Flooring Products

A diverse array of environmentally preferable flooring products are available for renovation and construction projects. Each flooring type has attributes that make it suitable for specific projects – cost, durability, IAQ/emissions, sustainable production methods, specific ingredients, recycled content – and each product’s environmentally preferable status rests on its unique cluster of specific attributes. None is automatically preferable to any other, and not all environmentally preferable materials are appropriate for your setting and performance requirements. Work closely with your Environmental Services staff to ensure that whatever material you pick is compatible with their cleaning requirements and/or to help them adapt their cleaning processes to work well with the selected flooring to avoid degradation. Consider the conditions of the area where you will install the flooring – do you need moisture resistant materials? Non-slip properties? Reduced maintenance? And make sure that your flooring material meets these needs as well as being ‘green’.

General Information

• Healthy Building Network Key Questions for Environmentally Friendly Building Material Selection

• Pharos Project Resilient Flooring

• Green Renovation Guide Flooring comparison – older article, but good overview

Specifications

Certification/Labeling

• GreenGuard Children and Schools Low Emitting Materials

• Environmental Choice EcoLogo Certification – Flooring Products

• Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability SMART 2.0 Flooring Standard

• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Wood Products certification

• Principles and Criteria

• Product Search

Alternative Products

• Healthy Building Network PVC-Free Resilient Flooring Chart

• Building Green GreenSpec Searchable environmentally preferable building materials database (subscription required)