Our Green Piece

At The R. A. Siegel Company, we believe that we have a responsibility to our customers and our community to provide as many environmentally friendly products as possible. Buildings fundamentally impact the lives of people and the health of our planet; therefore, our dedication toward helping flooring professionals within our communities ultimately helps to improve the quality of our buildings, our environment and our future. Flooring Retailers to Architectural Engineers and Interior Designers, all benefit from the partnerships developed between The R. A. Siegel Company and the manufacturers.

Along with new and improved products, the "green" movement has generated interest among consumers, thus expanding the opportunities within the flooring industry. Many new phrases are now heard in the flooring industry and the following terms will become more common as "green" thinking becomes more prevalent:

USGBC - The U. S. Green Building Council is a non-profit organization of leaders from across the building industry working to make green buildings accessible to everyone within a generation. Founded in 1993, the USGBC has been focused on the advancement of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. For more information go to www.usgbc.org

LEED - The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a USGBC sponsored certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED Certification provides independent, third party verification that a building project is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live and work.

FSC Certified - The Forest Stewardship Council is the leading forest certification system in the world. Established in 1993 globally, their mission is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests. FSC-US, located in Washington, D.C., was chartered in 1995 as the United States Chapter. Its purpose is to coordinate the development of forest management standards throughout the different regions of the U.S., to provide public information about certification and FSC, and to work with certification organizations to promote FSC certification in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.fsc.org.

The following product lines offered through The R. A. Siegel Company are certifiably "green" and are environmentally friendly:

Alloc Laminate - In practice and in policy, Alloc is committed to environmental responsibility. Their business is based upon products that can be produced, used, recycled and disposed of without harm to human health or the environment. Their commitment comes from the inside out - from within their plant and within their products and begins with responsible manufacturing processes. They employ a less-is-more approach to energy and water usage and paper and disposable goods consumption in their facilities. Alloc is a leader in the use of renewable, non-polluting energy sources. Their laminate floors are naturally kind to the environment. Engineered to last, the core of ALLOC laminate flooring is high-density fiberboard. This fiberboard is comprised of the 'remnants' from saw mills and logging operations - wood shavings, saw dust and other elements that would otherwise be discarded. Laminate floors capture the look of authentic wood through highly sophisticated printing with water-based inks on decorative paper. Thus, natural wood resources are never compromised. The adhesives and finishing coats utilized in the manufacturing process are carefully formulated to minimize VOC content.

These elements aid in product longevity, ensuring their laminate floors look beautiful and remain durable for years and years. They are even eco-conscious when it comes to disposing of waste by making conscious efforts to recycle post-industrial waste. For additional information please visit their website: www.alloc.com.

Lyptus Hardwood - Lyptus hardwood products, produced by Weyerhaeuser Company, are an excellent option when selecting an exotic species grown to sustainable forest certification standards. Lyptus derives from fast-growing eucalyptus trees cultivated on well-managed plantations and harvested to sustainable certification standards, making it an environmentally-responsible hardwood. Eucalyptus trees grow quickly and may be harvested within 14-16 years of planting. Lyptus® forests are 11 times more productive on a per hectare per year basis when compared to a temperate forest, which may take 80 to 100 years or more to mature. Lyptus forests also produce 30 times the volume of lumber per hectare (100 acres) per year when compared to an unmanaged temperate forest. Like Weyerhaeuser mills in the United States, the APM mill uses virtually every portion of the log, converting it to lumber and other usable by-products; residuals are used as bio-energy for the kiln drying operations. For additional information please visit their website: www.lyptus.com.

Mannington Products - While Mannington manufactures a variety of products, their commitment to the environment is clear and straightforward. Please get to know the "green side" of Mannington by visiting their environmental position on all their product categories:

We are proud to offer these fine products and invite you to learn more about Mannington and the commitment of their family to be a leader in this community. Please visit their website to learn more: www.mannington.com.

Teragren Bamboo - Made from a rapidly renewable source, all of Teragren's bamboo products qualify for certification under LEED rating system on one or more levels. As a pioneer in the bamboo flooring industry, Teragren has set high environmental standards. The levels of LEED product rating include: MR Credit 6(rapidly renewable materials), MR Credit 7(certified wood) and IEQ Credit 4.4 (low emitting materials). Teragren uses only Optimum 5.5® Moso bamboo known for its dense fibers and grown in the Zhejiang province of China. They also require that the bamboo is sustainably harvested at maturity, every 5-1/2 to 6 years. With these specifications, they avoid product performance problems like cupping and warping associated with young, soft and often inexpensive bamboo that is harvested to soon. In addition to relieving pressure on degraded forests, bamboo contributes to efforts to reduce global warming. For detailed information on these products and their strict adherence to environmentally-conscious harvesting and manufacturing, please visit their website: www.teragren.com.

WECork - Cork products are made from the bark of a particular species of oak tree. These trees are a remarkable resource, in that; they regenerate on their own, continuously. The cork bark is stripped off 2/3 of the tree. The first harvest does not occur until the tree is approximately 20 years old. A thin layer of protective inner bark gives the cork oak its unique ability to survive and regenerate itself after the debarking process. Stripping the bark requires great skill, as the inner bark must not be damaged. 100% of the cork content in all WECork products is recycled from other cork pre-consumer manufacturing processes. WE Cork products contribute points towards achieving LEED credits. For more information on the technical specifications of cork please visit their website: www.wecork.com.