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Materials We Use - Environmentally Responsible
Radiator Frames:
Our radiator frames are made of high quality composite woods. These materials are made to be extremely heat and moisture resistant. They will not warp, soften, expand, swell or crack. They are also environmentally responsible (from our supplier):
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Our materials are made from sawmill chips. This means that waste is turned into designs of beauty and impressive functionality. They resist expansion and contraction with seasonal changes in humidity. Because they are made from one solid piece of material, they also avoid cracking and separating.
WOOD SOURCE:
Our wood source comes from a variety of sources, all within a 200 mile radius of the door facing, trim and panel manufacturing facility in Towanda, PA. At any given time, approximately 150 private contractors supply the Towanda facility with wood. We use more than 400,000 tons of wood each year.
TYPE OF WOOD SOURCED:
Field Chips (approximately 42%) – Field Chips can come from a variety of sources. Field chips are the residuals from field chipping operations of tree tops and scrap wood. If not used in operations like ours, this wood is left to rot or sent to landfills. Field chips are also sourced from land clearing operations that work to prepare an area for residential or commercial developments. In addition, field chips are the byproducts of sound logging practices in the area. Field chips are removed from an area to allow mature trees to grow. This material is not of the quality for use as lumber.
Sawmill Chips (32%) – These chips are generated from residual waste at sawmill operations. These are considered pre-consumer recycled material. This material is used in the manufacture of our door facings. These facings are used to make our Interior Doors at our three plants and at independent door manufacturers throughout the world.
Whole Tree Logs (26%) – These logs are known as ‘scrag’ wood, meaning they have no commercial timber value and are detrimental to the overall vitality of the forest. The material is generated during timber sales and as part of forest stand improvement efforts.
WOOD SPECIES:
100% northern hardwoods, which includes maple, oak, beech and other species.
RESINS USED:
We utilize 100% phenolic resins in all of the products we produce. Wood is a known formaldehyde emitter – this is true of your office desk, plaque on your wall, or the trees in your yard. For wood composite products, the resin that is used can contribute, or add, to the formaldehyde emissions. Resins that are urea based fall in this category. Phenolic resins are not formaldehyde emitters and why we say all of our products contain ‘no added formaldehyde’. Wood Composite Products that contain only phenolic resins are recognized in the industry as meeting the strictest formaldehyde emission levels and can contribute toward one LEED credit under Indoor Environmental Quality 4.4.
INDUSTRY AFFILIATION AND MEMBERSHIP:
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (sfiprogram.org): SFI was founded in 1994 by the Board of Directors of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA). Their goal is to develop a code of conduct for manufacturers to follow in order to be environmentally responsible. Since then, it has grown into one of the world’s largest sustainable forestry and certification programs. We have been a member since 1997 and has a seat on the state planning committee. As part of our membership, we sponsor SFI logger training that covers subjects including silviculture, environmentally friendly logging, and logger safety.
Northern Tier Hardwoods Association (ntha.ws): The NTHA works with the forest products industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania to promote good logging and manufacturing practices. We are a member and have a governor-appointed position on the board of directors.
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PolyUrethane Finish:
We use the PolyUrethane finish because it is superior to any other finish in terms of environmental responsibility, general durability, stain resistance, heat resistance, moisture resistance, solvent resistance and yellowing from UV light (remember many radiators are installed right in front of windows!).
In the words of our supplier:
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"These coatings have the lowest environmental impact than any other solvent based coating. Using our polyurethane is the safest way to finish wood by using a solvent based paint. Finally, here is a brief list of major benefits you can get when using polyurethane: contains no formaldehyde, no hazardous vapours or emissions after drying, highest scratch resistance, extremely smooth surface with "baby skin effect", longest lifetime for furniture and doors, lowest VOC (volatile organic compound) emission for solvent based paints and highest solid contents for traditionally curing paints." |
Metal Screens:
Our metal screens are heavy gauge (22ga) steel to ensure that they will last a long time and resist dents and deformation from age, expansion and contraction from heating and cooling, and impacts from other objects, people or pets.
Mouldings:
To ensure the highest quality appearance and durability, we use solid wood mouldings on the radiator covers. Quite simply, there is no alternative to making mouldings out of solid wood and having them properly finished with a polyurethane coating that is environmentally responsible.
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