Written by Monserrat Menendez, Interior Designer
Drawing on years of professional expertise in interior design, Ms. Menendez presently excels as the founder and president of Senom Design.
Hardwood, porcelain, rubber, and even carpet can all be sustainable. This guide to sustainable flooring includes the many sustainable options and how you might use them.
What is sustainable flooring?
Sustainable flooring refers to any type of flooring that is produced using natural, low-carbon, and/or recycled materials with minimal environmental impact throughout its lifespan. This includes how materials are harvested, processed, and disposed of, with an emphasis on renewable, recyclable, or biodegradable components.
Sustainable flooring also considers the ethical sourcing of materials, waste recycling practices during manufacturing, and the use of renewable energy in production. True sustainable flooring extends beyond material composition to encompass the entire lifecycle and environmental footprint of the product.
Types of sustainable flooring
1. Hardwood
Hardwood is a natural material that supports circular economy. A circular economy means designing to reduce waste by elongating the life of existing products and materials. Wood is an ideal choice for a circular economy because it can easily be reused and recycled at the end of its life in each built environment. Recycled hardwood flooring is just one example of this. Sustainably speaking, refinishing hardwood flooring surfaces can reduce the carbon footprint by more than 75% compared to floor replacement, according to a recent report from Bona.
The global hardwood flooring market is expected to reach $61.78 billion by 2028 and register a revenue CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period, according to the latest report by Reports and Data.
Pros: Timeless design options, easy installation, durable, and supports a circular economy by being reusable and refinishable.
Cons: Susceptible to water damage and termites, can be expensive.
2. Eco-friendly carpet
Carpets hold a 60% share of the US flooring market, with 19 billion square feet sold per year. The EPA estimates that about 5 billion pounds of carpet are discarded in landfills in the US every year. Most carpets are made primarily from finite resources in the form of oil-based plastics that could be recycled. Carpet is known to be primarily made from oil-based plastics, but not all carpet has to be made this way. One way you can make more sustainable choices when it comes to carpet is by making sure existing carpet is recyclable. This material is then used by more than 2,000 brands around the world to create the next generation of sustainable carpets as well as clothing, chairs, handbags, sneakers, sunglasses, and tables.
Pros: Energy-efficient, comfortable, sound-dampening.
Cons: High maintenance, shorter lifespan, retains moisture.
3. Recycled rubber
Rubber ranks as a sustainable material for flooring because of its durability, capacity to be recycled, and low maintenance. Rubber is an ideal flooring option for high traffic buildings such as schools and health care facilities. Adding recycled rubber flooring to these types of projects helps bring public spaces one step closer to sustainability.
Pros: Slip-resistant, absorbs impact, incredibly durable.
Cons: Strong smell, may fade over time, can be difficult to install.
4. Linoleum
True linoleum—as opposed to synthetic vinyl linoleum—is sustainable as it is
manufactured from 100% all-natural materials. Consisting of a mixture of rosins, wood flour, powdered cork, ground limestone, pigments, as well as jute and linseed oil, linoleum is fully biodegradable and will not release harmful toxins into the environment.
Traditionally linoleum is applied in sheets or tiles, but linoleum is also available as a liquid.
Pros: Water-resistant, durable, low maintenance.
Cons: Requires professional installation, prone to ambering, can be dented.
5. Luxury vinyl tile (LVT)
Is a type of flooring designed to realistically mimic the appearance of stone, wood, marble, or other natural materials. It is an ideal flooring option for those who want the look of natural materials but don’t want the high upfront costs or maintenance requirements that typically come with said materials.
Pros: Lightweight, low-maintenance, water-resistant.
Cons: Can be scratched or dented, difficult to remove, prone to discoloration.
6. Polished concrete
Concrete is an extremely popular flooring option, one that typically serves as the foundation upon which other types of flooring, or coatings are installed. This is not, however, the case for polished concrete, which holds its own as a separate type of flooring altogether. Achieved through mechanically grinding and honing the surface of a concrete slab using densifiers, grout materials, and guards, polished concrete takes all the desirable qualities of concrete and ups the ante: it’s incredibly resilient, non-toxic, slip-resistant, and—thanks to its highly polished surface—even helps make efficient use of natural light. Polished concrete can also support a wide variety of design options depending on the desired level of aggregate exposure. Because polished concrete is very durable, low in toxic compounds, and uses material that has already been placed, it is generally considered to be an extremely sustainable flooring option.
Pros: Extremely durable, easy to maintain, low VOCs.
Cons: Uncomfortable, relies on proper installation.
