The Multilayer Flooring Association (MFA) and SCS Global Services announced that Metroflor, Novalis, US Floors, and Karndean Designflooring have committed to the pilot certification for new resilient flooring products with rigid polymer cores in a multilayer format. The standard not only focuses on performance and sustainability, but will also protect flooring consumers and reassure them that the certified product is a high-performing and quality one, free of heavy metals and ortho-phthalates, and meeting indoor air quality standards. The motivation for developing the certification resulted from the increasing flood of self-defined multilayer flooring products entering the U.S. marketplace.

“We are moving with a sense of urgency because there is such a strong need for this certification,” said Harlan Stone, MFA president. “Having completed the standard in one year, we are now in the pilot phase to get real world experience applying the standard and feedback from the pilot companies.”

The pilot period will last through the end of the year. The certification program will be officially launched in February 2019 and available to all companies meeting the standard.

The Standard Specification for Resilient Flooring in Modular Format with Rigid Polymeric Core (ASTM standard F3261-17) includes product attributes such as rigidity; surface wear layer; backing types; and performance requirements (e.g. chemical and indentation resistance, and squareness/thickness/flatness).

“The standard is very progressive because it includes sustainability attributes along with performance,” said Rochelle Routman, chair of MFA’s Transparency and Sustainability Committee, whose team selected the baseline sustainability criteria ultimately incorporated into the standard. “This is very important for consumer confidence.”

MFA selected SCS, provider of sustainability certifications which manages the FloorScore program for the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI), to develop this pilot and manage the program. SCS leveraged all synergies to launch and scale the MFA program and collaborated with its members to evaluate and approve independent testing labs to be utilized by manufacturers. SCS will promote and list all products in its Green Products Guide, ORIGIN (just recognized by USGBC as an open source platform), and Mindful Materials.

For more information, visit multilayerflooringassociation.com.