Home  5  Books  5  GBEzine  5  News  5  HelpDesk  5  Register  5  GreenBuilding.co.uk
Not signed in (Sign In)

Categories



Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.
Buy individually or both books together. Delivery is free!


powered by Surfing Waves




Vanilla 1.0.3 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Welcome to new Forum Visitors
 Join the forum now and benefit from discussions with thousands of other green building fans and discounts on Green Building Press publications: Apply now.




Products: Eco Friendly Flooring

Bottom of Page

31 to 47 of 47

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. >
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2014
     
    Posted By: jamesingramWell I'd like to pay it's cost to get it to market plus a modest profit (<15%?) for those that get it their.
    This is the nub of the problem, the cost is everything but the price paid. So environmental damage is a cost, employment has an environmental cost, as does the recycling but profit is part of the price. The profit is irrelevant to the environment (as is the price) but makes a difference to the market sector it is sold into.
    The problem of putting a price on the environment (though they try) is collecting primary data, why I keep asking the question how much would you pay as opposed to how much compensation do you want. The truth is somewhere between them.

    So next time you go looking for some household 'stuff' ask yourself 3 questions:

    Do I really need it
    Are there better alternatives
    What are the hidden costs

    The alternative to not buying some 'stuff' may be more environmentally costly than you think. An example may be leaving your cash in the bank, the bank then invests part of it in a new coal power station.
  2.  
    Posted By: CerisyWe're still sold on Bamboo flooring (after the many years of planning and constructing this wee house!).

    Acceptable appearance, good credentials and very hard wearing, so long life. Not too expensive as well!!

    Good credentials? You don't appear to include locally grown and produced then!
    • CommentAuthordaserra
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2014
     
    I just fitted a Karndean floor to a clients house here and was surprised how little volume the product was for the whole house. I'm normally tiling or solid wood flooring places and the 2mm thick lino stuff would fit in the boot of a car for a whole 122m2 house. So not much raw material so if it is going to be replaced regularly there aren't huge losses. Not that I like the stuff though, I'd much rather bamboo or terracotta or something. Hereabouts they fire there own terracotta tiles which are gorgeous and hard wearing, although not cheap, but the hillside where there are made is marked by plumes of black smoke. There's usually a comprimise to be made.
    • CommentAuthorCerisy
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2014
     
    Fair point Chrispy - but, we have a tiny budget and locally produced oak flooring would be closer to £50/sq m rather than the £22 for bamboo. The whole project has compromises - the hardest was to put off PV due to the high installed cost over here, but we're building a home not trying to be the greenest Brit in Normandy!! Not easy seeing all the advice and guidance on this great forum.

    Regards, Jonathan
  5.  
    I went for bamboo too. Best mix of cost, eco - it does grow fast!, longevity (given the high quality pre-varnished anti-UV extra, extra hard version I bought. Looks nice to .
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeJan 7th 2014
     
    Does anyone know the embodied energy and carbon in bamboo flooring?
    • CommentAuthorjamesingram
    • CommentTimeJan 7th 2014 edited
     
    Nice example comparing Bamboo flooring and local dug/produced concrete in Denver USA

    bamboo 15MJ/t after shipping etc. 4943.1MJ/t
    concrete 1453MJ/t after shipping 1537.3MJ/t

    Hello sailor ! :cry: :bigsmile:

    http://www.usgbccolorado.com/news-events/documents/LCA.pdf page 13
  8.  
    But ton/m2 required will tell a different story
    • CommentAuthorjamesingram
    • CommentTimeJan 7th 2014 edited
     
    The problem of putting a price on the environment (though they try) is collecting primary data,
    Quality data, giving a list of pros, cons and say embodied energy figure is what's need though.
    Otherwise how can people make an informed decision. I've various books and there's info online giving 'eco' credentials , but it always seems a bit muddled. Be nice to have a simpler solution.
    Low embodied energy (EE) product with low transport EE using truly renewable resource top of the list.
    So UK grown/produced wooden flooring from managed source ( planting more than used) would score high.
  10.  
    Posted By: jamesingram
    The problem of putting a price on the environment (though they try) is collecting primary data,
    Quality data, giving a list of pros, cons and say embodied energy figure is what's need though.
    Otherwise how can people make an informed decision. I've various books and there's info online giving 'eco' credentials , but it always seems a bit muddled. Be nice to have a simpler solution.
    Low embodied energy (EE) product with low transport EE using truly renewable resource top of the list.
    So UK grown/produced wooden flooring from managed source ( planting more than used) would score high.
    Preferably treated with organic linseed oil and not using any plastic damp proof membrane or unfriendly adhesives to stick it down?

    Remember you need to look at the total package...

    It's not easy to make an assessment of which flooring has the lowest impact.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeJan 7th 2014
     
    You have to grow more tonnage than you use, then you have to look at the total transport costs, not just the distance moved.
    Then there is the energy mix in the country that most of the processing us done. Then there is resource depletion. This is a difficult one as swapping a food crop for a flooring crop could be considered a negative just as covering agricultural land with a solar farm is.
    Sometimes natural resource depletion is going to have the lowest overall impact. Though the Nigerian oil industry is probably not the finest example of how to run a business.

    If we swapped one crop of 'something' to make way for bamboo, what crop should we get rid of? Japanese Knotweed is not a crop.

    As I was cut off from civilisation last night due to the storm surge (3 hours with the road closed at both ends), I listened to this again. Brings up some interesting points about valuing nature.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mfvl9
  12.  
    Comments on the best place to find quality and good price bamboo?? Have heard it can be really thinnly veneered and wears through. Googled suppliers and found eastern importers at high prices????

    Have had Marmoleum in my kitchen for 15 years and when scrubbed, looks as good as new, and great colour availability. Used to specify it for schools and commercial buildings, very hard-wearing, and don't believe it is difficult to lay. I laid my own, and not a professional, but easy, apart from the hugely long roll.
  13.  
    Bump for decent bamboo suppliers
  14.  
    I was looking at this site just now :
    http://simplybamboo.co.uk/collections/classic-series

    Thoughts on quality? Ease of fitment etc?
  15.  
    Hi victorianeco, we have fitted flooring from simply bamboo coffe engineered in our kitchen and horizontal Bamboo (light) versions in the office and are very pleased with it. Its very hard wearing, so the computer chair's rollers don't show any imprints on it.

    I have 2.5 packs of the coffee version left over, only enough for 5.5m2
  16.  
    That's good to know, I've got a sample on order from there and also from the bamboo flooring company
  17.  
    Samples arrived from the bamboo flooring company today, very impressed with the quality of the boards but don't think it's going to work in the kitchen as thought

31 to 47 of 47

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. >
Add your comments

    Username Password
  • Format comments as
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
   
The Ecobuilding Buzz
Site Map    |   Home    |   View Cart    |   Pressroom   |   Business   |   Links   
Logout    

© Green Building Press