Life Cycle Assessment of Flooring Materials: Case Study

The enrironmental impact of the three flooring materials linoleum. vinyl flooring and solid wood flooring during their lile cycles was assessed and compared through life cycle assessment (LeA). The scenarios used describe a Swedish situation. Only impacts on the natural environment were studied. The quantitative results of the inventory analysis were evaluated by using three different assessment methods. According to the results, solid wood flooring proved to be clearly the most environmentally sound flooring. Linoleum was ranked as more environmentally sound than vinyl flooring, although this was less evident in comparison with ranking the solid woodflooring