LEED Flooring Points & Credits For LEED Building

How To Obtain LEED Flooring Points for Green Building

SILIKAL AMERICA LEED FLOORING POINTS CHECK LIST

First you may wonder what LEED is. Well, the USGBC, which is the United States Green Building Council, is who developed LEED. That stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. What they have done is to create a rating system that gives out specific credits depending on how green a building is, what kinds of products were utilized, the installation techniques utilized and such. Of course, we all want to be as “green” as possible, and thus when points are given for flooring, that is important to any company. Although only buildings can become LEED certified, the earning of LEED flooring points can eventually lead to a building become LEED certified.

Some LEED flooring points may be given to a company which utilizes recycled contents for its flooring. This may be carpet backing or the actual carpet itself, as an example. Another instance may be the use of natural products such as wooden floors, or perhaps bamboo floors which are a self-replenishing source of flooring. LEED flooring points are given, however if a company utilizes adhesives or other solutions that emit low VOCs which are volatile organic compounds that smell with a very bad odor when utilized.

The very best LEED flooring points can come from utilizing Silikal for your flooring needs, no matter what business you are in, whether a medical business, a business that allows cars to enter into them such as car repairs, or if you have a business that works their floors very hard indeed such as a beer warehouse where the forklifts work day and night moving huge pallets of beer. Silikal can give you LEED flooring points. You see, its reactive resins are manufactured, developed and sold in conformity to some very strict environmental management systems.

In addition, Silikal is not a “low VOC” flooring, it is a no VOC flooring. That in itself makes it a very superior product green wise. In addition, whereas other products for flooring may require a business to shut down for 12 hours, a day, or even a long 3 day weekend, Silikal has no such requirements. Silikal sets up and bonds completely with the flooring beneath it so that one can ride a forklift on it one hour after it is laid.

Additional points are given for Silikal because it can extend the life of any building in which it is installed. This is because the Silikal flooring frequently outlasts the life of any building. That means no repairs and no reinstallation of flooring is necessary.

USDA Approved Floors, Is This A Floor Requirement For You?

USDA Approved Floors: The Who, What, Where, When And Why’s

In the United States, it is the United States Department of Agriculture whose responsibility it is to protect the public health through food safety inspections as well as defense. The USDA is responsible for protecting public health by making sure that foods and their preparation are safe, sanitary, wholesome and of course properly labeled. In addition, along with the USDA, the FDA the Food and Drug people, work in conjunction with them to make sure that both veterinary and of course human drugs are both effective and safe. Now, that encompasses a terrific amount of different businesses that would need to utilize USDA approved floors as you can imagine.

Thus USDA approved floors encompass any flooring that protects the floor from mold, fungus, bacteria, and of course algae growth as well. Thus, if you look at them you will find that they are perfect for wet surface floors that encompass food preparation as well as chemical processing plants. In other words, the floors are anti-microbial, steam-cleanable, suitable for heavy traffic as well as forklifts, and of course they are also non-skid. when the floors can pass all those requirements, then those industrial floor coatings can specifically be used for either food or pharmaceutical industries.

Although there are many floors that are acceptable to the USDA, straightforward epoxy paints and pigmented sealers are simply not acceptable. For floors to become USDA approved floors, they must go beyond what those products can do. As you can imagine USDA approved flooring is thus ideal for use in food processing locations, beverage processing, any business that handles beef, pork, poultry, dairy, or produce, any commercial kitchen, all restaurants, and also this applies to all their freezers and coolers.

Many other aspects of flooring come into play here, for instance is the floor thermal shock resistant? How about chemical resistant? Slip resistant? Forklift rated? Odorless? And of course above all, how sanitary is it?

One of the very few USDA approved floors that can answer yes to all the above questions is of course Silikal. With its totally non-porous, guaranteed pinhole free and completely seamless flooring surface, bacteria, dirt and any water borne pests cannot attach to your floor. That means that it’s exceptionally easy to clean. By being an anti-slip product this means that you can reduce or totally prevent slips and falls. Silikal can “take” the harshest conditions such as chemical attacks, or mechanical abrasion from forklifts and still hold up. Wet and cold conditions never mar it at all.

