Pergamon BuildingandEnvironment,Vol.32,No.3,pp.245-255,1997
01997ElsewerScmmLtd.Allrightsreserved PrintedinGreatBntain
0360-1323197117.00+0.00 PII: SO360-1323(96)00052-2
LifeCycleAssessmentofFlooring Materials:CaseStudy A.JijNSSON*
A-M.TILLMAN* T.SVENSSON* (Received2 J
une1995;accepted26September1996) Theenvironmentalimpactofthethree
frooringmaterialslinoleum,vinyl flooringandsolidwood
flooringduringtheirlifecycleswas
assessedandcomparedthroughlifecycleassessment(LCA).
ThescenariosuseddescribeaSwedishsituation.Onlyimpactsonthenaturalenvironmentwere
studied.Thequantitativeresultsoftheinventoryanalysiswereevaluatedbyusingthreedifferent
assessmentmethods.Accordingtotheresults,solidwood
flooringprovedtobeclearlythemost environmentallysound
flooring.Linoleumwas rankedasmoreenvironmentallysoundthanvinyl
flooring,althoughthis was less evidentin comparisonwith rankingthe
solid woodflooring.01997 ElsevierScienceLtd. INTRODUCTION
THEconsequencesofthehumanimpactontheenviron-
menthavebecomeincreasinglyclearinrecentyears.A
numberofpreviouslyunknownenvironmentalproblems
haveemergedatlocal,regionalandgloballevels,inspite
ofconsiderableeffortstodecreaseenvironmentalemis-
sionsfromidentifiedpointsources.Consequently,
demandsarenowbeingmadeontheenvironmental
soundnessofproducts.Fromindustrythereisademand
formethodsofimprovingproductsfromtheenviron-
mentalpointofview,bothforinternaluseandformar-
ketingpurposes.Authoritiesneedmethodswhichcanbe
usedtoassesstheenvironmentalconsequencesofproduct
relateddecisions.Lifecycleassessment(LCA)isbecom-
inganincreasinglyimportantmethodformakingprod-
uctrelatedenvironmentalassessments.
Untilrecently,theLCAmethodhasprimarilybeen
appliedtoproductswithshortlifetimes,suchaspack-
aging.WhenapplyingLCAtobuildingmaterialsand
components,specialmethodologicalproblemsarise
becauseoftherelativelylonglifetimeandthecomplex
purposeoftheseproducts.Therefore,aprojectentitled
EnvironmentalAssessmentofBuildingsandBuilding
MaterialshasbeeninitiatedattheDepartmentofTech-
nicalEnvironmentalPlanningofChalmersUniversityof
Technology(CTH).Thecasestudyofflooringmaterials
presentedinthisarticleconstitutesthefirststepinthis
project.Allresults,backgrounddataandcompleterefer-
enceshavebeenpublishedandcanbefoundin[ 11.Another
LCAofflooringmaterialshasbeenperformedbyPotting
etal.[2],andsomeofthebackgrounddataforthe
Swedishstudyhavebeentakenfromthere.
*TechnicalEnvironmentalPlanning,ChalmersUniversityof
Technology,S-412 96 Gothenburg,Sweden. OBJECTIVE
Theenvironmentalimpactofthreeflooringmaterials
duringtheirlifecycleswasassessedandcomparedusing
theLCAmethod.Theobjectivewastomakeaspecific
comparisonbetweentheenvironmentalimpactsofthe
lifecycleofsomeflooringmaterialsandtodevelopa
methodologyforLCAofbuildingmaterials. METHODOLOGICALFRAMEWORK
ThemethodologyofLCAgenerallyconsistsoffour steps[3] asfollows.
Goaldefinitionandscoping
Thiscomponentconsistsofdefiningthepurposeofthe
studyanditsscope,establishingthefunctionalunitand
establishingaprocedureforqualityassuranceofthe study. I
nventoryanalysis Intheinventoryanalysis,thesystemsstudiedandtheir
systemboundariesaredefinedandprocessflowcharts
aredrawn.Oncethesystemhasbeensubdividedintoits
componentsub-systems,thedataaregathered.Thedata
gatheredcompriseproduction,resourceuse,energyuse,
emissionstoairandwater,andwastegeneration. I mpactassessment
Theimpactassessmentisaquantitativeand/orquali-
tativeprocesstocharacteriseandassesstheeffectsof
theenvironmentalburdensquantifiedintheinventory
analysis.Theprocessmaybedividedintothreesteps:
classification,characterisationandvaluation.Theresults
shouldbepresentedinamannerthatisconsistentwith
theobjectiveofthestudy. 245 246A.Jiinssonetal.
improvementassessment ThisisthecomponentofanLCAinwhichoptionsfor
reducingtheenvironmentalimpactsorburdensofthe
system(s)underthestudyareidentifiedandevaluated.
