PRESS RELEASE
January 2, 2009 Healthy Environments Promoted through Upofloor's Sustainable Flooring Solutions Upofloor's LifeLineTM flooring products are helping users create sustainably safe, clean and healthy environments thanks to EnomerTM, a pioneering, ecologically-sound flooring material. This unique blend of natural minerals and thermoplastic polymers that are entirely PVC-free, adds up to a safe material that supports good indoor air quality with a hard wearing, tough surface that is easy to clean. LifeLine is suitable for all kinds of public and commercial buildings such as schools, offices, department stores, day care centres, retirement homes, hospitals and hotels. Upofloor has created flooring solutions for contractors, architects and designers that meet public health and safety considerations for improved indoor air quality by reducing exposure to potentially harmful substances while meeting economic constraints and increasing consideration of all aspects a product's lifecycle from production, use to disposal. The company has also paid special consideration to low maintenance costs for building owners, users and maintenance personnel. Clean Indoor Air Indoor air conditions influence health and work performance and indoor air-quality is also affected by flooring materials. LifeLine is practically emission free as it contains no plasticizers, which are often the cause of indoor emissions from traditional PVC floorings. The need for polishing is avoided so offering time and cost savings as well as eliminating wax dust. The performance of LifeLine is tough enough to withstand the roughest use and it has excellent wear characteristics (classified under the highest abrasion class T according to EN660-2). Its dirt-deflecting compact ionomer surface makes it easy to clean with the minimum use of chemicals and with good colour fastness. The durability, ease of cleaning and reduced care requirements add up to a short payback time. LifeLine is an excellent choice for hygienically demanding conditions such as hospitals and day-care centres as it is resistant to bacterial growth. LifeLine is also a safe material in the case of fire. It has low flame spread as well as low smoke and heat production, and because no such toxic substances as hydrogen chloride or hydrogen cyanide are released when ignited, LifeLine's resistance to fire outperforms traditional vinyl, linoleum and rubber floorings. For these reasons, the International Maritime Organisation has also approved use of LifeLine tiles on board ships. Even after its useful life, LifeLine outperforms many traditional floor coverings. Since it does not contain PVC, it can be disposed of by burning and used as energy producing waste. Safety first Being totally free of PVC, phthalates, chlorine and heavy metals the flooring material LifeLine eliminates exposure to potentially harmful substances that are linked with a range of health risks from asthma, allergies and other diseases including cancers. Under EU guidelines, for example the use of certain phthalates is limited in plastic toys for children less than 14 years of age. At the Alhoniitty School, in Nokia, Finland, the installation of LifeLine flooring offered benefits through supporting the need to maintain a good environment for pupils and staff. With a number of staff suffering from dust allergies and with the desire to teach children in a healthy environment, the school invested in Upofloor's innovative flooring solution as part of its renovation programme. School head, Tauno Springare explains that the investment was good value when, "Compared with the costs due to ill-health, this was a small investment. In addition we could retain our teachers, and they remained healthy." Teacher Paula Lehto, an allergy sufferer, describes her experiences: "This new flooring was my rescue. I had chronic eye-infection and had to consider a move. Now there is no unnecessary dust and I can work healthy." Mrs Lehto has also noticed the good wear characteristics. "We move desks many times a day and kids do not lift the tables - they push and drag. Even so, there is not a scratch on the floor." LifeLine is the culmination of a 10 year development for a new heavy wear, environmentally non-compromising flooring material. It is available as tiles, in sheets and in blanks. It comes in a wide selection of 85 different designs and colours. Since the first product was launched in 2003 around 1 million sq.m of this flooring range have been installed in Finland, Sweden, Holland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and USA. Upofloor Oy is a Finnish flooring manufacturer with more than 50 years of experience. The company is part of Karelia-Upofloor Oy Group, one of Europe's leading flooring manufacturers with its main markets being Western Europe, Russia and North America.
Picture captions: Figure 1: Good for indoor environments, LifeLineTM from Upofloor is a hard wearing, low maintenance flooring concept made from non-toxic materials.
Figure 2: LifeLine's material, a unique blend of natural minerals and thermoplastic polymers that are entirely PVC-free, is the pioneering, ecologically-sound flooring material at the heart of LifeLine.
Figure 3: LifeLine flooring products are hardwearing solutions for public and commercial buildings. For more information please contact: Upofloor Oy
Mrs Liisa Teerenhovi, Export Manager
PL 8 (Souranderintie 2)
FI-37101 Nokia
Tel: +358 (0)20 740 9646
Mobile: +358 (0)400 840 071
Fax: +358 20 740 9737
E-mail: liisa.teerenhovi@upofloor.fi Mr Teemu Kesävaara, Export Manager
Tel: +358 (0)20 740 9822
Mobile: +358 (0) 40 841 2366
E-mail: teemu.kesavaara@upofloor.fi www.upofloor.fi / www.lifelinefloors.com |