Friday, September 30, 2011

Hey Seattle! Marmoleum receives Cradle-to-Cradle certificate

The worlds most sustainable floorcovering is officially ‘eco-certified’
 
Marmoleum, the natural sustainable floor covering of Forbo Flooring, received the official Cradle-to-Cradle silver certificate. With this certificate, Forbo Marmoleum, produced for over 100 years, receives official confirmation in the contemporary world of C2C.

Marmoleum has been rewarded with many international environmental recognitions like the Nordic Swan, Blaue Engel, Nature Plus to mention a few. According to a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) study of the University of Leiden (Netherlands), Marmoleum is the most sustainable resilient floor covering in the world. The Cradle-to-Cradle certificate is another important confirmation.

Marmoleum thanks its convincing environmental properties to the use of securely checked and grown durable natural raw materials. The prominent raw material is linseed grown from flax. Besides that Marmoleum consists of resin, wood flour, lime stone, pigments and jute, creating a 97% all natural product, 67% of the content is vegetable and rapid renewable. Moreover the wood flour and added tall oil are waste products from the forestry and paper industry, which Forbo recycles. Marmoleum is biodegradable and can be fully recycled.

The Cradle-to-Cradle philosophy is a new outlook for sustainable building, design and living in general. The core principle of Cradle-to-Cradle is: waste is food. All used materials must be biodegradable or should serve a new life in a different product. This may not cause any loss of quality and all parts must be reused or environmentally neutral. This way the circle from waste to food is complete. For Forbo’s Marmoleum this is already applicable for more than 112 years. The Cradle-to-Cradle philosophy matches the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) theory which Forbo uses for years now to continuously reduce the impact of Forbo floors on the environment.

Marmoleum Installation Seattle

I am fascinated with installing marmoleum. I have been working on many residential kitchens, baths, utility room jobs in Seattle over the years and I have noticed something that may intrigue some homeowners about these types of projects.
Marmoleum installation is extremely non invasive to your home...whether it be new construction or remodeling the process is very clean when compared to other floor coverings. Cutting is done with a hook blade and utility knife, no need for saws or tools that will disperse major amounts of dust and waste. After it is installed it can be walked on immediately, no waiting for grout or sealer to dry, marmo already comes from the factory sealed.
All in all Marmoleum is a very clean eco-friendly product to have installed. Home owners can rest assured that choosing Marmoleum will save time on installation, clean up, and overall completion of the construction or remodeling project.  Keep it green with Marmoleum!