August 10, 2009 | GBI Insight Home

Three New Initiatives Support the Use of Resilient Floor Products in Green Buildings

As both green building and resilient flooring have increased in popularity, the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) has undertaken three initiatives to promote sustainability and provide comprehensive environmental information to floor covering dealers, consumers, architects, designers and other specifiers, purchasers and end-users. 

FloorScore® IAQ Certification

Developed by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) and RFCI, FloorScore is a third-party certification program that tests hard surface flooring products and certifies that they meet stringent indoor air quality guidelines.  SCS reviews emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and raw material inputs and conducts site visits to manufacturing facilities to certify that a product meets strict emission standards.  Types of flooring products that can earn the FloorScore seal include vinyl, linoleum, laminate, wood, ceramic and rubber flooring. FloorScore is recognized in many environmental programs, including the GBI’s Green Globes®.

NSF 332 Sustainability Standard

RFCI is working with NSF, a not-for-profit public health and safety organization, to develop a sustainability assessment standard for resilient flooring.  The initiative began in 2006 and, last year, the ANSI/NSF 332 draft standard “Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings” was published. This standard will help purchasers and specifiers evaluate not only the environmental attributes of a resilient flooring product but also the environmental performance of the manufacturer.  NSF 332 includes four criteria:  Informed Product Design, Intelligent Product Manufacturing, Long-Term Value and Progressive Corporate Governance.  The product platform and company earn points in each of these categories and, depending on total points, can achieve a Silver, Gold or Platinum rating. 

The NSF-332 development team is currently refining the standard and anticipates an affirmative vote on the final version by the end of 2009.          

Reclamation and Recycling

Many manufacturers currently recycle post-industrial waste by reclaiming manufacturing scrap and feeding it back into the product mix. Some companies also recycle post-consumer flooring waste—and RFCI is working to facilitate growth in this area.

The Institute is participating in an inter-industry renovation-generated waste recycling initiative sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation program and spearheaded by the Georgia Institute of Technology.  The goal is to identify opportunities to retrieve and recycle building materials from large demolition projects.  The plan includes work with representatives from other industries such as carpet, drywall and ceiling tiles to streamline reclamation and identify markets for recyclables.     

 For more information:

Resilient Floor Covering Institute
Commercial Flooring Network