Thus, if you are seeking the very best USDA approved floors, you truly cannot do better than Silikal. Remember that Silikal is the floor that once it is laid down in your facility, you can go to work on it within ONE HOUR!!!, so that your business needs not shut down for 48 hours as many other USDA approved floors require.

Flooring For Stairs, When Safety Counts Why You Shouldn’t Tread Lightly

Stairs For Flooring Taken To The Next Level In Safety And Durability

Have you ever gone up stairs that were worn down? Absolutely nothing will bring on vertigo more quickly. Your mind tries to adapt to the worn stairs, and of course you begin to worry about falling down. Granted it’s even worse going down the worn stairs, because then your eye sees the worn steps and multiplies the danger by each step remaining. Mostly it is all in your mind, but it’s still a very harrowing experience. As you can see flooring for stairs is of extreme importance. It cannot be easily worn away, and most importantly it cannot be anything but slip resistant – ever!

They sell carpeted stair treads today that come with double sided tape, but my mind reels at the thought of such a thing. I do not wish to chance walking on such flimsily attached stair treads.

The use of laminate flooring also raises the hairs on the back of my neck. Even the directions state that one should not glue the flooring to stairs if using the foam underlayment that comes with the laminate flooring. This basically reminds me of the “warning” posted on some stepladders “Danger of Falling with Use.”

Today one can have stairs made of linoleum, hardwood, tile and just about anything one wishes for, but commercial flooring on stairs is of supreme importance of course, as the safety of those using the stairs must be taken into account. So, what is the best flooring available for stairs that takes into account supreme safety?

Well, relying on double sided tape obviously does not fit that bill, nor are laminates that are merely glued on, and of course linoleum and tile are simply too dangerous to even contemplate. Wood is acceptable, but will eventually create wear spots that will be problematic.

The only flooring for stairs that completely and thoroughly fits the requirements being sought for complete safety is Silikal. The reasons for using Silikal on stairs are numerous. First, it is a completely seamless installation that bonds both the wall and the stair together. Psychologically, the blend seems to give one tremendous security when climbing and descending the stairs. Unlike wood that might require “stick on” non-slip treads that are ungainly and definitely ugly to behold, the flooring itself is made of a reactive resin non skid coating that has been especially developed to be safe on stairs. Safety is of supreme importance; Silikal knows and understands that, thus when you utilize Silikal on your flooring for stairs you will be completely protected.

In addition, Silikal installations for your flooring for stairs is downright beautiful. However, Silikal fully understands that floor covering for stairs that are in high traffic areas mean that any other category of floor covering just will not do, as it will wear away, exposing the subsurface such as the concrete below it. This in turn makes it completely unsafe as well as unsightly. You need the completely safe foot friendly flooring for stairs – Silikal!

Protective Flooring for when Protection Counts

Protective Flooring Systems For When Things Get Tough

Just as in anything else, there’s protective flooring and there’s PROTECTIVE FLOORING. For instance are we speaking of protective flooring that is suitable for a restaurant kitchen, or perhaps you are seeking rubber fitness mats? How about protective flooring for performing aerobics? Perhaps your flooring needs even more protection as you have a martial arts school where they do mixed martial arts, grappling and dojo? What of locker rooms with drains in your floors, or spike protection? Any kind of institutional and industrial floors you can mention will need some kind of protective flooring.

If you run a garage, then your protective flooring needs to be able to put up with grease, tires, the weight of cars, and even dropped tools that may totally decimate other floors, thus you need very strong protective flooring. On the other hand, let’s say that you own a restaurant; you need protective flooring so that your kitchen is as immaculate as you can make it. There need be absolutely no pin holes in your flooring at all so that microbes and other nasties cannot enter your subflooring and grow into worse nasties.