Methodologyforthegoaldefinitionandscopingtand
inventoryanalysisis,accordingtoSETAC(Societyof
EnvironmentalToxicologyandChemistry)[3],defined
andunderstood.Itismoredifficulttodrawupguidelines
forhowtotranslateenvironmentalloadsquantifiedin
theinventoryintomeasuresofenvironmentaleffects,and
howdifferenttypesofeffectsaretobeweighedagainst oneanother.
GOALDEFINITIONANDSCOPING Thepurposeofthestudywastoassessandcompare
theenvironmentalimpactfromcradletograveforfloor
coverings.Thecoveringofonesquaremetreqfjlooring
duringoneyearofoperationwasthereforechosenasthe
functionalunit,orbasisofcomparison.
Theflooringmaterialslinoleum,vinylflooringand
untreatedsolidwoodflooringwerechosentobestudied.
Linoleumandvinylflooringarethemostwidelysold
flooringmaterialsinSweden,andsolidwoodflooringis
oftenreferredtoasthetraditionalandenvironmentally
friendlyalternativetomodernflooring.Itwasofinterest
toascertainwhetherornotthisviewisconfirmedby
quantitativeLCA.Thestudywasdelimitedinthefol-
lowingrespects(thesystemboundariesaredescribedin greaterdetailin[
11). Flooringsfordomesticusewerestudied.
ThescenariosdescribeaSwedishsituation.andthe
dataareapplicabletothesituationprevailingtoday.
Itwasassumedforthecalculationsthatthereisno
recyclingorrecoveryoftheflooringmaterials,and
thatallmaterialsareincinerated,withenergyrecovery, afteruse.
Thethreestudiedproductsallhavea calorificvalueand
couldalternativelybeusedasfuels.Sincetheenergy
recoveredfromincinerationwasaccountedforasan
energygain,thecalorificvalueofthematerialswas
treatedasanenergycost. Itwasassumedthatallpigmentsusedconsistedof
titaniumdioxide. Theenvironmentalimpactofmulti-outputprocesses
wasallocatedinproportiontothephysicalparameter
mostcloselyreflectingtheeconomicvalue,whichin
mostcasesresultedinweightbeingused.Noallocation
wasmadebetweenthetwofunctionsofincineration,
wasteeliminationandheatproduction.Instead,the
heatproducedwasreportedasausefulenergyflow
leavingthesystemsanalysed. Thestudywasconfinedtoeffectsonthenatural
environment(localindooreffectsonhumanhealth wereomitted).
ThemethodologyofLCAdoesnotincludetherisks
ofaccidentsorparametersforwhichtheenvironmental
impacthasnotyetbeenthoroughlyexamined.
Productionofelectricitywasnotincludedinthesys-
temsanalysed,duetolackofdata.Electricityusewas
thusaccountedforonlyastheamountused.When
interpretingtheresults,theamountofelectricityused
reflectsanumberofenvironmentalimpacts,including
floodedlandfromhydropower,radioactivewastefrom
nuclearpowerandemissionstotheairfromfossilfuel
basedelectricityproduction.
Theenvironmentalimpactofcleaningandmain-
tenancewasomitted.Itwasroughlyassumedthatthe
cleaninghabitsareprobablyindependentofwhatfloor
coveringisused.Inaddition,noreliabledatawere availableinthisarea.
Theimpactofadhesiveswasassessedasbeingsimilar
forlinoleumandvinylflooring.andwastherefore
omitted,althoughomittingthisimpactisunfavourable
tothesolidwoodflooring,forwhichonlyasmall amountofadhesivesisused.
Someadditivesintheproductswereusedinsuchsmall
quantitiesthattheirenvironmentalimpactwasdis- regardedinthestudy.
Generaldata[4]wereusedtodescribetheenviron-
mentalimpactofenergyuseandtransportation.
