Floor Coverings
Floor coverings are a key item when looking for 'big hits' in sustainability - both because they are always used in large quantities in fit-outs and refurbishments, and because there are good options to chose between.
Carpet
Issues to consider
Manufacturing processes:
- raw materials - artificial, recycled or natural fibres?
- waste and toxic emissions
- energy use - both during the manufacturing process and for transport of the finished goods
- locally made or sourced from overseas?
- ISO 14001 or other accreditation for manufacturers.
During use:
- appeal to staff
- ease of installation and maintenance
- adhesives - levels of VOC emissions
- durability
- flexibility - can you make small changes easily?
- reusability
- look for natural latex, jute or woollen felt backing and underlay
- value for money.
After use:
- disposal options: recyclable or designed for disassembly?
Pointers
- Check out the Environmental Choice New Zealand Trust list for details of carpets that meet the Environmental Choice standards
- Ensure any adhesive used has the lowest possible VOC emissions. Water-based latex ones are typically best.
- Can you lease instead of buying the carpet, with a life-long servicing contract?
- Is it possible to use recycled product for underlay (if used)?
Useful resources and information
- Feltex has a range of carpets licensed by Environmental Choice
- Modular carpet tiles - Interface New Zealand
- Modular carpet tiles - Ontera
- Environmental Choice New Zealand Trust: Licence criteria (for wool-rich pile carpets EC-05-98 and wool pile carpets EC-04098)
- For examples of environmentally preferable product-specific contract language, consult the US EPA website
- Environmental Choice Canada: Criteria for carpeting, commercial modular
- Nordic Ecolabelling: Ecolabelling of flooring (English language version)
- Carpet and Rug Institute United States: 'Green Label' Testing Programme - Carpet Criteria
Technical checklist
To help you compare different products, use the following questionnaire with suppliers and/or manufacturers:
| Wool scouring process | |
|---|---|
| Does the scouring plant comply with any acts, regulations, bylaws and regional plans relating to the environmental impacts of the operation, eg, consented discharge of heavy effluent and meeting the consent conditions? | |
| Does the total water use measured at intake comply with or come below the Environmental Choice New Zealand Trust licence criteria for carpets? | |
| Are the detergents used to scour the product free of alkyl phenol? | |
| Was the insect-resistance treatment during the scouring process free of synthetic pyrethroids? | |
| Manufacturing process | |
| Do you have an environmental or sustainability programme in place? | |
| What chemical products are used for wool washing? | |
| What finishes and stainblockers are used during manufacturing? | |
| Are the yarn-scouring surfactants readily biodegradable? | |
| Is the washing and/or cleaning process free of the use of organic solvents? | |
| What other chemical compounds are used in the treatment or manufacturing processes? | |
| Is a minimum of 50% of process water recycled by the manufacturer or exclusively coloured using solution dyeing? | |
| Does the manufacturer have an energy management programme aimed at reducing the use of fossil fuels? | |
| Is the product accompanied by detailed instructions for proper application, maintenance and disposal methods? | |
| Does the product meet the required emission rates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as specified in the Environmental Choice New Zealand Trust licence criteria? | |
| Do you offer a take-back programme at the end of life and/or recycling of worn carpet throughout its life? | |
Hard floor coverings
This category includes floor coverings such as parquet, wooden planks, laminate, vinyl and linoleum that:
- are fixed to the floor and laid on top of an underlying foundation of concrete or wood/beams, and
- have no structural purpose.
Issues to consider
Manufacturing processes:
- raw materials - recycled or natural fibres?
- sustainably harvested?
- waste and toxic emissions
- energy use
- locally made or sourced from overseas?
- ISO 14001 or other accreditation for manufacturers.
During use:
- appeal to staff
- ease of installation and maintenance
- adhesives for installation - formaldehyde and VOC emissions
- moisture underneath the floor covering (avoid formation of chemicals, fungus and bacterial growth, as found in 'sick buildings')
- cleaning agents
- maintenance and renovation methods (eg, sanding)
- durability
- flexibility - can you make small changes easily?
- reusability
- value for money.
After use:
- disposal options: reusable, recyclable or designed for disassembly?
Pointers
- Consult the Environmental Choice New Zealand Trust list for details of products that meet Environmental Choice standards.
- Ensure adhesives have the lowest possible VOC emissions. Water-based latex adhesives are most likely to be suitable. Some flooring products are now interlocking and require no adhesives.
- If looking at wooden flooring:
- consider buying recycled or second-hand
- choose sustainably grown timber - look for timber grown from New Zealand sustainably managed forests or for Forest Stewardship Council certification on imported wood.
- Ensure the product you choose is supplied with recommendations on underlay or base, adhesives, cleaning agents and methods, maintenance agents and methods, abrasion resistance treatment and renovation methods.
- Solid wood flooring, followed by linoleum (made of linseed oil, pine rosins, limestone and wood flour rendered onto a natural jute backing), has the highest use of renewable resources. Vinyl flooring has the highest use of non-renewable resources, but requires less land to produce the raw materials.
Useful resources and information
- The Good Wood Guide - a guide to purchasing wood fromsustainably developed resources being developed by Greenpeace
- Forest Stewardship Council
- Forbo linoleum flooring have an Environmental Choice enviro-choice label
Case study: flooring/carpets
After considering the carpet tile alternatives, the Ministry made a policy to select from the range of carpets available from Environmental Choice.
For areas such as kitchens, we selected a linoleum product rather than vinyl and specified a water-based adhesive with low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.
Technical checklist
Key ingredients to avoid: heavy metals, chlorinated/brominated paraffins, brominated flame-retardants, organic tin compounds, phthalates or polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
To help you compare products, use the following questionnaire with suppliers and/or manufacturers:
| Manufacturing process | |
|---|---|
| Does the manufacturer have an environmental or sustainability programme in place? | |
| Are the products used in manufacturing renewable or sustainably sourced? (eg, wood from Forest Stewardship Council approved sources) | |
| What chemical compounds are used in the treatment or manufacturing processes? | |
| Does the manufacturer have an energy management programme aimed at reducing the use of fossil fuels? | |
| Is the product accompanied by detailed instructions for proper application, maintenance and disposal methods? | |
| Does the product meet the required emission rates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as specified in the Environmental Choice New Zealand Trust licence criteria? | |
| Does the manufacturer offer a take-back programme at the end of life and/or recycling throughout its life? | |
