintenance; the amount of recycled or rapidly renewable content; and the ability of the product to be reclaimed and reprocessed at the end of its service life.
Given that for most applications there are potentially many products that will meet the basic design and service requirements, extending the criteria makes for a complex matrix of comparison. There has been a resurgence of interest in natural products supported by the findings of agencies involved in LCA. For example, based on the cumulative research of many years, the German Federal Environmental Agency recently concluded that:
‘Based on energy consumption, the wastage of fossil raw materials and the product life cycle analysis, products made of renewable raw materials are advantageous over those made of synthetics and ceramics.’
As one works through LCA on various products, the complexity of the considerations becomes apparent. Manufacturers of carpet, resilient and hard flooring have begun to recognize the importance of LCA and many make reference to it in their product literature.
Third-party certification
However, independent third party certification is the most reliable method for comparing the environmental attributes of flooring or any other product. The reduction or elimination of VOCs which were present in most flooring systems a decade ago, is the main focus of many certification systems.
One such system is FloorScore. Though not a LCA tool, FloorScore was developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute [RFCI] in conjunction with Scientific Certification Systems [SCS]. It tests and certifies hard surface flooring and flooring adhesive products for compliance with rigorous indoor air quality emissions requirements.
Individual VOCs are evaluated using health-based specifications. FloorScore certifies hard flooring products that do not exceed one-half the allowable concentration limits. U.S. Green Building Council approved FloorScore-certified products as an alternative compliance path to LEED credit EQ 4.3.
Other certification and labelling systems that may be identified on flooring products include Greenguard [like SCS, an industry-independent agency] that also certifies low VOC and VOC-free products. Greenguard also publishes a catalogue of certified products that is available free of charge.
Much closer to full LCA assessment is the Green Building Initiative’s [GBI] Green Globes design tool which has an on-line assessment protocol for evaluating the environmental impact of building design, operation and maintenance.
GreenGlobes incorporates the Athena Institute’s Athena EcoCalculator for Assemblies [www.athenasmi.org]. The tool was commissioned specifically for use with GBI’s Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system, but a generic version is available for use by the sustainable design community free of charge.
Flooring types
In general, hard and resilient floor coverings stand up well under LCA, as they are more durable and require less frequent replacement than alternatives such as carpet. On the other hand, it is carpet - made of nylon, not natural fibres - that is the first floor covering to achieve Cradle-to-Cradle certification [www.c2ccertified.com]. Some of the LCA issues surrounding common flooring products are as follows:
Hardwood
Durable, non-toxic, recyclable and ultimately bio-degradable, hardwood flooring that has FSC, CSA or other chain of custody labelling would appear to be a sound environmental choice particularly if processed locally - yet it has stiff competition from rapidly renewable alternatives like bamboo, and for some applications, cork.
Bamboo
According to the Vancouver-based green building products retailer, Greenworks, bamboo can be a high-performance flooring if it is made by an experienced manufacturer such as EcoTimber. Things to look at when evaluating the quality of bamboo flooring are: raw materials, adhesives, milling equipment, board lengths and finishes.
Of the roughly 1,500 species of bamboo, it is the Moso, native to Zhejiang province of China, that has proven to be the most suitable for flooring applications. Harvesting of bamboo can take place every six years [a shorter period leads to a less durable product]. Processing of the material must take place within 48 hours of harvesting to avoid deterioration, which means that at present, this is a highly localized industry - the main suppliers being China, Vietnam and Colombia.
Traditionally, crops have been harvested by hand using a machete, but some are now bulldozed, causing damage to the local ecosystem. Manufacture of bamboo strip and engineered flooring involves a gluing process which can be done with low-VOC adhesives. When dealing with specialist suppliers, specifiers can enquire about harvesting practices and processing methods as part of an LCA approach.
Cork
Cork is another remarkably durable natural material which can have a service life of up to 100 years. Cork is the bark of the Cork Oak, and commercial production is centred on Portugal. Cork may be extracted without harvesting the entire tree, and a single tree can be stripped about every 12-15 years with minimal disruption of the natural ecosystem and animal habitat. Material processed into finished product in Portugal will be lower in embodied energy than that processed elsewhere.
