Some of the eco-friendly flooring that is growing in popularity now includes:

Bamboo. Bamboo is the fastest growing wood plant so it has a lot of resources making it a good alternative to cutting down trees to make hardwood floors. After the bamboo has been manufactured for flooring, it becomes hard enough to be made into floor planks. One good thing about bamboo is its lighter blonde coloring that gives a natural feel for your wood floors.

Cork. Did you know that there are a lot of famous buildings that have cork flooring just like First Congregational Church in Chicago and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC to name just a few. Cork is a good alternative to hardwood floors as it does not harm the trees when being harvested as it is made from the bark of cork oak tree, which is renewable. Another advantage of cork is it is very easy to maintain. It is also non-toxic, and is mold and mildew resistant.

Recycled Wood. Recycled or reclaimed wood floors are made from old wood made to look new and turning it into wood planks. Recycled wood have the benefits of old growth timber so it is durable and can last for decades.

Indeed there are a lot of options for greener flooring and you will surely find one that will best fit your flooring requirements.

One option is choosing plants and trees native to your area. This protects your region from invasive species that can wreak havoc on local flora and fauna. The good news for you is that native plants will thrive with minimal care because they’ve survived in the wild.

One new area of concern involves the challenges of dealing with rainfall and drainage given the extent of hard surfaces in our neighborhoods. Streets, driveways, sidewalks and patios all limit rain’s access to the soil. The new solution to this does not require you to limit your outdoor living areas. Instead, the goal is to design permeability into your solid surfaces.

This photo of a spa in Bali shows one solution. The stones allow rain to drain through while the stepping stones provide a solid surface for walking. If you want more substantive solid areas one choice is to reverse the percentage of stones and pavers. If you use three or four foot square blocks of pavers, tile, stone or concrete interspersed with bands of stone or gravel, you provide places for the rainfall to reach the soil.

Another option that has been developed recently involves specially-developed permeable pavers and patio surfaces. These operate and appear the same as solid non-permeable surfaces, but allow rainfall to pass through them to the soil below. In addition to being better for the environment, you reduce the chance of drainage problems.

You can create an environmentally caring landscape that works well for you both functionally and in appearance. All it takes is factoring these issues into your plans. You’ll be glad you did.

The way you win is by community VOTE. The way you vote is by texting or by going online. Every person can vote once a day using each method.  This means you can vote twice a day; once online and once via text.  To vote via text, please send a TEXT “to” 105554 and you enter 73774 in the message window to vote.  We would like to support this effort by getting the viral word out to as many people as possible. Anyone in the United States can vote for THIS project in Billings.  The community with the most VOTES wins the $250,000.

Take a look at this porch. It speaks of summer days and cold lemonade while watching the neighbors walk by. What makes this space so inviting, besides the sunshine, of course?

The porch floor is old and rough, but the color still shows off the beauty of the wood. Contrast that with the stone wall that provides a bit of privacy while still keeping the street in view. The pillars are sturdy and nicely trimmed. The chairs look roomy, although a few cushions wouldn’t go amiss.

That ceiling fan is such a good idea – letting you stay outside in hotter weather. The white trim around the windows and on the porch railing brightens the wood floor and stone walls, along with providing an interesting contrast to the mossy green color of the home.

Add in a dog barking and a couple of kids playing tag in the front yard, and you have a perfect day in a lovely neighborhood. Well, we can’t have the porch, and we can’t get the sunshine and warm weather now, but there’s never a bad time for lemonade

Now, you’re first reaction may be that you don’t want to paint or re-carpet in the winter because of the smells. Well, if you haven’t heard, here’s the good news. The new low and no-VOC paints and carpets allow you to redecorate a room today and sleep in it tonight.

VOC stands for volatile organic compounds. Those are chemical gasses that some products produce when new. The most familiar version of this is that “new car smell.” The bad news is that smell is the result of various surface products that “off-gas,” or release chemicals until enough time has passed to clear the air. For many years, two of the worst culprits were paint and carpeting – but no longer. Virtually every manufacturer has no or low VOC products available.

If a family member has allergies, or if you have small children, these products are better for them and you. Your Pierce sales associate will be happy to share more information on availability and selection. And you can start the New Year with a new look – without having to open the windows!

As consumers pay more attention, suppliers do too. One good example of this is a research project started recently by PE International, a consulting firm specializing in environmental consulting. They are investigating the environmental impact of American hardwoods, from the initial extraction to the final delivery at wood import firms. This analysis will eventually help you make more informed decisions when you purchase wood floors and furniture.

Choosing a hardwood floor involves many choices: style, budget, wood tone, type of wood, manufacturer and installer. Today, many consumers also want to know about a product’s carbon footprint. As a result, many suppliers and distributors are working hard to get that information for you. When you make important purchasing decisions, it’s worth your time to ask about any environmental information available.

Did you know that nationally, floor covering contributes 2% of the volume in all landfills? Pierce’s concern lies with the contribution of floor covering waste to Montana landfills. As of Oct 1, 2008 Pierce Flooring has committed torecycling carpet and carpet cushion in all 8 locations. We estimate diverting up to 2,000,000 sq. ft. of carpet from local landfills annually. Or, over 1,000,000 lbs of carpet annually.

