Wood Cuts - August/September 2009

By Ed Korczak

As consumers become more ecologically conscious, they are increasingly demanding the use of sustainable and renewable building products in their homes and businesses. This focus on “green building” has created an unprecedented opportunity for the wood flooring industry, as well as flooring retailers in general, to promote and sell their hardwood products as highly sustainable and renewable flooring alternatives.

Wood flooring is the most abundantly renewable flooring material available because trees are a renewable resource that can be replaced time and time again. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the average annual net growth for hardwoods is greater than average annual removals. In fact, the average growth to removal ratio is 1.66, which means that for every cubic foot of hardwood removed from the standing inventory, 1.66 cubic feet is added. And while it is true that it can take 40 to 60 years for those trees to mature, since solid wood flooring has been known to last in excess of 100 years, the inventory will be available long before it is needed.

To provide more scientific data regarding the environmental benefits of hardwood flooring, the National Wood Flooring Association Industry Research Foundation conducted a Life Cycle Analysis of wood flooring in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The study focused on solid hardwood flooring. A lifecycle analysis of engineered wood flooring currently is underway.

The report provides a detailed analysis of the impact wood flooring has on our environment for air emissions, water consumption, total primary energy consumption and product life expectancy. Wood flooring compared favorably in all these areas to other flooring alternatives such as vinyl, linoleum, and carpet.

Air emissions tests analyzed four substances that contribute to atmospheric warming and human respiratory ailments. These include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, and other unspecified particulates. Wood flooring had no emissions for methane, nitrogen oxides, and other particulates, and minimal emissions for carbon dioxide.

Water consumption during production was favorable for wood flooring as well. Water used for manufacturing solid wood flooring was substantially less than that used to produce linoleum or carpet, and generally is limited to use in on-site boilers for heating the manufacturing facilities.

Primary energy use reflects the collective energy inputs required in manufacturing. Again, wood was found to have the least amount of primary energy consumption of the materials studied.

Wood flooring also stacks up favorably when product service life is compared. Because hardwood floors can last hundreds of years, there are fewer replacement and associated production impacts on the environment. In addition, wood is often recycled or used for energy production at the end of its service life.

In addition to these scientific findings, the study also found that wood is a carbon neutral material. During the process of tree growth, trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen. Wood also has the added benefit of storing carbon during its service life. This unique process makes wood a carbon neutral substance.

Even with all the environmental benefits of wood flooring, wood has gotten some bad publicity in recent years due to illegal logging. The truth is that deforestation is happening with alarming frequency. Millions of acres of foreign forest land are harvested illegally throughout the world each year, which contributes significantly to global warming and the destruction of wildlife habitats. Because this activity adversely affects our environment, and directly impacts our industry, the NWFA worked with several key organizations through the Hardwood Federation to promote the illegal logging ban with Congress. The ban was passed last summer as an amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act, which originally was mandated more than 100 years ago to prohibit the illegal trafficking of wildlife. This new amendment has expanded the Lacey Act to include wood and wood products, and directly impacts anyone dealing in wood flooring and other wood products such as cabinets, furniture, and even picture frames. Specifically, the ban prohibits the import, sale or trade in the U.S. of wood and other forest products that are harvested through illegal means.

Illegal logging is a practice that destroys forests—essentially eliminating the raw materials that provide for our way of life—it undermines global trade by introducing low-cost, often inferior materials to the market, and it contributes to global warming, which impacts every living thing on earth.

The purpose of the Lacey Act is to restrict the import of illegally logged lumber into the U.S. This does not mean that the U.S. has attempted to define “illegal logging” on a world-wide scale. It simply means that the U.S. will work to ensure that lumber harvested in violation of the laws of the country of origin will not enter the U.S. market.

