Green

Eco-Friendly Wood Flooring

How Do You Know, Really Know, It’s Green?

Article Credit
Lewis Buchner - EcoTimber

A pile of boards is a pile of boards. Where did it come from? How did it get into the country? You just can’t tell by looking at boards if they are sustainably-harvested flooring certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Getting that green designation is more than a matter of stamping green on the packaging.

Lewis Buchner, CEO of EcoTimber in San Rafael, California and his staff search the world, looking for sustainably-harvested timber that can be certified by the FSC as suitable for import into the U.S.

EcoTimber takes this very seriously. They won’t risk buying from a new factory without first visiting and assessing, on-site, the supplier’s environmental and social policies – as well as their quality.

The Problem of Illegal logging

Illegal logging in places like Indonesia, the Russian Far East, Burma, the Amazon, and the Congo Basin is rampant. According to a recent report from Greenpeace:

• Today 6 to 9 of each 10 exported logs are exported from Russia illegally.
• In Indonesia it is estimated that between 76 and 80% of logging is illegal.
• In the Brazilian Amazon 60% - 80% of logs were produced in 2004 without any authorization.
• In Cameroon 50% of logging between 1999 and 2004 is estimated to have been illegal.

Illegally-harvested wood is sometimes consumed in the country of origin, but it is often “laundered” through international trade and manufacturing and imported into Europe and North America as value-added products like lumber, decking, flooring, plywood, and furniture.

The U.S. International Trade Commission has estimated that as much as 30% of hardwood products imported into the U.S. are from suspicious or illegal sources.
And, it is widely recognized that illegal logging is often the first in a chain of tragic events whose end result is total deforestation.
What should consumers look for in green, sustainably-harvested wood flooring?

Sustainably-Harvested Wood Flooring - Consumer Buying Tips

Lewis and his team suggest:

1 – Look for the Forest Stewardship Council certification on the wood flooring packaging, and also ask your flooring dealer to show you their invoice from their supplier which must state that that particular product is FSC certified (they can black out their cost – it’s just the FSC description in the individual line item that you want to verify).

Just because a brochure or a display shows the FSC logo does NOT mean that the flooring you are buying is FSC – it only means that the manufacturer is licensed to produce FSC flooring –but what they are offering you may not be that FSC flooring.

2 – Check, online or by phone, with EcoTimber to find out more about the wood species you are interested in and if it is available from an FSC forest. Many species of flooring on the market are becoming threatened or endangered and are not available as a certified product.

3 – If you are interested in reclaimed wood flooring, ask for verification that the planks really were recycled from old structures. Some reclaimed flooring is actually new wood, not FSC, and made to “look” old.

About EcoTimber

Since 1992, EcoTimber has played a leadership role in the development of “low-impact logging” in the tropics and standards adopted by the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting natural forests while sustainably-harvesting a wide range of beautiful woods.

Recently, EcoTimber announced the first all-bamboo, non-formaldehyde flooring for residential and commercial flooring.

About Lewis Buchner, CEO of EcoTimber

Lewis Buchner grew up in New Jersey, the son of a furniture designer and manufacturer. In 1973 Lewis started a woodworking business in San Francisco specializing in custom commercial furniture. Buchner Design Studio was involved with many of the early commercial interiors projects for San Francisco design firms during the 1970's, 80’s, and 90’s. From 1988 to 1992 Lewis was on the board of the Architectural Woodwork Institute.

In 1992, Lewis was invited to join the board of directors of the Tropical Forest Foundation based at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. TFF pioneered the methods and economic analysis of "low impact logging" in the tropics, and Lewis visited experimental logging sites and attended government workshops on this issue in Brazil in 1995.

In October 1995 Buchner Design Studio acquired Architectural Hardwoods and Veneers, the largest architectural veneer supplier on the West Coast. The new combined business was renamed Vida. Vida’s major projects included the San Francisco Public Library and a 700 ft certified veneer wall at the San Francisco International Airport.

In 1996 Lewis traveled extensively to forestry operations and veneer slicing mills in the U.S. to source certified veneer, and was eventually successful in arranging for the first such veneer to be produced. AFE was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to produce certified veneer panels in the same year.

In 2003, Lewis became the CEO of EcoTimber.

For the past ten years Lewis has been the Treasurer of San Bruno Mountain Watch, an environmental organization focused on endangered species and habitat issues on San Bruno Mountain, south of San Francisco.

Lewis lectures frequently about sustainable forestry issues at schools and architecture firms. He was the recent board chair of the Certified Forest Products Council and a board member of the Certified Wood and Paper Association.

Press Release
Lewis Buchner from EcoTimber
Announces New Solid Bamboo Flooring:Now With Formaldehyde-Free Adhesives

EcoTimber CEO, Lewis Buchner has announced that EcoTimber is the first flooring company in North America to offer bamboo flooring made with formaldehyde-free adhesives as a standard product. Other companies offer formaldehyde free on a special-order basis and at a significant premium.

"We understand that being green means harvesting our wood or bamboo sustainably, and keeping toxins out of the air in our customer's homes", said Buchner. "Our goal is to remain on the cutting edge of what it means to be a "green" company, with our products and with our own operations."

More information about sustainably-harvested EcoTimber products and bamboo flooring can be found at www.ecotimber.com