By EPA estimates, recycling 20,000 lbs of carpet (approximate weight for the contents of one 53’ semi trailer properly loaded) saves the equivalent of 3,000 gallons of fuel. By our estimates, it will take a maximum of 653 gallons of fuel to transport this material. The net effect is a savings of the equivalent impact of 2,347 gallons of fuel for each 20,000 lbs of carpet that is recycled. We will also reduce the impact to our local landfills.

The Pierce green effort also includes reuse. Reuse is possibly the most efficient form of recycling.

We are so proud to announce our latest recycling stats!

To date Pierce has now recycled:

• 2,324,322 sq ft of carpet/cushion or 258,258 sq yds.
• That adds up to:    1,163,913 lbs or 582 tons.
• Roughly that means  100 semi-trailers at 28 ft long.

To learn more about our recycling efforts, please click here.

Now you can quickly assure yourself that your wood purchase is environmentally sound by buying only FSC-certified products. This will not limit your options. Many manufacturers and distributors proudly display their certification.

Wood with the FSC certification has not been cut in natural forests or other habitats around the world, has not been exposed to hazardous pesticides, and has not caused damage to any indigenous peoples. The United States Green Building Council relies on the FSC certification to ensure that wood products meet their standards.

It’s the small steps we make every day that will help protect our planet through the generations. You can be part of making the earth continue as a rich and healthy resource for all of us for generations to come by looking for wood floors, and other wood products, that have the FSC certification.

The city’s new MET Transfer Center in downtown Billings is a platinum hit.

The city found out this week that it has been awarded the highest certification — LEED Platinum — from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The $5 million bus transfer center at 220 N. 25th St., which opened last summer, met the stringent certification standards by incorporating solar panels, a ground-source heat pump system for heating and cooling, rooftop gardens and low-energy-use features.

The best news, said city Transit Manager Ron Wenger, is that “everything had a purpose. It wasn’t just green for green’s sake.”

“I did not want to do anything that did not save me money down the road in operations,” he said.

The gardens on the building’s roof, for instance, insulate the roof membrane from UV rays, extending its life from a typical 20 years to as many as 50. The rooftop gardens, like the sandstone blocks on the building’s exterior, also create thermal mass that keeps the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

The 50 photovoltaic panels on the site generate half to three-fourths of the energy used by the building, which is also equipped with dual-flush toilets, low-flow faucets, programmable thermostats and clerestory windows, panels of glass at the top of the walls running around the building, to let in natural light.

Co-designers of the building were architect Mike Tuss and LEED-accredited professional Anya Fiechtl, both with CTA Architects Engineers.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system for high-performance green buildings has become the national standard. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Out of a possible 69 points, a project must earn 52 to achieve a platinum rating, and the transfer center earned 53 points. Tuss said they were hoping for platinum but figured they’d probably end up with the next-highest rating, gold.

Fiechtl said CTA and the city didn’t tell anyone they were shooting for platinum, in fear of jinxing the project or getting people’s hopes up.

Another big factor in obtaining platinum certification was that nearly all the construction waste was recycled or diverted. Trees removed from the site were planted in city parks and asphalt that was torn up was crushed and reused.

None of the rain and snow that falls on the transfer center enters the city’s storm water system. It either flows into landscaped islands on the property or drains into a boulder field under the concrete driveway, from there to percolate back into the groundwater. Water that falls on the rooftop gardens — planted with low-maintenance, drought-resistance grass and other plants — also trickles down into the groundwater.

On the front of the transfer center building is a two-panel display explaining some of the site’s energy-saving features, and not just the big-ticket items like the solar panels.

“There’s a lot of little things you can do as well — things people can do at home,” Fiechtl said.

Those include — besides the toilets, faucets and thermostats — high-efficiency LED lighting, easily recyclable linoleum flooring and a drip-irrigation system for the landscaped areas.

Pierce Flooring is proud to have provided flooring for part of this project. The article can be found in the Billings Gazette. ]]> http://infloormation.com/2010/04/city-transit-center-gets-top-green-rating/feed/ 0 http://infloormation.com/2010/04/happy-earth-day/ http://infloormation.com/2010/04/happy-earth-day/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:53:46 +0000 creatingyourspace http://infloormation.com/?p=444 In honor of Earth Day we would like to share with you our efforts to be green!

This year is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Wikipedia says Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in held on April 22, 1970.

Did you know that nationally, floor covering contributes 2% of the volume in all landfills? Our concern lies with the contribution of floor covering waste to Montana landfills. As of Oct 1, 2008 Pierce Flooring has committed to recycling carpet and carpet cushion in all of our locations. We estimate diverting up to 2,000,000 sq. ft. of carpet from local landfills annually. Or, over 1,000,000 lbs of carpet annually.

In fact, in 2009, we diverted 1,191,042 square feet of flooring from landfills. That is equivalent to saving  1,816,339 gallons of water and reclaiming the equivalent of 595.523 pounds from the landfill!

To learn more about our green efforts, please click here. Tell us what you are doing to be green!