Theload-bearingfunctionofthefloorswasnottaken intoaccount. Table1
presentssomedataandconditionsfortheprod-
ucttypesthatwerechosenforthestudy.Forlinoleum
andvinylflooring,specificmanufacturerswerechosenas
themaindatasources.Thelinoleumstudiedwaspro-
ducedintheNetherlands,whereasthetwootherfloorings
wereproducedinSweden. INVENTORYANALYSIS
Aflowchartwasdrawnforeachofthefloorings(Figs
1-3)andthendataonenvironmentalloadwasgathered
forprocessesandtransportsofthelifecycles.Inthis
study,thenecessaryinformationwasgatheredfrompro-
ducingcompanies,authoritiesandtheliterature,includ-
ingotherLCAstudies.Forsomedata,standardvalues
wereused.Theresultsoftheinventoryanalysiswere
calculatedforeachflooringslifecyclepersquaremetre,
aspresentedinTables24. Thel$ecycleqflinoleum
Linseedoil,whichisthemostimportantrawmaterial
intheactuallinoleumpaste,actsasabinder.Theoilis
catalyticallyoxidisedandpolymerisedwithairinlarge
tanks.Thisproduceslinoxyn,areddish-brownhighly
elasticmass.Thehnoxynisthenmixedwithresinfrom
coniferoustrees,knownascolophonium.Themixedlin-
oxynandresinformacement,whichislefttomature.
Thecementisthenmixedwithpowderedcork,powdered
wood,powderedlimestoneandpigment.Powderedwood
andcorkareusedtogivethesheetingresiliance,and
powderedlimestoneisusedasamineralfiller.In
linoleum,titaniumdioxideisusedasthemainpigment.
Afterthemixingprocess,ahomogeneouslinoleummass
isobtained,whichisthenconvertedintogranules.The
granulesarefusedtobacking,madefromjute,under
pressureandheat.Thestillsoftsheetingishungupin
longloopsindryingroomstomaturefurther,andis
lefttherefortwotothreeweeks.Asthelaststageof
manufacturethesheetsarecoatedwithathinlayerof
acrylate.Afterthishasbeendone,thesheetingistrimmed
androlled.andafterpackagingitisreadyforsale.The
productionchaintakesfourtosixweeks.
LifeCycleAssessmentofFlooringMaterials:CaseStudy247 TableI.
Selectedproductdataforlinoleum,vinylflooringandsolidwoodflooring
Marketshare[5]SpecificAssumedMaindatasources
(%ofSwedishflooringweightlifetime marketin1992) (kg/m)(years)
Linoleum182.325Forbo-Krommenie[6]
Vinylflooring551.320HydroPlastAB[7] TarkettAB[8] Solidwoodflooring
co SO2 NO, 1.6kg 1.06g 4.3g 12.8g voc solvents terpenes dust 5.87mg
3.12g 34.5mg 34.5g EmissionstowaterP oil phenol COD tot-N 2.38mg
0.034mg 6.96mg 1.14mg Waste ash sector-specificwaste hazardouswaste
555g 17.2g 238g hnoteumproduction(rawmaterial)
linoleumproduction(rawmaterial) linoleumproduction(rawmaterial)
linoleumproduction(rawmaterial) linoleumproduction(rawmaterial)
linoleumproduction(rawmaterial) linoleumproduction(rawmaterial)
linoleumproduction(rawmaterial) flaxcultivation(fertihser)
flaxcultivation(fertiliser) treecultivation flaxcultivation
linoleumproduction(44%) titaniumdioxideproduction(30%)
linoleumproduction(67%) calorificvalueofflooringmaterial
incineration linoleumproduction(58%) transports(80%)
transports(62%) incineration(40%) transports(3 I %)
linoleumproduction(20%) linoleumproduction(87%) linoleumproduction
powderedwoodproduction powderedlimestoneproduction(96%)
transports(65%) transports(65%) transports(65%) transports(65%)
incineration hessianproduction titaniumdioxideproduction
*Onlyaccountedforasresourceuse(nootherenvironmentalloadsareincluded).
tAccordingtoonetitaniumdioxideproducer,6.25kgilmeniteoreisrequiredforpro-
ductionof1kgtitaniumdioxide).
:Woodandlinseedareincludedbothasmassandaslanduse.Thisisinasensedouble
accounting,butfortheimpactassessmentwhichfollowsitisbeneficialthatbothparameters
arepresented.
SEmissionsoccurringatprecombustionprocessesoffossilfuels(refining,etc.).
basisofSwedishenvironmentalpolicyobjectivesfor 1995.
