Article Number: 5936
Selling the eco benefits of laminate flooring
By Roger Farabee Senior VP of marketing, Unilin/Mohawk Hard Surfaces
Laminate is one of our industry’s most positive environmental stories, and this can give you a very useful selling tool. Even if a shopper isn’t focused on the “greenness” of the product, the green benefits of laminate can still relate to the overall laminate value story.
1. Start with construction of a laminate plank. At Mohawk, U.S.-produced laminate core boards contain an average of 74% pre-consumer recycled content. Other manufacturers also employ some degree of recycled content in their core boards. This comes from wood waste from other industrial processes. Wood waste that otherwise would be burned or sent to a landfill instead becomes useful in laminate flooring. So a larger percentage of the original wood harvest is utilized.
Because of this high level of recycled content, Mohawk’s U.S.-produced laminate qualifies as an EPP (Environmentally Preferred Product) in all green rating systems. With LEED, this could help a project earn up to four points.
2. Laminate pattern technology has advanced to the point that very scarce or rare species of wood can be realistically duplicated—without using these limited resources. Your customer could very well have been first attracted to laminate because of its realism. She can have the look of a rare or exotic wood without any negative environmental impact.
3. Installation is also a positive environmental point. Laminate can be a glueless installation product. That means fewer VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions into the home of the consumer. Glueless installation also means simpler installation. In fact, with a system like Mohawk’s Uniclic, a laminate floor can be reinstalled up to three times. So instead of throwing it away, it can be reused for another room in the home or donated to a charity for continued use.
4. Because laminate is very durable, it can have a lifetime of many years, reducing replacement cost and using fewer resources. This durability, combined with laminate’s ability to be reused, means the homeowner isn’t locked into one long-term flooring look. She can move the laminate floor to another area of the home and create a fresh atmosphere with new flooring—while still keeping the investment in her old floor.
Laminate is one of our industry’s most positive environmental stories, and this can give you a very useful selling tool. Even if a shopper isn’t focused on the “greenness” of the product, the green benefits of laminate can still relate to the overall laminate value story.
1. Start with construction of a laminate plank. At Mohawk, U.S.-produced laminate core boards contain an average of 74% pre-consumer recycled content. Other manufacturers also employ some degree of recycled content in their core boards. This comes from wood waste from other industrial processes. Wood waste that otherwise would be burned or sent to a landfill instead becomes useful in laminate flooring. So a larger percentage of the original wood harvest is utilized.
Because of this high level of recycled content, Mohawk’s U.S.-produced laminate qualifies as an EPP (Environmentally Preferred Product) in all green rating systems. With LEED, this could help a project earn up to four points.
2. Laminate pattern technology has advanced to the point that very scarce or rare species of wood can be realistically duplicated—without using these limited resources. Your customer could very well have been first attracted to laminate because of its realism. She can have the look of a rare or exotic wood without any negative environmental impact.
3. Installation is also a positive environmental point. Laminate can be a glueless installation product. That means fewer VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions into the home of the consumer. Glueless installation also means simpler installation. In fact, with a system like Mohawk’s Uniclic, a laminate floor can be reinstalled up to three times. So instead of throwing it away, it can be reused for another room in the home or donated to a charity for continued use.
4. Because laminate is very durable, it can have a lifetime of many years, reducing replacement cost and using fewer resources. This durability, combined with laminate’s ability to be reused, means the homeowner isn’t locked into one long-term flooring look. She can move the laminate floor to another area of the home and create a fresh atmosphere with new flooring—while still keeping the investment in her old floor.
 |