June 23, 2008—Forbo Flooring Systems recently was awarded the Sustainable Materials Rating Technology (SMART) Sustainable Platinum Certification as a building product for Marmoleum and Bulletin Board Products. The SMART Consensus Sustainable Product Standards (CSPS) were developed by The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building product over its life.
Forbos Marmoleum and Bullletin Board products achieved credit towards Sustainable Platinum level certification in the following categories: Safe for Public Health & Environment, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Biobased or Recycled Materials, Innovation in Manufacturing, Facility or Company Based Manufacturing, and Reclamation, Sustainable Reuse or End of Life Management.
In recent years, environmental and health concerns have lead the industry to look for sustainable alternatives to vinyl flooring. These concerns, combined with PVC price increases, have created the ideal climate to introduce Marmoleum Composition Tile (MCT), the sustainable alternative to VCT.
Made from natural ingredients, MCT linoleum tile provides a better balance between initial cost, ongoing costs, and performance than VCT. MCT features a low cost of ownership and is occupancy ready, requiring no initial maintenance, which is the true hidden cost of flooring products such as VCT. MCTs naturally inherent antimicrobial and antistatic properties offer improved indoor air quality and combat MRSA and other strains of bacteria, unlike the open seams of VCT.
MCT is 85% organic with 66% bio-based content. It is financially beneficial to LEED projects, and carries the most LCA based certifications of any resilient flooring product. Forbo will guarantee MCTs installed pricing of $2.75-$3.45 ft2, material, adhesive, and labor inclusive (exclusive of subfloor preparation and moisture mitigation). Plus, with the scratch-resistant Topshield finish and 10 times the indentation resistance of VCT, MCT has a look that lasts for years.
Forbo Flooring Systems is a global market leader in linoleum floor coverings, owning a market share of over 60%. In addition to linoleum-based products, For more on the company, see its Web site.
