DFS Green consultants assist clients in specifying and obtaining environmentally responsible flooring products, taking into consideration the US Green Building Council's LEED standards and guidelines. We combine these standards with an evaluation of our clients' facility-specific needs and goals in order to identify an ideal flooring product selection for each area of occupancy.
There are numerous criteria to consider in determining whether a flooring product is “Green”, including resource-extraction impacts, manufacturing impacts, and indoor air quality factors among others.
All of the following factors should be taken into consideration when selecting sustainable flooring products:
- Products with post-consumer recycled content
- products that are the most likely materials to be diverted from landfill
- Products with pre-consumer recycled content
- products that are industrial by-products and are preferable especially where there are no materials available that have already been in consumer use.
- Products that conserve natural resources
- rapidly renewable products or those that can contribute to the conservation of natural resources such as certified wood; rapidly renewable material is defined as a finish that regenerates in a period of ten years or less, such as bamboo; certified wood products come from a responsibly managed forest where harvested trees are replaced and clear-cutting is not used as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
- Products that avoid toxic or other emissions
- products that are naturally or minimally processed, or products that facilitate a reduction in polluting emissions from building maintenance
Other sustainable flooring considerations include product durability, recycling alternatives, local content and transportation (within 500 miles of the point of use), and a comprehensive approach to life-cycle costs.
Once a flooring product is specified, we can also provide fulfillment services for installation, maintenance, and finally reclamation at the end of the product's life-cycle. Any of these services can be provided independently or in a bundled offering.
