Armstrong's VCT products now NSF/ANSI 332 gold level certified

Armstrong Commercial Flooring, has been awarded NSF/ANSI 332 Gold Level certification for its VCT products, certified by UL Environment, a global independent safety science company.

Visuals range from traffic-hiding, through-color chips to distinctive, non-directional patterns. The company’s Stonetex tile is available in two sizes – 18”x18” and 12”x12” – an industry first. The products are manufactured in the U.S. at the company’s Jackson MS, Kankakee IL and South Gate CA facilities. VCT recycling also is part of the Armstrong cradle-to-cradle process designed to reduce environmental impact.

The NSF/ANSI 332 Sustainability Assessment Standard for Resilient Floor Coverings is a standard that was created to identify the environmental performance and sustainability attributes of products and to provide a method of tracking incremental changes to the products' sustainability profile.

“Standards such as NSF 332 have made an impact as they provide transparency and an objective standard for designers, architects, facility managers and purchasers to evaluate the sustainability of a range of products,” said Dominic Rice, Vice President and General Manager, Armstrong Commercial Flooring. “It helps avoid green washing and helps to increase awareness of the sustainability of resilient flooring to our customers. We need to continue to have these standards, especially NSF 332, included in project specifications.”

The standard applies to all resilient flooring including vinyl flooring, rubber flooring, linoleum, cork, and polymeric flooring made from materials other than PVC. Using a point-based system, the NSF 332 standard measures five key areas: product design, manufacturing, long-term value, corporate governance and innovation. When audited against the NSF 332 standard, a product may achieve up to 100 possible points. The resilient standard comes in four levels—conformant, silver, gold and platinum.

Armstrong’s BioBased Tile (BBT), a biobased content, non-PVC product, and Linoleum, the original sustainable floor product, also were previously awarded NSF/ANSI 332 Gold Level.

Armstrong’s broad portfolio of commercial floor products lets customers choose from a wide variety of green, greener and greenest solutions. They include Migrations and Striations BBT, linoleum, LVT, commercial hardwood, sheet, VCT and specialty flooring – all of which contribute to or comply with at least one LEED requirement. All Armstrong resilient products are FloorScore Certified and independently tested and certified for compliance with California Department of Public Health Method V1.1-2010 for low VOC emissions and can comply with credit EQ4.3. In addition, all products can be installed using adhesives that comply with LEED credit EQ4.1 for low emitting adhesives.

Photo Caption: Raffia Premium Tile from Armstrong Commercial Floors goes beyond the square in a new, rectangular tile with a long, linear, carved visual for endless design creativity. It contains pre- and post-consumer recycled-content, helping to avoid landfill waste, and is both FloorScore and NSF/ANSI 332 Gold certified. www.armstrong.com