TheEcologicalScarcitymethod,developedinSwit- zerland[ 131.
Ecologicalscarcityisdefinedastheratio
betweentotalenvironmentalimpactandcritical
impactwithinageographicallydefinedarea.Thecriti-
calimpactisprimarilycalculatedonthebasisofeco-
logicalconditions,whatnaturetolerates,secondly
onthebasisofpoliticalobjectives.Themodelhasbeen
adaptedtoSwedishconditions[ 121.
Theresultsoftheimpactassessmentarepresentedin
Table5.Valuesarepresentedfirstlyforthetotallifetime
(total/m*),thendistributedperyearonthelifetimeof
eachflooringmaterial(total/year,m).Ascanbeseen,
allthemethodsidentifiedthepineflooringasthemost
environmentallysound,whilsttherankingoflinoleum
andvinylflooringvaried.FortheEPSmethod,useof
fossilresourcesandemissionsofcarbondioxideweighed
heavilyintheassessment.Thequantityofhazardous
wastewasanimportantparameterintheassessmentfor
theothertwomethods,especiallyfortheEcologicalScar-
citymethod.Themainpartofthehazardouswastestem-
medfromtheproductionoftitaniumdioxide. VALIDITYOFRESULTS
Theeffectsoffeasiblechangesinthelifecyclesof
theproductsontheresultoftheinventoryandimpact
assessment,andontheorderinwhichtheproductsare
ranked,wereanalysed.Theresultsofthisvariationanaly-
sisaredescribedbelow. AsaresultofthepublicationoftheoriginalSwedish
report[I],somenewdatafortheenvironmentalloadof
titaniumdioxideproductionweremadeavailablebythe
LifeCycleAssessmentofFlooringMaterials:CaseStudy251 Table3.
Totalenvironmentalloadof1 m* vinylflooring(1.444
kg,includinglayingwaste) ParameterAmountDominantactivity
Useofresources crudeoil rocksalt titaniumdioxide* glassfibre
limestone sulphuricacid+ Useofenergy electricity fossilfuels
calorificvalue recoveredenergy Emissionstoair CO* co SO* NO, HC2
ethylene: CH! voct mercury(Hg) EDC/EC/VCM HCl dust Emissionstowater
oil6 phenol COD tot-N mercury(Hg) PVC sodiumformiate EDCjVCM Waste
ash sector-specificwaste hazardouswaste 1.42kg 378g 43.3g 57.8g
86.6g 130g 18.2MJ 26.5MJ 21.3MJ -16MJ 4.14kg 0.51g 4.87g 8.36g
1.94g 57mg 3.08g 1.95g 0.057mg 0.56g 23.4g 6.79g 0.03g 0.49mg 0.65g
0.02g 0.024mg 0.048g 0.078g 0.65mg 801g 197g 121g
vinylflooringproduction(rawmaterial)
vinylflooringproduction(rawmaterial)
vinylflooringproduction(rawmaterial)
vinylflooringproduction(rawmaterial)
vinylflooringproduction(rawmaterial) titaniumdioxideproduction
vinylflooringproduction(53%) PVCproduction(30%)
petrochemicalindustry(73%) calorificvalueofflooring incineration
incineration(53%) processesandtransports(fossilfuels)
processesandtransports(fossilfuels)
processesandtransports(fossilfuels)
processesandtransports(fossilfuels) PVCproduction
vinylflooringproduction vinylflooringproduction(94%) PVCproduction
PVCproduction incineration powderedlimestoneproduction(92%)
processesandtransports(fossilfuels)
processesandtransports(fossilfuels) PVCproduction(75%)
processesandtransports(fossilfuels) PVCproduction PVCproduction
PVCproduction PVCproduction incineration
vinylflooringproduction(74%) rock-saltquarrying(24%)
titaniumdioxideproduction(83%)
*6.25kgilmeniteoreisrequiredforproductionof1 kgtitaniumdioxide.
TOnlyaccountedforasresourceuse(nootherenvironmentalloadsareincluded).
ITheparameternamesoverlapinsomerespects,butareneverthelessseparatedinthe
table,owingtotheforminwhichthedatahavebeengivenintheinventory.
Emissionsoccurringduringprecombustionprocessesoffossilfuels(refining,etc.).
titaniumsuppliers.Thesedatawerevalidatthetimeof
theinventory,althoughnotknowntotheauthors.When
utilisingthesemorerecentdata,theimpactassessment
valueswerereducedforbothlinoleumandvinylflooring.