7. Porcelain tile
Is both a versatile and eco-friendly flooring solution that offers nigh-unparalleled beauty, durability, and recyclability. Typically made from abundant natural resources like clay, silica, kaolin, and feldspar, porcelain tile is fired at extremely high temperatures to create hard, dense flooring tiles with a 60-year lifespan. This long-life cycle allows them ample time to offset the emissions produced during their manufacturing—though many companies are taking steps to make the production process cleaner. Common sustainability efforts in the manufacturing process include high scrap recycling rates, use of offsite recycled material, water reuse, and efficient use of energy (natural gas and electricity).
Pros: Water-resistant, low maintenance, durable.
Cons: Expensive, grout lines can harbor mold, heavy.
8. Bamboo
It has served as a traditional flooring material in many Southeast Asian countries for many generations, but it has only recently started gaining popularity in Europe and North America. This is largely attributed to the material’s natural beauty as well as bamboo’s extremely fast growth and maturation rate. Unlike hardwoods that take approximately 20 years to reach maturity, bamboo reaches its full height in as little as nine months and the same culm may be harvested every three to five years. When cultivated using traditional methods bamboo requires very little supplemental watering or fertilizing and does not require the spraying of pesticides for successful growth—characteristics that sustainability-minded companies like Trinity Bamboo prioritize when sourcing their materials. Bamboo can either be cut into slats and used as is or shredded and woven back together to create strand-woven bamboo flooring—the latter of which creates a plank comparable in hardness to exotic, rainforest-grown hardwoods like teak and mahogany.
Pros: Durable, can be refinished, hygienic.
Cons: Susceptible to moisture, fewer design options, prone to scratches.
9. Cork
Unlike hardwood or bamboo flooring, cork flooring does not require that the entire plant be harvested—rather, the bark of cork oak trees is all that’s needed. As long as this process is done correctly, a single cork oak tree can be harvested every nine years without sustaining damage. Harvesting cork bark is already a low-emission process and the fact that cork oak trees don’t need to be cut down means they can continue absorbing carbon from the air. After the cork bark is harvested it is ground up, compressed into thick sheets, and baked in a kiln to form flooring tiles or planks. Once it eventually reaches the end of its life cycle, cork flooring can be recycled or composted, thereby reducing construction and demolition waste.
Pros: Provides insulation, pest and mold-resistant, comfortable.
Cons: Higher maintenance, susceptible to humidity, prone to UV damage.
10. Terrazzo
While terrazzo has existed for thousands of years, today’s terrazzo takes its roots from 20th-century Italian quarrymen who combined leftover granite and marble chips with cement to pave their terraces. As a composite material terrazzo provides ample opportunity to utilize stone refuse that would otherwise be discarded. Terrazzo & Marble Supply Companies casts its terrazzo in epoxy resin instead of cement, which helps reduce VOCs—and because they make all of their epoxy themselves, Terrazzo & Marble is able to offer an even wider variety of colors and design options.
Many terrazzo suppliers, including Terrazzo & Marble, continue to uphold the tradition of recycling local quarry waste, which can help reduce carbon emissions incurred through the shipping process.
Pros: Long-lasting, easy to clean, customizable.
Cons: Expensive, difficult installation, uncomfortable.
11. Stone
One of the oldest sustainable flooring options on the market is stone. Strong, durable, and aesthetically pleasing, stone floors are a hallmark of sustainable design thanks to their status as a 100% natural, low-carbon materials long as stone is sourced ethically and efficiently, the production process is relatively low in carbon emissions and toxic chemicals, as stone just needs to be extracted, cut, and polished before it is ready for use in flooring. Add on to that the fact that stone has an extremely long lifespan and can be recycled, and it’s not hard to see why stone is touted as one of the most sustainable flooring options on the market.
Pros: Extremely durable, aesthetically pleasing, sustainable when sourced ethically.
Cons: Heavy, cold, expensive, difficult to install.
Each of these flooring options provides unique benefits and challenges, but they all contribute to more sustainable building practices by reducing environmental impact and supporting a healthier planet.
Diverse options: Sustainable flooring includes hardwood, rubber, carpet, and more, with the market expected to grow at a 5.1% CAGR from 2021 to 2031.
Versatility: Whether you're renovating a home, designing a school, or remodeling a commercial space, sustainable flooring can enhance any environment.
Rising demand: With increasing interest in eco-friendly flooring, understanding the available options is crucial. According to Future Market Insights, global flooring and carpet sales are projected to grow at over 5% CAGR through 2031, despite a brief dip in 2020.
Monserrat Menendez, Interior Designer
Drawing on years of professional expertise in interior design, Ms. Menendez presently excels as the founder and president of Senom Design. Through Senom, she aims to make projects not only beautiful, but sustainable, healthy, and approachable. Similarly, she specializes in turnkey rentals and property staging, custom product design, pre-construction, and more working with Iconic Modern Home in the Hamptons, New York City and Connecticut.
