Green Flooring

Responsible Forestry – Healthy Forest

Wood from responsibly managed North American forests is one of the few truly renewable industrial resources. A properly managed forest can provide raw materials to sustain generations of growth without resource depletion, while consuming less energy, polluting less and creating fewer long term environmental problems than other major raw – material extraction processes.

Choose FSC

FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.

Established in 1993 as a response to concerns over global deforestation, FSC is widely regarded as one of the most important initiatives of the last decade to promote responsible forest management worldwide.

FSC is a certification system that provides internationally recognized standard-setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.

The FSC label provides a credible link between responsible production and consumption of forest products, enabling consumers and businesses to make purchasing decisions that benefit people and the environment as well as providing ongoing business value.

FSC is nationally represented in more than 50 countries around the world.

What LEED Is

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, C02 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U S Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

LEED is flexible enough to apply to all building types commercial as well as residential. It works throughout the building lifecycle - design and construction, operations and maintenance, tenant fit out, and significant retrofit. And LEED for Neighborhood Development extends the benefits of LEED beyond the building footprint into the neighborhood it serves.

Wood over Radiant Heat

The use of radiant heating systems is growing in popularity throughout the United States, especially under wood floors. We believe this is an excellent heating source, and with proper acclimation and installation methods it is an exceptional choice under our reclaimed wood flooring products.

Generally speaking, there is no doubt that radiant heat is the perfect type of heating system with wood flooring for the following reasons:

  • Wood is an excellent conductor of heat meaning that heat is able to easily travel through the material into the surrounding space.
  • Wood is an effective distributor of heat. Combined with radiant heat systems, the warm air is distributed evenly in all directions throughout the room, as opposed to forced hot air or baseboard systems which direct the heat to rise. This explains why radiant heat is also an efficient system with wood flooring: A large area of mild surface temperatures, such as a warm floor, is capable of transferring a significant amount of heat throughout a room or home.
  • Wood is a wonderful retainer of heat. It will naturally hold on to the warmth even if the heating system temperature drops or is turned off. This also contributes to the efficiency of the heating system as it does not have to work as hard to keep the room warm.