Linoleum
Natural linoleum is made from solidified linseed oil, in combination with wood dust flour or cork dust over a burlap or canvas backing. It is naturally anti-static and anti-microbial which enables it to be used in high performance applications such as healthcare facilities these same properties enhance the materials’ performance at all life cycle stages.
Leading European manufacturer Forbo makes linoleum flooring under the brand name Marmoleum, produced using renewable natural materials in a process that the company claims is energy neutral. The company also conducts LCA studies, aimed at reducing environmental impact at every stage of the product’s life.
Rubber
Rubber flooring delivers a durable surface with high recycled content. For example, Dinoflex rubber flooring tiles are made from recycled car and truck tires, and as such divert waste from the landfill. These floors are impact-absorbing, slip-resistant and anti-fatigue, and contain approximately 90% post consumer waste. Its DINOMAT flooring is manufactured from 100% recycled rubber, and all products can be recycled at anytime without detrimental effects to the environment.
Rubber flooring by nora® is free of PVC, plasticizers [phthalate], and halogens [e.g. chlorine]. Floorcoverings that do not contain any PVC guarantee that no hydrochloric gas is produced in the event of fire, and consequently, no corrosive hydrochloric acid results from contact with water used to extinguish the fire. Production scraps are returned to the production process, and certain nora floorcoverings have up to 75% recycled content.
Carpet
As a group, carpet manufacturers have been incorporating life cycle principles in their manufacturing and products. For example, the Eco Works carpet line from the Shaw Contract Group is the first commercial floor covering to receive Cradle-to-Cradle [C2C] certification. The product range is made from nylon fibre which is non-toxic and 100% recyclable using traditional methods such as grinding. From the C2C perspective, this makes the nylon fibre an ideal technical nutrient in an industrial process that mimics the self - supporting cyclical systems of nature.
Like Forbo and Shaw, InterfaceFLOR is a company actively engaged in reinventing its manufacturing processes. Using an internal auditing system it calls EcoMetrics, the company monitors waste reduction, renewable energy, carbon emissions, water and energy usage, and percentage of recycled and bio-based materials in products in its various manufacturing facilities. The company’s objective is to be net zero by 2020.
Perhaps at the extreme end, Nature’s Carpet [carried by the Greenworks store in Vancouver] was first developed in 1992 by the Colin Campbell Company. Made entirely from 100% New Zealand wool, a rapidly renewable resource, the company has also worked to remove chemicals used in the scouring process, metallic dyes used in the blending process, chemicals used in moth-proofing and all synthetic glues. The result is a wholly natural, 100% biodegradable product.
PVC
PVC [polyvinyl chloride] and VCt [vinyl composition tile] have a 60-year history as commercial flooring products. Tile and roll flooring have a proven track record of durability and are potentially highly recyclable. Tarkett is probably the leading manufacturer from an environmental standpoint, recycling 130,000 tons of post- industrial and post-consumer material annually, and equipping its Luxembourg-based manufacturing operation with sophisticated emission filters.
However, PVC must be seen as having an uncertain future as it is targeted by environmental health organizations and appears on an increasing number of materials red lists. Petrochemical in origin, it must be reviewed in the extraction and manufacturing phases of the LCA like any other material. Some companies are researching bio-based alternatives for applications in which PVC currently outperforms other materials.
With luck, this will be another example of what might be termed green evolution in the flooring industry. As Ray Anderson, Chairman of InterfaceFLOR puts it:
“Sustainable design has provided an unexpected wellspring of innovation; people are galvanized around a shared higher purpose. The goodwill in the marketplace generated by our focus on sustainability far exceeds that which any amount of advertising or marketing expenditure could have generated. Costs are down, not up, dispelling a myth and exposing the false choice between the economy and the environment.”
Jim Taggart, MAIBC is editor of SABMag.
