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Sustainable / "Green" Finishes
Now, more than ever, people are considering sustainability in the products and finishes they choose for their business and home. Concrete is one of the most sustainable building materials available, inevitably making a very high percentage of the finishes and services that Toughstuff Industrial Floors provides inherently sustainable.
In fact, Toughstuff can supply LEEDS accredited polished concrete flooring with the FGS PermaShine system, and concrete countertops that may qualify for some LEEDS projects and credits with our optional "green mix"; featuring recycled and local content, and energy savings over regular concrete.
Far beyond our LEEDS accredited systems however, the core of Toughstuff's business has been providing environmentally friendly, exceptionally durable, long term finishes that require very little maintenance; making for low long term costs and creating less waste; major tenets of sustainable building practices.
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A look at Toughstuff's sustainable finishes:
- Interior concrete floors emit no toxic materials, are perfect for radiant heating systems, and never need to be replaced. Concrete can be colored, stained, textured, stamped, ground or polished, reducing the need for other materials. Interior concrete floors also provide buildings with thermal mass, contributing to greater energy efficiency.
- Grinding / Polishing - The FGS/PermaShine polished concrete flooring system is a certified "green" finish; approved for LEEDS projects and qualifying for credits. However, grinding concrete without polishing, leaving a honed finish, is a cost effective method to restore distressed concrete back to a functional floor; creating almost no waste when compared to removing and replacing slabs of concrete. A high quality, low-VOC sealer properly applied directly following the grinding may require virtually no maintenance for years, depending upon conditions. There's no need to replace every 5-10 years, like carpet, tile, and vinyl.
- Concrete Countertops - Concrete is relatively "green" already. By incorporating recycled content and fillers from local sources into our concrete countertop mix, it becomes even less wasteful of natural resources and may even qualify for some LEEDS projects. Concrete countertops created with cement micro-topping over existing ceramic tile or laminate countertops allow the existing countertops to be recycled; left intact and reused for the base instead of occupying space in a landfill.
- Cement overlays and micro-toppings allow for rehabilitation of distressed and damaged concrete that may otherwise be unusable, wasted and destined for the landfill. The relatively thin layers permanently bond to the existing surface to create a "like-new" concrete surface with all the sustainability of regular concrete.
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