Eco-friendly wood flooring: how to make a sustainable choice

Before we get started, please note that this guide refers only to solid wood and engineered wood floors which combine timber with a solid wood top layer of at least 2.5mm. This guidance therefore does not apply to laminate flooring.

The biggest bonus of a solid wood floor is that it can be refinished time and time again over the course of its life. Of course, wood flooring can get worn or damaged just like any other type of floor. But the advantage of wood is that it can be sanded down and varnished or oiled to be made to look fresh once again.

Sanding is required every 10 years on average meaning your hardwood floor can last a very long time, unlike other types of floors which would eventually have to be replaced.

Of course the timber used for wood and wood-based floors has to come from somewhere. You may be wondering where exactly this wood comes from and whether or not our forests are being destroyed for the sake of our interiors! To ensure this is not the case, manufacturers can provide assurance that the wood has been sustainably sourced using various labels. The most demanding and reliable of these labels are:

• PEFC;

• FSC.

The PEFC label is indicated by a logo that should be easily recognisable as we see it relatively often. This label is used for wood flooring, but that's not all. Recyclable cardboard packaging also often comes with the stamp.

The abbreviation PEFC stands for Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification which is a European certification. Forest owners and companies can request a PEFC label directly from the certification body. The companies are then audited and verified to ensure all the applicable standards regarding traceability are met.

All PEFC logos feature two green trees and an arrow alongside a logo license code which is linked to the certified company. PEFC is committed to setting various requirements to establish traceability and control forest management practices. As such, the organisation promotes an eco-friendly and sustainable approach to forest management.

PEFC standards

The first requirement is to replant trees to prevent deforestation. While this may seem logical, it isn't enough by itself. The entire ecosystem of the forest must be respected. This means that forests must be managed in such a way as flora, fauna and local populations are safeguarded. The soil and surrounding water must also be protected.

A hardwood or engineered wood floor with a PEFC label provides assurance that environmentally friendly practices have been followed and that the wood used to make the floor has been verified. It's worth noting that PEFC labels are more commonly used within Europe particularly when it comes to oak floors.

However, a wood floor with a PEFC label can also come from the other side of the planet since it is the wood that is certified rather than the manufacturer. In terms of carbon footprint, this will somewhat detract from a material's eco-friendly credentials.

What's more, manufacturers can choose to use only a certain volume of traceable wood in their products. Some manufacturers are committed to ensuring all wood can be tracked to the source while others only use a percentage of traceable wood. Either way, these companies are allowed to use the PEFC logo on their flooring.

This makes it tricky to decipher how sustainable the wood actually is, but a PEFC label is still a good basic indicator and certainly better than nothing!

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council and is another common label for wood floors. The FSC is based around the same commitments as PEFC but is more international. As such, certified exotic woods like teak, ipe and iroko can be given a FSC label while they can't be PEFC-certified. These two organisations have very similar requirements.

In short, the trees in a forest must be managed properly. Trees can only be felled on specific plots at certain times. Trees must then be replanted in their place and left to grow. Just like PEFC, products made using certified materials come with an FSC logo which comes with a licence code used to trace the wood back to the forest of origin.

FSC labels must also be requested by the flooring manufacturer which will be audited and verified to obtain and maintain certification.

While PEFC and FSC are the two main systems when it comes to assurance of timber sustainability, there are a few more international schemes to be aware of.

• SFI - North American Sustainable Forest Initiative

• CSA - Canadian Standards Association

• MTCS - Malaysian timber scheme

The UK government’s own standard of sustainable forest management is the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS). This reference standards defines all the standards and requirements for forest management, and provides a basis for regulation and monitoring.

The independent certification standard UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS) serves as a complementary scheme to the UKFS and also serves to verify sustainable woodland management. This standard is used as the basis for the two accredited forest certification schemes operating in the UK: namely, FSC and PEFC.

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