In general, this means that U.S. suppliers will need to do a more thorough job of verifying that the materials they are importing from other countries are legally logged. It essentially requires a chain of custody verifying legal origin by a third-party certification provider. This documentation is now necessary for any lumber being imported from a country that is classified as at-risk for illegal logging by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Currently, the only countries not classified as at-risk are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S., and most of Western Europe.

Enforcement of the Act will affect those companies that do not practice due diligence when importing products of questionable origin. The law states that a company must follow due diligence/“reasonable man practices” to ensure the materials are harvested legally. Documentation is essential, but is not enough alone. The due diligence/“reasonable man practices” stipulation becomes easier to understand with a simple example. If standard industry pricing for a particular product is $1.50 per square foot, and the material you are being offered is $0.50 per square foot, a reasonable man would be cautious about the offer and demand documentation to prove the legal origin of the product. There are no Lacey Act police enforcing these policies, but environmental groups will be watching shipments from at-risk countries, and for at-risk species, very carefully.

It is important to note that the Lacey Act was implemented as a way to eliminate illegally sourced material, not to eliminate specific products or species. One of the easiest ways to ensure compliance with the Lacey Act is to participate in the NWFA’s Responsible Procurement Program for Hardwood (RPPH), which promotes and recognizes environmentally and socially responsible forest management, and includes a third-party verification system for materials sourced outside the U.S.

The program is supported by the Forest Stewardship Council-U.S. and the FSC Family Forest Alliance, which recognizes the NWFA RPPH as a valid incremental approach toward socially and environmentally responsible forestry. The program is transitional to higher levels of environmental responsibility based on three tiers of increasing voluntary participation and associated certification.

Currently, two U.S. wood flooring manufacturers—Anderson Hardwood Floors in Clinton, South Carolina and Mullican Flooring in Johnson City, Tennessee—have begun the audit process to become certified under this program, with several dozen other companies signed up to participate. Quality assurance for the NWFA RPPH is provided by a third-party certification company, Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). Once these test audits are completed, additional companies will begin their auditing process as well.

Yet another program that promotes green products within our industry is the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB was established in 1967 as a separate department of the California Environmental Protection Agency to monitor air quality for the state of California. CARB is tasked with gathering air quality data, developing and implementing programs to improve air quality, and establishing air quality standards for air districts to adopt. As a result of its research, CARB has established stringent regulations regarding volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, which are gases emitted from products that may have adverse health effects on humans, as well as contribute to global warming.

Items that are affected by CARB and VOC regulations are far reaching for the wood flooring industry. They can include, but are not limited to, stains, sealers, finishes, paints and adhesives. In general, CARB sets forth the most restrictive statewide regulations regarding VOC emissions in the U.S., and many manufacturers are altering their products to meet CARB regulations.

In other areas of the country, such as the Northeast, VOC regulations are governed by the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC). States subject to these regulations include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, parts of Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Ohio has implemented restrictions matching OTC regulations. Illinois followed suit in July, while Indiana has begun the process of adopting the same regulations. Generally speaking, these regulations reduce the overall VOC emissions from products in an effort to reduce both environmental impact and human exposure.

As an example, substances classified as varnishes, which include both oil-modified and water-based finishes, currently have a national VOC limit set at 450 grams per liter. OTC states, and CARB, place more stringent standards, establishing a ratio of 350 grams per liter. Other products used in wood flooring, such as conversion varnishes, tongue oil, stain, sealer, and lacquer, have different requirements, so it is important to understand the laws governing the products you use.

The bottom line is that the green movement presents a tremendous opportunity for those of us in the wood flooring business. Wood is totally sustainable, renewable, and environmentally friendly, making it an obvious choice for the ecologically aware consumer. 

You can get many more details about the green attributes of wood, the Lacey Act, the Responsible Procurement Program, and the California Air Resource Board’ air quality data by visiting the National Wood Flooring Association’s website and clicking on the appropriate topic under the “Hot Industry Issues” link. 

Copyright 2009 Floor Focus 

Related Topics:NWFA Expo, Anderson Tuftex