Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

The additional information provided helps assure consistency and quality in the products. Each log is individually selected based on the customer’s specification and optimized to maximize the customers desired product and overall yield. This results in lower unit cost and less need for working capital.

that offers CT-scanned logs to assist log buyers with the procurement of rawmaterial. We make the critical task of buying hardwood logs fromNorth America significantly easier, lowering procurement risk by offering new levels of transparency derived from technology and innovation,” says Rowlett.

inside a log before manufacturing or even purchasing. The combination of external photos and internal images offers a unique perspective on individual logs, eliminates the need to travel, and preserves the familiarity of traditional buying methods. “Danzer is the only hardwood company

For the Life of the Home Trees are a carbon neutral material. They take in carbon dioxide during their growth cycle and produce oxygen. One of the amazing facts about wood, however, is not very well- known: wood stores carbon during its service life. This means that any manufactured wood product – furniture, cabinets, wood floors, and even picture frames – continue to store carbon as a manufactured end-product. Wood and products made fromwood are considered to be carbon neutral.That’s because the carbon dioxide emitted during the combustion of wood is offset by the carbon dioxide taken in during a tree’s growth cycle.These two processes complement one another andmake wood a carbon neutral material. Wood also has very little impact on the accumulation of landfill waste. That’s because there are a number of environmentally friendly options for disposing of wood floors at the end of their service life. Wood floors can be recycled into other materials. Wood is combustible, which means it can be used as fuel or as a heating source. Finally, if the wood does end up in the landfill, it is biodegradable, which means it will decompose. This ultimately reduces its volume of landfill waste. There are other options for recycling wood flooring as well. It can be used as reclaimed flooring, repurposed as furniture, utilized in pressed wood products, manufactured into wood bricks or wood pellets, and even manufactured into mulch. One of the best ways to reduce landfill waste with wood is to

utilize it for reclaimed flooring. This is a process where old wood is used to make new wood flooring. Reclaimed wood can come from a variety of sources. These include wood salvaged from old buildings, like abandoned barns or factories; logs recovered from river and lake bottoms from the turn-of-the- century logging era; or even old pallets. When properly maintained, wood floors can last for hundreds of years. Solid wood floors can be sanded and refinished numerous times during their service lives, and can even be stained to give them a completely new look. Decorative items like medallions and borders can easily be added to existing wood floors to provide an updated look as well. Best of all, over time, wood floors can adapt to any décor and style changes without having to be replaced. To really bring home the point about the value of wood floors, consider this: a survey of real estate agents concluded that homes with wood floors sell faster and for more money than homes without wood floors. The survey further concluded that the increase could be as much as 10 percent more, which is a significant increase in overall home value. The environmental message for wood is a positive one that we need to share with our customers. At the same time, we have a responsibility as an industry to the materials that provide for our way of life. It is imperative that we work together to ensure our work practices are aligned with these facts, and that we share a simple message at every opportunity: wood is good.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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