(SeeTable6.)Thechangewasmostimportantfor
linoleum,whichhasahighercontentoftitaniumdioxide
thanvinylflooringpersquaremetre.Whentakingthe
lifetimeintoaccount,linoleumandsolidwoodflooring
hadsimilarimpactvalueswiththeEnvironmentalTheme method.As
theEPSmethoddoesnothaveanyELU
valueforwasteandhazardouswaste,thesefigures
remainedunchangedregardlessofwhetherornothazard-
ouswastewastakenintoaccount.Vinylflooringgotthe
highestenvironmentalimpactinallthreemethods,when
thenewdatawereused. Especiallyforlinoleumproduction,mostoftheraw
materialsweretransportedlongdistances.Itwasofinter-
esttoseewhethertheenvironmentalperformancewas
affectedbydiminishingthetransportdistances.There-
fore,somerawmaterials(linseedoil,powderedwood,
powderedlimestone)werereplacedinthecalculations
withrawmaterialsofSwedishorigin.Thisprovedtohave
nosignificanteffectonthetotalimpactbecauseofthe
relativelylowimpactlevelsforrawmaterialproduction
andtransportationforboththeoldandnewinventory data.
Theload-bearingfunctionwasincludedinthefunc- tionalunitbyaddinga
bearingfloorsheet(particleboard)
tothelinoleumandvinylflooringandincreasingthe
thicknessofthesolidwoodflooring.Whentheenviron-
mentalconsequenceswereanalysed,theconclusionwas
strengthenedthatthesolidwoodflooringisthemost
environmentallysoundproduct.
Theenvironmentalimpactofcleaningandmain-
tenanceduringtheperiodofuseprobablyaccountsfor
animportantpartofthetotalenvironmentalimpactof
theflooringmaterial.However,thisimpactmaybe
regardedasbeingoflittlesignificancetotheresultsof 252A.
Jiinssonetal. Table4.Totalenvironmentalloadof1m2
solidwoodflooring(7.4kg,includinglayingwaste) Parameter
Useofresources wood* forestland* 7.4 kg 43.9m,year Useofenergy
electricity fossilfuels 8.37MJ 5.39MJ renewablefuels35.4MJ
calorificvalue126MJ recoveredenergy-113MJ Emissionstoair CO, co so,
424g 36.8mg 1.89g NO, HC terpenes dust 31.6g 0.98g 3.33g 1.24g
Emissionstowater oil phenol COD tot-N 2.15mg 0.03mg 6.3mg I .03mg
Waste ash198g Dominantactivity rawmaterial woodcultivation sawmill
transports(74%) treefellingetc.(26%) sawmill(dryingprocess)
calorificvalueofflooringmaterial incineration transports(74%)
sawmill(96%) sawmill(56%) transports(24%) incineration(64%)
transports(85%) woodproduction transports(48%) sawmill(36%)
transports(74%) transports(74%) transports(74%) transports(74%)
incineration(75%) sawmill(25%)
*Woodisincludedbothasmassandasland.Thisisinasensedoubleaccounting,butfor
theimpactassessmentwhichfollowsitisbeneficialthatbothparametersarepresented.
tEmissionsoccurringduringprecombustionprocessesoffossilfuels(refining,etc.).
thisreportastheimpactsinacomparativestudycancel
oneanotherout,providedthattheflooringsaremain- tainedinasimilarway.
Thethreeflooringtypesareallusedalsoinpublic
areas,althoughwithachangeinproportionalcom-
positionandspecificweight.Inaddition,thepineflooring
isgenerallyvarnished.Aroughestimatewasmadeof
theenvironmentalperformanceofpublic-areafloorings,
basedontheinventoryresults.Mostparametersranked
thewoodflooringasthemostenvironmentallysound
andvinylflooringastheleastenvironmentallysound
product.Therankingorderwasmoreevidentforpublic
thanfordomesticfloorings.However,theenvironmental
impactofcleaningandmaintenancemaybesupposedto 200; 180j 1601 1401
1201 ml00i 80/ 601 401 I. Wlinoleum 0vinylflooring n
solidwoodflooring
Fig.4.Resourceuseperfunctionalunit(yearandm)flooringmaterial.
