There has been a trend over recent years for consumers to demand green products from their suppliers. This trend has been driven by many issues; for example, concerns over resource depletion, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, and occupant health. Think about it for a moment. The industrial revolution completely changed the way people lived on both a personal and societal level. It is indisputable that great strides have been made in the quality of life of the average person over the last few centuries. However, many people are now beginning to realize that these advancements have come with a great cost to the environment. The demand for green products is simply a response to this realization and is an effort to minimize the environmental impact of new and refurbished construction.
In recent years, the construction sector in particular has been identified as being a significant consumer of energy and raw materials. As a result, the government has challenged the construction industry to improve its performance to meet sustainable living objectives. The entire construction industry has been increasingly under pressure to become more green. At present, there is no standard industry definition for green.
Green wood products are generally accepted as being those products that are:
1) produced completely from a sustainably managed forest
2) sourced locally, to reduce environmental impacts of transportation
3) wood coatings that have minimal volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)
4) composite products that contain no added urea-formaldehyde
5) products that contain recycled content
American hardwoods have been used for over 400 years for the purpose of providing beauty and functional value to interiors. Wood is considered to be the world’s most abundant renewable resource. The Impressions Hardwood Collection flooring is made out of green materials that are in an abundant and self-renewing supply.
Sustainable construction strives to meet the needs of today’s generations without compromising the planet. Sustainability is simply the process or state that a natural resource can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. According to industry experts, hardwood supplies in the United States continue to grow. The volume of hardwood in the Eastern United States, where most hardwood is found, has doubled since 1953, according to Art Raymond, a consultant for the Hardwood Manufacturers Association. In a recent survey, the U.S. Forest Service found that annual growth is exceeding annual harvest by 229 percent, virtually the definition of sustainability.
We have a duty as a society to meet the needs of today’s generation without compromising the planet at the expense of future generations. We, at Impressions Hardwood Collection take this seriously. We are proud to offer products within our collection that are sustainable.
The Impressions Hardwood Collection products are sourced from a sustainable vertically integrated forest. The timberlands are managed by a full-time forestry staff which has developed a 100-year renewable plan for the forest. We believe that this 100-year plan is the right thing to do for future generations. By being a vertically integrated forest, the forestry staff is able to manage the manufacturing process from the tree to the sales floor. In addition, sawdust generated from the flooring manufacturing process is used to provide heat and steam to fuel the manufacturing operations. Any excess sawdust not needed in the flooring manufacturing process is used to supply a state-of –the-art wood pellet fuel division where premium grade clean-burning fuel pellets are produced. This helps decrease the waste that would have otherwise gone to a landfill and it in turn helps decrease the country’s overall dependence on fossil fuels.
