Wood floors are the most abundant renewable material that we can use to build floors. The amount of sustainable forest management allows us to harvest wood without any serious impact on our environment. Trees are a renewable resource that we can use for a long time.
According to the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the current average net annual growth of hardwood is greater than the average annual removal. Indoor air quality is better with hardwood floors as there are no carpet fibers and tile grout lines that collect dust, particles, animals and other allergens.
Wood flooring is a sustainable material that reduces the demands on our ecosystem during its life cycle. Some say that sustainable flooring actually helps create a safer, healthier building.
Several initiatives have given an example of why this type of flooring is a healthy choice. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, people with allergies to dust or other particles often choose a floor with smooth surfaces such as: hardwood, linoleum, vinyl, natural stone tile, or slate.
If you’re looking to reduce your environmental impact, using real wood flooring has very little impact on the environment in terms of raw materials, as well as the natural resources needed to harvest and manufacture the wood into a finished product.
Manufacturers design hardwood flooring to provide a stable and consistent fit. They do not collect much dirt and are quite easy to clean. The natural beauty of wood will never go out of style. Choosing a high-quality hardwood floor will always help increase the value of your home. Since home buyers are so attractive, the chances of a quicker sale and a higher asking price are greatly increased.
The carbon absorbed during the growth cycle of a tree remains even after it is installed. The carbon will stay out of the atmosphere until the wood eventually becomes a fuel source or is recycled for other projects. People use recycled wood to build floors from different sources, such as wood found in rivers, old warehouses, barns, wine barrels, boxcars, and mine shafts.
The National Association of Home Builders says that hardwood floors can last for hundreds of years and won’t need to be replaced as often as any other available flooring option. Since most trees will take at least forty to sixty years to mature, the number of trees planted now will not be used for at least another hundred years.
The National Wood Flooring Association issued a life cycle analysis of solid wood used for flooring. The study covers the entire cycle from a seedling in the forest, to the harvesting process, to the manufacturing process, to the installation of the product, and until it is no longer useful for paving.
The report also says that of all the flooring products available now, wood flooring that comes from trees is the only renewable raw material available. Plus, the manufacturing process that turns wood into flooring uses less water and energy to produce than other flooring options. Often wet, the waste material left over from the product finds another use. Manufacturing plants will reuse water to heat boilers and burn leftover wood and sawdust to produce energy for the manufacturing process. This means that very little material ends up as trash in landfills, and what does end up remains biodegradable.
The resistance and durability of hardwood floors is almost nil. If you install a kiln-dried manufactured floor with a high-quality finish, it will last for generations. Renovated flooring will last much longer than other types of flooring such as carpet, tile, and vinyl. Where other floors begin to look tired and worn, hardwood floors become more beautiful and valuable as time goes by. Unlike carpet and vinyl, you can restore hardwood and not have to replace it when the finish has worn off.