European Laminate EPDs Being Published Online

Bielefeld, Germany, July 13, 2009—The Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring first EPDs Environmental Product Declarations for laminate flooring are being published on website of the IBU Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. at www.bau-umwelt.de.

The EPLF produced the EPDs last year in collaboration with the Aachen based TFI Textiles & Flooring Institute for its member companies. There are three sample EPDs for DPL, HPL and PDL flooring, which cover most of the products manufactured by the EPLF’s members.

An EPD provides details about the ecological impact of construction materials and is a key basic document for sustainable building for architects and planners. It contains detailed information about the entire life cycle of a product with regard to the use of renewable and non-renewable resources, the global warming potential, the ozone depletion potential, acidification and eutrophication in water and ground-level photochemical ozone production, also known as summer smog.

Production, installation, cleaning, care, disposal and recycling are considered in detail. Thanks to its high wood content, laminate flooring scores well in terms of using renewable resources and global warming potential in particular, because wood produces CO2, a greenhouse gas, during plant growth.

At a time when increasing numbers of public and private buildings all over the world are being certified for their sustainability, EPDs are becoming increasingly significant for the construction industry. From 2011, it is expected that they will form a part of the European construction materials ordinance which will be binding for all manufacturers in the EU.