Floor Covering Weekly Honors Company for Contribution to Renewable Energy

Dalton, GA – USFloors has been awarded the GreenStep Award in the Process category as presented by Floor Covering Weekly for its 144 kw photovoltaic solar array and their newest warehouse in Dalton, GA. The Process Category refers to companies that implement a practice or process improvement that reduces negative environmental impact or promotes sustainability. The awards are selected by an independent panel that includes industry professionals from trade associations, retailers, and environmental experts.

The 144 kw array is currently the largest commercial solar installation in the state of Georgia. The system generates 100% of the power required for the buildings energy needs. This is not the first array for USFloors, a sustainable flooring manufacturer, but for now its largest.

Other manufacturers receiving awards included Mohawk, Interface, Anderson Hardwoods, Crossville, Mannington Commercial, and Mullican. USFloors’ President and CEO Piet Dossche commented, “We are honored to be among the leaders in the flooring industry who are working diligently to accelerate our contributions to sustainability and environmentally responsible practices. We will continue to expand our efforts in promoting sustainable flooring and in clean, renewable solar energy.”

Dalton, GA – USFloors Inc. has achieved GREENGUARD® Children & Schools Certification for it’s line of Natural Cork® Floating Floors with the Endura AR™ finish as well as it’s entry level Ecocork® Floating Floors. Earlier this year, USFloors achieved the Children & Schools certification for its Natural Bamboo® flooring line, the only bamboo flooring line to achieve this stringent certification standard for indoor air quality. With the addition of the Natural Cork® floating floors, USFloors is the only flooring supplier to have both cork and bamboo flooring lines with GREENGUARD Children & Schools certification in it’s product portfolio.

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Amorim, a USFloors partner and our sole supplier of cork flooring, both finished and unfinished, supplied cork for the Portugal Pavillion at the world expo in Shanghai. The exterior of the building is made out of cork and the interior has cork flooring throughout.

The stunning Portugal Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, which opened on May first, is a showcase for natural cork — and Amorim.

Amorim has supplied 59201 square ft of cork for the pavilion, which boasts a bold architectural design.

Cork is displayed on the building’s facade, as a prominent element of the aesthetic design, as a flooring material and in several technical solutions.

In keeping with the Expo theme of ‘Better City, Better Life’, pavilion organizers selected natural cork as a base and structural material.

Cork demonstrates sustainable construction, shows innovation in harmony with nature and has excellent acoustic, thermal and anti-vibration insulation qualities.

It is also a raw material strongly identified with Portugal as the country has the largest area of cork oak forests in the world.

The 39.180 square ft facade of the Portugal Pavilion is covered with 62 million pounds of insulation corkboard — considered the most environmentally friendly insulation solution in the world.

In terms of technical solutions, 8395 square ft of ACM (Acoustic Core Materials) manufactured by Amorim Cork Composites is utilized in a projection room for sound absorption.

Corticeira Amorim, the world’s largest cork producer and manufacturer, is a major sponsor of the Portugal Pavilion at the exposition.

Expo Shanghai 2010 runs from May first to October 31. About 190 countries and 50 international organizations are participating in the event that is estimated to attract some 70 million visitors.

To view photos of the Portuguese Pavilion, visit USFloors’ Flickr site by clicking here.

As interior designers become more aware of the distinctive beauty and unique performance benefits of cork flooring, they are convincing clients to use these fantastic, sustainable floors in new construction and renovation projects. One such designer is Paul Anater of St. Petersburg, FL.

Paul is a kitchen and bath residential designer, as well as a free-lance writer, who recently wrote about his first experience with specifying and installing a cork floor in a recent kitchen renovation, which just happened to be a floating cork floor from USFloors’ Natural Cork Earth and Classics Collection. This is the first of 3 projects that he has underway using Natural Cork floors. Paul and his clients are “ecstatic” with the results. Paul is on what he refers to as a “cork kick” and is convincing more and more of his clients to install USFloors’ Natural Cork floors in their kitchen renovations. He wants to promote Natural Cork flooring, not only through this article on www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com, but also by recommending it to his existing and potential clients.

You can read Paul’s article and see pictures of the kitchen and it’s beautiful Natural Cork floor by clicking here.

USF Contract was featured in a product focus in the April 2010 edition of Contract Magazine’s Green Scene. The product focus notes USF Contract’s 36 colors of strand woven bamboo as well as the GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification attained by USF Contract’s Natural Bamboo floors. The Natural Bamboo line by USF Contract, and it’s parent company, USFloors, is the only bamboo line with the stringent GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification, a reference standard for credit EQ 4.3 Low Emitting Materials – Flooring Systems under LEED v.3. For more information on USF Contract visit usfcontract.com.

USF Contract is showing at Neocon 2010. You can find us in the Merchandise Mart on the 8th Floor, Space 6054.

USFloors latest solar array installation was featured in a article published in the March 20 edition of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The article features interesting facts about the solar array, the largest commercial solar array in the state of Georgia. Click here to view the article in its entirety.

Piet Dossche leads YLS members on tour of USFloors manufacturing facility.

Forty-two United Way Young Leaders Society members recently enjoyed a lunch at USFloors, where President/CEO Piet Dossche entertained the group with stories about his personal journey as an entrepreneur. Piet taught the group about the process of making bamboo and cork flooring, shared 21 tips about starting your own business, and reviewed a photo slideshow of his international travels. Then Piet and his team led a tour of their Corporate Dr. manufacturing facility. Melissa Pateritsas, a YLS member, commented, “Piet Dossche is a true entrepreneurial success story. Everyone who attaned his presentation was surely motivated by his hard work and commitment.” James Gordy, another YLS member who attended the luncheon, enjoyed the event as well, “Very interesting to learn about innovative companies in our area! Mr. Dossche did a great job explaining his business and encouraging future entrepreneurs in the community.”

Members of the group learned that USFloors makes cork flooring from the by-products of wine cork manufacturing and that the company has solar panels on two Whitfield County facilities. USFloors is the only supplier of cork and bamboo flooring with manufacturing facilities operating in the United States. Piet and his wife Sabine are generous supporters of United Way, as members of the Alexis de Tocquville Society.

Young Leaders Society is a giving circle with over 120 members who annually contribute over $100,000 to the United Way of Northwest Georgia. For more information visit www.ourunitedway.org.

Click here to view photos from the event.