Press
Release:
Lewis
Buchner from EcoTimber Announces New :
Now With Formaldehyde-Free Adhesives San
Rafael, California (October 9, 2007) EcoTimber CEO, Lewis Buchner, announced today
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 Meet
Lewis Buchner, CEO
We are pleased to be able to bring this sustainable AND healthy product to
our customers. I
love my work at EcoTimber in part due to the synergy here between environmental
activism and building a prosperous business.
EcoTimber is the only "pure
play" in the flooring world - we only sell deep green products. There
are two aspects of green for us: sustainability and health. We address sustainability
by sourcing all of our wood from FSC certified forests, reclaimed wood from old
buildings, or rapidly growing bamboo. We address health by using non-formaldehyde
adhesives in our engineered flooring, and zero VOC finishes.Last
month we began stocking the first solid Bamboo flooring made with non-formaldehyde
adhesives. Not
All Bamboo Flooring Is The Same
Avoid
Problems - Make Sure That Your Bamboo Flooring is Well-Manufactured Bamboo
is a reliable flooring product, but only if it is made well by an experienced
manufacturer using quality stalks, adhesives, and milling equipment. The Bamboo
flooring market has been flooded in recent years with poorly manufactured material.
What
to Look for in Quality Bamboo Flooring:
Raw Material - Many Bamboo
flooring mills purchase immature Bamboo stalks, and do not take the time and care
required to dry the raw Bamboo properly. EcoTimber's mill uses only top-quality
mature stalks, and then painstakingly processes the Bamboo with methods proven
through years of research and experience. Careful oversight throughout the process
ensures optimum performance. Adhesives - Many mills use poor-quality adhesives,
often-made right there at the mill. These glues may not resist water well and
may contain high levels of urea-formaldehyde, which off-gases in the home. EcoTimber
Solid Bamboo flooring is made with a formaldehyde-free adhesive.
Milling/Equipment
- Look at the end of a cut sample of Horizontal Grain Bamboo flooring. With most
brands, you will see small splits or gaps between the individual strips of Bamboo
that have either been filled with adhesive or left as is. Some of the individual
strips are not cut into perfect rectangles. With EcoTimber Bamboo flooring, all
of the strips are cut perfectly and laminated tightly together, ensuring minimum
opportunity for movement and delamination. Many Bamboo importers source their
flooring from a variety of mills. EcoTimber's Bamboo flooring comes from just
one mill that uses new, state-of-the-art European machinery. EcoTimber Bamboo
flooring adheres to these precise milling tolerances: width +/- 0.1mm, length
+/- 1mm, thickness +/- 0.1mm.
Drying - Most Bamboo flooring mills only
kiln-dry their material down to 9-10% moisture content, which makes the flooring
unreliable for use in dry climates and areas with significant seasonal humidity
fluctuations. EcoTimber Bamboo flooring is dried to 6-8% MC, making it more stable
and suitable for a wide range of climates.
Lengths - Bamboo mills sort
their raw material, reserving the best pieces for their longer-length planks.
Most manufacturers sell ~3 ft. and ~6 ft. lengths, using the straightest, densest
material for the 6 ft. planks, which they often refer to as "Premium"
grade. EcoTimber utilizes the 6 ft. lengths exclusively.
Finish - EcoTimber
Prefinished Bamboo flooring uses a high-tech aluminum oxide enhanced acrylated
urethane system with a hardened acrylic anti-scratch topcoat that outperforms
most finishes in abrasion and scratch-resistance tests.
Commercial
Comments
EcoTimber
Solid Bamboo Flooring is ideal for both residential and commercial applications. Bamboo
flooring is often used in commercial projects to meet the US Green Building Council's
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program's credit for rapidly
renewable materials, known
as MR 6. Because
EcoTimber Solid Bamboo flooring is made with formaldehyde-free adhesives, it also
qualifies for the EQ 4.4 LEED credit, which is for Low Emitting Materials. Therefore,
architects and builders looking to acquire LEED status in their buildings are
able to achieve both MR 6 and EQ 4.4 credits by using EcoTimber Solid Bamboo flooring. More
info on LEED:
http://www.usgbc.org/LEED
Eco
Timber Specs:
Product
EcoTimber®
Solid Bamboo Flooring Dimensions
o
Thickness: 5/8"
o Face Width: 3-5/8"
o Length: 73-3/16"
o Packaged in boxes containing 26.9 square feet Construction
o
100% Bamboo
o Multi-ply vertical or horizontal construction
o Micro-beveled
edges Hardness
Janka
hardness test results: 1,100-1,300 lbs./sq.in. (similar to Red Oak) Finish
o
Satin sheen aluminum oxide enhanced UV-cured acrylic urethane with scratch-resistant
hardened acrylic top-coat
o Also available unfinished Installation
o
Nail-down
o Glue-down (Recommended glue: EcoTimber Zero-VOC Flooring Adhesive)
o Warranted over radiant heat - please read installation instructions thoroughly
before making a product selection Warranties
o
Lifetime residential / 25-yr commercial warranty against construction defects
o 27-year residential / 3-year commercial warranty against finish wear-through Environmental
Attributes
o A highly renewable resource, timber bamboo is harvested just 5-7
years after being planted.
o Made with a formaldehyde-free adhesive that does
not off-gas in the home L.E.E.D.®
Qualifications
o MR 6 - Rapidly Renewable Materials
o EQ 4.4 - Low Emitting
Materials - Composite Wood & Laminate Adhesive
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