Growing and harvesting our building materials would be a great way to move toward a closed-loop system rather than a linear path from extraction to disposal. Doing so holds the promise of true sustainability and regeneration of ecosystems instead of damage to them.
Unfortunately, biobased materials today can be at least as problematic as any other material. Intensive land use, chemical use, fuel use, nutrient runoff, and other pollution are among the impacts of agriculture; add to that competition between food crops and those used for building materials or fuel. We would like to see sustainable use of biobased materials, but improving practices and figuring out how to assess and document more sustainable practices will take a long time. There is no ready equivalent to FSC for biobased materials that aren’t wood, although certification to “organic” standards or other sustainable agriculture standards can provide guidance in some cases.
At the same time, we don’t want to exclude biobased products that are typically responsibly sourced just because they don’t have a certification—particularly where they replace more problematic materials. GreenSpec continues to give preference to rapidly renewable alternatives to materials that present greater concerns. Examples of rapidly renewable materials in GreenSpec include linoleum, cork, and textiles such as wool, sisal, and organic cotton.
Teragren Bamboo Flooring, Panels, and Veneer
Teragren (formerly TimberGrass) manufactures solid strip bamboo flooring in tongue-and-groove or locking system, prefinished or site-finished. All flooring products are available in vertical or flat (horizontal) grains and natural or caramelized standard colors as well as stained cherry, walnut, charcoal and espresso colors. Coatings are water based and solvent free. The company uses the MOSO specie of bamboo which is harvested at maturity at 6 years. Teragren also manufactures coordinating stair parts, flooring accessories and vents, panels and veneer for cabinetry, furniture, interior paneling, countertops, and other interior applications as a direct replacement for wood sheet goods. (Note that while the adhesive used to manufacture the panels and veneer exceeds E1 standards, it is not food grade; if the surface is to be used for food preparation, a food grade sealer is recommended.)
Most bamboo for flooring comes from the Hunan province of China. It's not a food source for pandas, which generally inhabit higher-elevation forests. Despite the long-distance transport of the product to the United States, the durability, hardness, and short regeneration time of bamboo provide justification for using it for flooring instead of conventionally harvested wood. Bamboo is typically processed without preservatives or with benign boric acid, but more toxic preservatives are occasionally used when unprocessed poles are exported. Some bamboo flooring is glued together with urea-formaldehyde binders, which is the primary negative aspect.
As the popularity and availability of bamboo increases, so does the need for uniform and credible certification of green attributes. Ideally there would be verification of low ambient VOC emissions, responsible growing practices, limited or benign pesticides and preservatives in the product, and decent manufacturing conditions. Relevant certifications for the first two are increasingly available.
Products listed here have one or more of the following characteristics:
- Made with FSC certified bamboo
- No added formaldehyde
- Made with binders and adhesives that have ultra-low formaldehyde concentrations (less than or equal to 0.02 ppm)
- Verified low VOC emissions (certified to meet Floorscore or Greenguard Children and Schools, meet Carb II, or have formaldehyde emissions of 0.05 ppm or lower using the ASTM E-1333 test for Europe's E1 standard).
Both FSC certification and low emissions will likely become a requirement for GreenSpec listing in the future.
GreenSpec lists here prefinished panels made with recycled content, agricultural waste fiber such as straw, rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo, or FSC-certified wood, that all reduce pressure on forest resources. Some of the products we list also use low-emitting, non-urea-formaldehyde binders.
Products listed here come from FSC-certified or rapidly renewable sources. GreenSpec recognizes the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards as the most rigorous and the only certification system with well-established chain-of-custody certification.
Countertops and other horizontal surfaces have to be able to withstand water, cleaning chemicals, abrasion, and other abuse. There is no perfect surface for every application and aesthetic sensibility, but whichever type of surface you choose, you can find products with raw materials, binders, and adhesives to minimize environmental impact.
High-pressure laminates (HPLs)—with Formica being the best-known brand—are inexpensive and are made from kraft paper and melamine (MF) or phenol formaldehyde (PF) binders crosslinked together into a thin thermoset plastic. The HPL is then adhered to particleboard or MDF panels. According to manufacturers, the formaldehyde in the MF and PF resins is transformed by the manufacturing process into an inert material, resulting in extremely low emissions from the final product. Products listed by GreenSpec contain FSC-certified content and meet CDPH Standard Method emissions requirements. No-added formaldehyde, biobased laminates are also listed.
Composite surfaces are also made from paper or wood fibers and PF or MF binders. They are available in different thicknesses and are not laminated to wood cores. There may not be as much paper or wood fiber in these products as you might assume, with resins sometimes comprising 50% of the final product by weight, but some contain biobased resins. Products listed by GreenSpec contain 100% post-consumer recycled or FSC-certified content.
Glass composites use pre- and post-consumer recycled glass and/or porcelain along with a portland cement-based binder. Some glass composites contain biobased resins, but avoid those that use epoxy, which contains the endocrine disruptor bisphenol-A.
Solid surface materials are made from either acrylic or polyester resins and conform to ANSI-approved performance standards. Non-porous and homogenous, they can be sanded and repaired if damaged and can be installed without seams. GreenSpec lists products that contain post-consumer recycled content and meet CDPH Standard Method emissions requirements.
There are plenty of wood and rapidly renewable surface products available. GreenSpec lists those made from reclaimed wood; FSC-certified wood; and rapidly renewable bamboo, wheat, sorghum, or hemp.
GreenSpec does not currently list natural stone countertops, pending review of new life-cycle assessment data produced by the industry.
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Just got an announcement about Teragren's new Vantage line--engineered strand bamboo flooring that entirely FSC certified. Cool!
As of the end of 2009, Teragren's conventional (non-strand) bamboo flooring was available with FSC certification by special order. The company is working towards FSC certification for all the bamboo forests in its region, and hopes to have all its products FSC certified eventually.
All Teragren products are now FloorScore-certified for indoor emissions. Teragren is currently the only bamboo flooring on the FloorScore list--so the only one that can contribute to LEED IEQc4.3.