Green Building Topics

Green Building Materials Guide

LINOLEUM FLOORING

Considerations:

Linoleum is highly durable resilient flooring made from natural materials, a mixture of linseed oil, wood flour, and pine resin, which is pressed onto a jute-fiber backing.

Linoleum is:

Very durable and usually lasts many decades, which reduces waste associated with relatively frequent replacement of flexible vinyl flooring.
Quiet and comfortable.
Made from natural, non-toxic components - does not contain formaldehyde, asbestos, or plasticizers.
Biodegradeable at the end of its useful life.
Easy to maintain, linoleum should be cleaned with minimal water, gentle detergent, and polish (if desired) formulated for genuine linoleum. Linoleum is sensitive to alkalinity and ammonia.
Resistant to temporary water exposure, linoleum is a tried and true option for kitchens. However, its sensitivity to standing water can be a concern in bathrooms.
Naturally anti-static, helping to control dust.
Very low in VOC emissions when installed with appropriate adhesives - but the relatively mild scent of curing linseed oil may not agree with the chemically sensitive.
Very comparable in cost per square foot to high quality flexible vinyl flooring. (However, flexible vinyl is commonly replaced in 10 years or less, toxic to manufacture, and neither biodegradeable or recyclable.)
The same color all the way through, allowing gouges and scratches to be buffed out - reducing long term costs, hassles, and waste.

Summary: Linoleum

Linoleum was invented in England in 1863 and the name comes from the Latin words for flax (linum), and oil (oleum). Linoleum flooring is made by mixing pine resin, wood flour, and powdered cork with oxidized linseed oil, which is formed into sheets on a jute backing. (Jute is a natural fiber.) Once considered old fashioned, the popularity of this quiet, comfortable, and easy to clean flooring is blossoming again.

Flexible vinyl flooring displaced linoleum from the marketplace in the 1960's, and ironically vinyl flooring is often incorrectly referred to as ‘linoleum’. The two materials are quite different. Linoleum is more expensive than vinyl, but offers performance that is in many ways superior: linoleum lasts for decades (reducing cost and waste), is inherently anti-static (inhibiting dust accumulation), and is anti-bacterial. All-natural linoleum requires less energy and creates less waste in its manufacture, and can be chipped and composted at the end of its useful life. Maintenance of linoleum is less labor intensive and less costly because it does not need to be sealed, waxed, or polished as frequently as vinyl. In comparison, flexible vinyl flooring generates far more solid waste because it is manufactured from toxic constituents, usually lasts less than 10 years, and is neither biodegradable nor recyclable. Linoleum emits far less volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when installed with a low-VOC adhesive than flexible vinyl, and does not exude the phthalate plasticizers which are an increasing concern for human health. Fashion made vinyl more popular than linoleum, not value.

The durability of hard vinyl composition tile (VCT) is comparable to linoleum, but recycling it is impractical; VCT tile will ultimately be sent to a landfill. All vinyl products involve toxic manufacturing chemistry which generates hazardous wastes and air pollution, and vinyl manufacturing also consumes petroleum. Vinyl flooring manufactured before 1986 may contain asbestos.

For More Information:

Bay Area Build-It Green Database
Lists environmentally preferable products distributed in the Bay Area, including several brands of linoleum.

Berkeley Green Resource Center: Linoleum
One of a limited number of highly detailed analyses assembled by the GRC.

Oikos
Links to manufacturers and distributors

Center for Resourceful Building Technology
General information, as well as links to manufacturers

Program Contact

Ecology Action

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Fax: 831.425.1404
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