LifeCycleAssessmentof FlooringMaterials:CaseStudy 253 800 700 600
500 400 300
Fig.5.Energyuseperfunctionalunit(yearandm)flooringmaterial. r-7r
Wlinoleum q vinylflooring n solidwoodflooring co2 so2NO* dustWx (9)
(mg)(mg) (mg)(mg)
Fig.6.Emissionstoairperfunctionalunit(yearandm)flooringmaterial 451
40, 35 30 1 T 25 w in 20 L / 15i 10 5 0 ash specificwaste waste
Fig.7.Wastegenerationperfunctionalunit(yearandm)flooringmaterial.
254A.Jhzssonetal.
Table5.Comparativeenvironmentalassessmentoflinoleum,
vinylflooringandsolidwoodflooringaccordingtothreeassess-
mentmethods.Thevaluesarepresentedinrelationtothosefor wood
VinylSolidwood ImpactassessmentmethodLinoleumflooringflooring
EPSmethod total/m4.212.51 total/year,m26.7251
Environmentalthememethod total/m1.91.91 total/year,m*3.13.81
Ecologicalscarcitymethod total/m223.313.51 total/year,m*37.3271
beevengreaterforpublicthanfordomesticfloorings,
whichmayinfluencetherankingorderwhentakeninto
consideration.Inaddition,aspublicflooringsarepro-
fessionallycleanedandmaintained,itcannolongerbe
assumedthatthecleaninghabitsareprobablyinde-
pendentofwhatfloorcoveringisused. DISCUSSIONANDCONCLUSIONS
Theconclusiondrawnfromthefindingsofboththe
inventoryandtheimpactassessmentwasthatthesolid
woodflooringunderthegivenconditionsisclearlythe
mostsuitablealternativeofthethreematerialsstudied,
fromtheenvironmentalpointofview.Basedsolelyon
thequantitativeinventoryresults,nodefiniteconclusions
couldbedrawnastowhetherlinoleumorvinylflooring
ispreferable.Whentakingintoaccountalsotheassess-
mentofenvironmentallyhazardoussubstancesinthelife
cyclesoftheflooringmaterialsandthefindingsofthe
impactassessment,itwasconcludedthatlinoleumis
probablypreferabletovinylflooringfromtheenviron- mentalpointofview.
Therearegapsindataintheinventorydocumentation. Theshortageofdatais
consideredgreatestforproduction
oflongdistancerawmaterialsforlinoleum,suchasresin,
juteandcork.Inthecaseofvinylflooring,theenviron-
Table6.Comparativeenvironmentalassessmentsoflinoleum,
vinylflooringandsolidwoodflooringaccordingtothreeassess-
mentmethods,providednohazardouswasteisgeneratedinthe
productionoftitaniumdioxide.Thevaluesarepresentedin
relationtotheflooringwiththelowestvalue VinylSolidwood
ImpactassessmentmethodLinoleumflooringflooring EPSmethod
total/m24.212.51 total/year,mz6.725I Environmentalthememethod
total/m12.21.7 total/year,mz12.81.1 Ecologicalscarcitymethod
total/m214.11 total/year,m21.681
mentalloadswereomittedforanumberofadditives.It
wasconsiderablymoredifficulttoobtaindataforthe
processeswhichtakeplaceoutsideSwedenthanforpro- cesseswithinSweden.
Whenimpactassessmentmethodsareused,theresult
ispartlygovernedbyhowaparameterisdefined.The
classesofimpactcategoriesarebroadatpresent.Further
developmentneedstobecarriedout,forexampleto
produceeffectweightingfactors(indices)formorepar-
ameters.Itisimportantthattheresultsoftheinventory
arepresentedinconnectionwiththeimpactassessment,
sothatusersthemselvescanexaminewhatisdecisivein
thevaluationmethod.Boththeinventoryandtheimpact
assessmentshouldbeastransparentaspossible,to
assistawideapplicationoftheresult.
Infurtherdevelopmentofknowledgeontheenviron-
mentalimpactofflooringmaterials,itisregardedvery
importanttostudytheenvironmentalimpactofcleaning,
careandmaintenanceduringtheperiodofuse.
Thelifetimeofflooringmaterialsaffectstheirtotal
environmentalimpact.Whetherornotalonglifetimeis
advantageousispartlygovernedbyhowcleaningand
maintenanceprocedureschangeovertheyears.Another
areaconsideredimportanttostudymorecloselyisthe
long-termenvironmentaleffectsofthelandfillingof buildingwaste. 1.
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