New Sustainable Flooring: USF Contract

 

Corboo planks by USF Contract

A new resource for designers is now available from USF Contract, a manufacturer of sustainable flooring products such as bamboo, cork, and solid wood.  Upon first thought you may ask "Do we really need another manufacturer for bamboo, cork, and wood?", which was exactly our first thought.  But upon further review, USF Contract is exactly what is needed in the marketplace right now.  For starters, they are the offshoot of bigger flooring manufacturer US Floors, who is located in the carpet capital of Dalton, GA.  US Floors has been making residential flooring products in a plant using solar energy for almost a decade.  A member of the USGBC, US Floors recognized the need for more unique sustainable flooring products in the commercial market.  After all, there are plenty of sources for residential and commercial grade bamboo that all look relatively the same (with a few exceptions), many with sub-par performance in contract settings.

Products such as Corboo, a strand-woven bamboo infusing strands of cork into the planks, makes for a visually interesting alternative to typical strand (which is the harder reconstituted version of vertical and horizontal grain types).  Adding cork to the strand bamboo makes the already hard and dense flooring now have sound reduction properties and an interesting aesthetic.  USF Contract only uses Moso6 bamboo, which is a species of bamboo that has the density and dimensional stability required for contract installations.  Moso6 is allowed to grow for six years in a managed forest (or field), allowing the inherent strength to cultivate.  (Many bamboo manufacturers use immature plants, harvesting in less than five years, often just three, which compromises the hardness of the product).  It is important to note that the manufacturer complies with the Lacey Act, which protects wildlife and plants from illegal harvesting.

They also have a large range of colors (36 standard in all!), and custom is available.  Just this alone would set USF Contract apart, as palettes from most bamboo manufacturers are usually limited to a small range. There are two finish options - Endura AR, a hard UV-cured finish, or Natural-E, a Natural Oil finish.  It is worth noting that oil finish is better for a sustainable maintenance routine, as potable or grey water isn't constantly being used to clean the surface.  USF also offers a lifetime structural warranty on the strand woven bamboo.

Another unique product from USF Contract is Cork Decor, a product that has new visual patterns that haven't been seen to date, with a nano-bead technology incorporated in the finish, thus allowing for improved scuff and scratch resistance, as well as slip resistance (a common problem with cork floors that have been finished with shiny polyurethane).  The water-based Acrodur binder (which holds the cork bits together) is also formaldehyde and phenol free, reducing VOC emissions and making it Greenguard certified.  This product has a 15 year commercial wear warranty and a lifetime structural warranty - almost unheard of for cork!  USF also offers homogenous cork tiles, which resemble the look of cork flooring that we are used to seeing but it is not comprised of cork veneers (ie layers) and comes pre-buttered, meaning all tiles are covered with adhesive prior to arriving on site.  This allows for a more thorough glue-down installation, ensuring sides and corners stick to the substrate (also a problem seen in typical cork tile installations).

All of USF Contract flooring products meet or exceed E0 and CARB 2012 standards for VOC emissions, and contribute various points for LEED certification (recycled content, rapidly renewable materials, low emitting materials, and certified wood depending on which product is specified).  Perhaps in our product selection product for projects, these are the questions we need to be asking manufacturers, whether a project is following the letter of LEED or the spirit of LEED.  The more we pay attention to truly sustainable material options, the easier it will get to make the right decisions without having to wade through multiple products with varying levels of sustainable factors.

Comments

[Tom]

We are very interested in the Corboo flooring but can not find any reviews of it after it has been on a floor for a while. All sites rave about how cool it is to mix the 2 but if I'm going to spend thousands of $ buying and installing I dont want it to fall apart next year. Thoughts, links? Thanks from KC.

[Engineered Wood Flooring]

More and more companies are finding new and interesting ways to make wood flooring. Last week we saw a company that makes them from whiskey barrels.

[hardwood timber flooring]

This applies to all wooden floors, and not only for bamboo. The best floors, those who were our ancestors- Earthen floors. This is the best. Whatever you do, it will always be, in the same condition and, in the same capacity. :-))

[Greg K]

Bamboo floors are of the Green people are looking for these days. TO have another Tree Cutter, is not cool, but business makes $$ where the environment is something everybody just takes advantage of. Thanks Grace for the heads up on the Lacey ACT and endangered species list...

[Cherry Wood Flooring]

Using sustainable wood flooring is the way to move forward for sure. With so many of our natural habitats and trees being cut down, it contributes to the erosion of our topsoil and other factors that may contribute to some of the climate issue today.
While there are bigger ways to manage our climate change, every little bit counts.

[Grace Jeffers]

Realy valuable source Royce, thank you.

All bamboos used for flooring are of the subgroup known as "giant bamboos" and remember bamboo is actually a grass and not a wood source.

Bravo to you for mentioning the Lacey Act (which is 110 years old I might add!) More people need to check out the Lacey list as well at the cites endangerd species list http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/species.html

Grace Jeffers
http://materialsamples.wordpress.com/