Let’s say that you are a pet shop, imagine how the protective flooring there needs to be totally sealed, so that nothing, not feces, not urine from those pets can possibly penetrate it, or else you establishment would begin to smell very badly. You need to have flooring that is extremely easy to clean too of course.

You would even need protective flooring if you ran a pizza shop that only does take out, for instance. Now you not only have food handling, but those terribly hot ovens running close to 24 hours a day! Yet, your freezer needs protective flooring too!

Is there some kind of flooring that fits all these descriptions? Why, yes there is! Silikal is the answer to all of them. You see Silikal provides beautiful attractive floors that totally protect the floor of all those things mentioned above. Silikal floors are totally seamless, hygienic, and best yet for all those business owners, once poured it actually hardens all within an hour! The floors are so beautiful that many businesses like to imbed their logos right into the floor so you know that they are immensely proud of their floors.

The locker rooms mentioned above that needed spike protection will find absolutely nothing better than Silikal floors, and that’s because those floors are so durable that they often appear to just have been laid, when the building they are in is crumbling! They are the perfect moisture membrane no matter what moisture rigors your floors are put under. In addition they are chemical resistant, antibacterial, antistatic, and even slip resistant, very important for all the businesses listed above.

As if all those superlatives about Silikal were not enough, you will find that in addition Silikal flooring is UV resistant, making it perfect for patio floors too! Nothing, but nothing beats a Silikal floor when you need protective flooring!

Industrial Floors & The Facts About Industrial Coatings

Industrial Floors Need To Be Tough, But That Is Only One Need…

Whether we are speaking of floors in a factory, in a huge car repair garage, or in a hospital, industrial floors have to last under the toughest of working conditions, thus they all start off with concrete. But, even concrete is subject to dis-figuration, cracking and staining as time wears on. Thus, even those industrial floors need concrete polishing, or epoxy flooring to make the flooring system beautiful once more as well as serviceable.

There are so very many things that can be applied to an industrial floor though. These run from polishing to various coatings such as epoxy and urethane’s, each with their own advantages and negatives with regard to how well they protect the concrete to how long they take to cure or dry.

No matter your industry, it is understood that it is your desire to obviously protect your flooring. In addition, this wise move on your part will greatly improve the aesthetics of your floors, and will save you a tremendous amount of money in the future. You see, if you choose the right product you are in effect protecting the entire surface from costly replacement requirements as well as stopping wear and tear from corrosion and chemicals. In addition you are greatly reducing the costs of floor maintenance and cleaning costs.

Putting down a new gleaming floor means that you will also greatly increase light reflectivity. What this means is less demand for auxiliary lighting, as well as brightening up the work area, maximizing productivity, and improving safety. Likewise workers are better protected and become even more efficient with the proper industrial flooring.

Now, the only question remains as to which product will work best for your industrial floors? Which product will render all the above and last the longest? Of the glut of products that promise to do all the above, only one sticks out above them all, and that is Silikal. There is an avalanche of reasons why Silikal is best as follows:

• Completely seamless. That makes it perfectly hygienic. It can never conceal any bacteria thus there are no odors ever associated with it.

• Extremely easy to clean. There are never cracks nor pinholes related to it, so any liquids dropped can be cleaned up quickly and easily.

• Anti slip. Your employees and the public will be completely safe on Silikal, even if grease or water is on the surface.

• Totally durable. Equipment such as forklifts cannot mar it, and neither do any chemical spills.

• Amazingly swift curing. Unlike most flooring products, once it is properly applied, it requires only one hour to totally cure. You can then even drive a forklift over it!

• It is totally no-VOC flooring. It can even be applied with others in the building, as there are absolutely no odors from it at all!

• Its appearance will remain the same for years and years.

In addition, there will be no need for polishing, or the expense of volatile cleaners ever. One could laud the product much longer, but instead do yourself the favor of looking into Silikal yourself for your industrial floors; there are just so many good reasons for you to do so.