Not every floor covering is sustainable just because it looks like it was made of wood. Laminate and parquet and their climate balance.
Not only do the birds busily build their nests in spring, many Germans also clean up their homes. Recently I was standing at the hardware store checkout and saw myself crammed in between jam-packed shopping trolleys. Behind me click parquet oak piled up, in front of me laminate in longstrip design. The laminate had an EU Ecolabel, which surprised me: Can laminate be sustainable?”
My first thought: Really eco is only solid parquet. It consists of grown wood, which has absorbed a lot of greenhouse gases during its life and continues to reliably store it as a floor covering in the afterlife. I wasn’t wrong about that. Only: Who can still afford solid parquet? Almost everyone, like the man behind me, uses ready-made parquet, which is comparatively cheap and – click-click – easy to lay.
However, ready-made parquet is not purely natural, but – like laminate – a composite material. A lot of synthetics like glue are involved. A plywood, chipboard or fiber board with a backing veneer made of softwood serves as the basic support; Above this is the actual veneer from the parquet wood, from 2.5 millimeters thick, depending on the price and quality. Laminate is also based on a carrier board made of wood fibers. Impregnated photo paper that shows the desired wood structure is glued to it. The paper is coated with a transparent layer of synthetic resin for protection.
Laminate has no positive influence on the room climate
Visually, the floor coverings can hardly be distinguished. Laminate manufacturers have succeeded in replicating the surface texture of wooden boards almost perfectly. However, laminate has no positive influence on the indoor climate. Wood – as long as it is not sealed – opens and closes its pores, it lives and breathes. When the humidity is high, it absorbs water vapor and when it is dry, it releases the moisture again. Laminate, on the other hand, is dead as a doornail. Point for the parquet.
When it comes to sustainable materials, things get more difficult. If wood fibers or veneers for laminate or parquet do not come from responsible forestry (as is common in Germany), climate friendliness quickly ends. Some customers think they can’t go wrong ecologically with local woods such as maple, larch, oak or robinia. But these trees also thrive in Canada, Siberia and Romania. Sometimes they are transported over thousands of kilometers with a great deal of energy. Environmentalists recommend not buying any goods that do not have at least the FSC seal of approval from the non-profit organization Forest Stewardship Council. It reliably ensures the harmless origin of the wood.
Parquet can be sanded several times
If you look at the price-competitive mass market, parquet is usually one step ahead when it comes to climate protection. A comparative study from 2018 shows that the global warming potential of laminate, i.e. the CO2 pollution over the entire life cycle, is around five times higher than that of parquet. Only carpets perform worse. It must be said that the study was commissioned by the German Natural Stone Association. But it is based on reliable research.
Laminate fans don’t have to despair right away. What applies to the masses does not have to be true in individual cases. A race is on among manufacturers for the most sustainable, energy-efficient products. If you don’t just look at the price, but also at environmental seals such as FSC, EU Ecolabel or Blue Angel, you can also protect the climate with laminate.
Durability also plays a role in the ecological balance. Parquet can be sanded several times if it is thick enough, laminate usually has to be removed after ten years. Eco tip for the cold season: It can be burned in the fireplace at home – if there are no glue residues or other chemicals on it.
