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Phoenix, AZ – USF Contract, the commercial division of USFloors, was awarded the Green Exhibitor Award for the Partner Level at the 2009 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo held recently in Phoenix, AZ. The Green Exhibitor Awards are based on points accumulated by using the Green Exhibition Scorecard provided by Greenbuild and the USGBC. continue

San Francisco – In a nondescript neighborhood on San Francisco’s south side, there sits what any average passerby would think is your typical everyday bungalow. But, with a closer look you find it’s no ordinary home. It’s San Francisco’s first and only Green X-ray House, and it’s quite the attraction.

Exposed walls of Green X-Ray House show various types of energy efficient insulation. Bamboo floor is USFloors' Engineered Horizontal Spice

The Green X-ray House is a public/private partnership between the city of San Francisco and local builders, designers, and building material suppliers. The house has been remodeled using energy efficient, sustainable, and financially viable green building practices and materials that can be incorporated into even the most average of homes with only a modest budget.

To demonstrate unseen features, some of the interior walls and floors have been left unfinished to allow visitors to peer inside the walls and under floors to view various types of wall insulation and subfloor radiant heating systems. Thus the name X-ray House.

The flooring was supplied through Greenv Sustainable Center of South San Francisco and installed by Crown Flooring of San Francisco. Craig Anderson, Crown Flooring owner, said, “It was great to be a part of such an important and innovative project that does a great job at educating home owners about green homes.” continue

The Avignon Collection from USF Contract, the commercial division of USFloors, has been featured in Interior Design magazines 2009 Fall Market Tabloid in the eco-friendly products section (p. 192). Introduced at Neocon East in Baltimore, Avignon is the newest addition to USF Contract’s line of unique and sustainable flooring products engineered specifically for commercial interiors.

The distinctive character of each Avignon Collection natural oil finished oak hardwood plank is achieved using a variety of antiquing and aging techniques and finished with natural oils to preserve the original beauty of the wood.

Avignon Collection’s natural oil finish provides a warmth and refinement to the floor that cannot be achieved with modern day acrylic or polyurethane finishes. The rich patina of each Avignon Collection floor is only enhanced with age and use – the more traffic it endures, the more beautiful it gets. The natural oils in Avignon Collection floors penetrate the grain and become part of the finish.

100% FSC Pure Certification

Avignon Collection floors feature the FSC 100% certified designation of the Forest Stewardship Council. This ensures that not only the oak wear layer, but the entirety of the wood used to produce these beautiful floors follows a verified and documented chain of custody. FSC certification gives you the confidence that only wood from well-managed forests harvested using environmentally responsible practices is used to make floors in our Avignon Collection.

Distinctive Surface Treatments

Avignon Collection floors feature a distinctive and sophisticated range of distressed, smoked, and antiqued floors finished with either natural or pigmented oils. Each Avignon Collection floor is meticulously crafted to ensure lasting beauty.

One of the Industry’s Thickest Wear Layers

The 6 mm solid oak hardwood top layer is one of the industry’s thickest wear layers and rests on a multi-layered, dimensionally stable core giving each Avignon Collection floor the strength to withstand many years of use. continue

For centuries, hardwood floors were finished with a variety of natural oils or waxes to protect and nourish the floors that would needto withstand decades of use. With the evolution of modern polyurethane and acrylic hard finishes, hardwood floors finished with natural oils declined in popularity.

Today, as many consumers are becoming more “green” , natural oil floors are being embraced by consumers drawn to the enhanced nature, or “realness”, of natural oil floors. continue

In a 3 part interview, Piet Dossche, President & CEO, US Floors discusses the company’s new cork, bamboo and wood manufacturing facility in Dalton, the market’s attraction to sustainable products, the company’s relationship with Amorim, which acquired a 25% stake in the company, its entrance into the contract market and the introduction of Corboo into the commercial sector. Dossche also compares the properties of bamboo and cork vs wood. To view the interview in its entirety, click here.

Washington, DC, July 13, 2009–Bamboo floors are becoming more popular not only because they are often cheaper than oak, but because bamboo is considered eco-friendly by some since it grows faster than trees.
So Consumer Reports tested 21 different types of hardwood flooring, including seven bamboo floors, ranging in price from $4 a square foot to $9.
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DALTON, GA – Four on the management staff of USFloors have achieved accreditation as a LEED AP certified by the Green Building Certification Institute. Those four include: Deborah Hardin, VP of Sales and Marketing; Patty Ward, West Coast Regional Sales Manager; Bruce Graye, Northeastern Regional Sales Manager; Gary Keeble, Jr., Marketing Manager.

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New Introductions Include Naturally Sustainable Cork, Strand Woven Bamboo and Corboo™
Color, Innovation and Design Define USFloors’ Product Offering for Contract

Chicago – For leading cork and bamboo flooring manufacturer USFloors, the company’s product introductions for NeoCon 2009 represent the company’s foray into the contract market and the culmination of nearly a decade of design and innovation. Opening today in Chicago, NeoCon is the world’s largest market event for interior designers, architects and facility management professionals.

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USFloors was recently profiled by Chattanooga ABC affiliate WTVC News Channel 9 in a story about our solar photovoltaic panel farm located on the roof of our manufacturing and corporate facility located in Dalton, GA. The story includes an interview with Piet Dossche and video of the solar panels and manufacturing facility. Click here to view the video of the News Channel 9 story.

Many times, hardwood flooring consumers and retailers have questions about how hardwood floors react to moisture in various regions of the country. Hardwood floors will expand and contract to different degrees according to varying levels of moisture in the environment and the wood itself. Hardwood flooring installed in regions with arid climates will react differently than hardwood floors in regions subject to seasonal high humidity levels. But that’s only part of the story. Here is a quick and simplistic primer on how hardwood floors are effected by moisture and the different variables that determine the degree of the effect.

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