Environmental Benefits of Wood Floors

Nature’s Own Renewable Resource

 

Wood flooring is the most abundantly renewable flooring material available. The trees used to make wood floors are produced in a factory called a forest by a renewable source of energy called the sun. Sustainable forest management makes it possible to harvest wood without any serious impact on the environment, because trees are a renewable resource that can be replaced time and time again.

Check out the environmental facts about wood floors:

​

• Average annual net growth for hardwoods is greater than average annual removals (Source: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service)

• Indoor air quality is better with wood floors (Source: US Environmental Protection Agency)

• Wood is a carbon neutral product that produces oxygen during its growth cycle and stores carbon during its service life (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)

• Wood floors use less water and energy to produce that other flooring options (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)

• At the end of its service life, wood flooring can be burned as fuel or recycled (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)

• Wood floors last hundreds of years, so won’t need to be replaced as often as other flooring options (Source: National Association of Home Builders)

• While it takes most hardwood trees 40-60 years to mature, the inventory planted today won’t be needed for 100-plus years (Source: National Wood Flooring Association)

 

​

• Gain a little peace of mind knowing that by choosing oak flooring you are contributing to a greener planet.

• Wooden floors help to reduce the level of harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere by absorbing and converting it into carbon.

• Lalegno uses mature wood in our manufacturing process which would eventually release greenhouse gases as it begins to break down and rot. By applying a number of processes we can ensure the CO2 is stored for a longer period of time.

• Timber creates zero waste, as off cuts from mills can be used as firewood, sawdust has a number of uses such as compost or animal bedding and once the finished products have completed their lifespans then they will decompose as part of the natural cycle, releasing their nutrients back into the ground. Nothing will clog up a land fill for decades to come.

• The carbon emissions emitted into the atmosphere to produce 1 cubic meter of concrete products are the same as producing 1 cubic ton of timber products.