Green Bamboo or Bust?
EcoTimber, a fellow provider of Green Flooring, recently announced that they are expanding their offerings to include bamboo flooring. We've heard a lot about bamboo in recent years and I think there are definitely some advantages to using this material - mostly because of the quick regeneration cycle and reduced cost. For many consumers out there, this flooring option is a great one.
Carlisle has never considered offering bamboo. To begin, bamboo is a plant - not a wood. We sell only high quality wide plank wood floors. Bamboo is an imported product and, while the growth patterns and harvesting techniques are favorable, the transportation implications taint the overall "greenness" of the product. Another question that only time will answer is the long-term aesthetic appeal to the American public.
For now, Carlisle remains focused on the tried and true GREENness of our North American FSC certified Antique and Selectively Harvested Woods.
Posted on February 19, 2008 at 01:48 PM in Green Building • (1) Comments
Comments
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Rick Menard said…
While visiting with clients at a recent National Association Of Home Builders show in Orlando recently, I had a few visitors offering different flooring for us to look at, including Bamboo and another product that was made up of small parts of wood, floating in a glue mixture of about 50% glue and 50% wood, similiar to the way I think Bamboo flooring is manufactured. This product also came out of China, and was tauted as being a green material because it was a recycled product.
A few concerns I would have when thinking about these products would be:
First, coming all the way from China, are we really helping the enviroment with the fuel consumption needed to receive these products?
Second, if all these floors are going to be replaced say over the next ten to fifteen years are we prepared to recycle them or are we going to be filling our landfills again?
Third, what is the actual make-up of the glues used, coming out of China? This last question came to mind because one of the customers visiting my booth in Orlando was complaining about a laminated floor he put in still off-gassing fumes five months after installation. He was looking to replace this floor because it was still making him sick.
Just some things to think about when truly looking for “green products”.
Posted at 10:16 AM on March 19, 2008
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Antique Heart Pine Beams
Keene, New Hampshire