Metroflor announced that it has secured carbon credits to offset the total amount of embodied carbon generated by the manufacture and sale of Déjà New commercial glue-down LVT. Déjà New is Metroflor's first carbon-neutral commercially rated glue-down LVT.
Based on the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) calculations and sales history, Metroflor purchased the required amount of Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) to fully offset its embodied carbon footprint. While Metroflor’s long-term strategy is to make floors that contain no embodied carbon, this carbon offsetting initiative meets Metroflor’s short-term goal of making an immediate impact in the global effort to stave off global warming.
“It's what we call cradle-to-gate: determining the amount of carbon footprint that the product is responsible for, which in turn determines how many carbon credits or VERs are needed to offset Déjà New’s footprint," said Gary Keeble, Metroflor VP of marketing.
Being able to promote Déjà New as a carbon neutral product will resonate with commercial customers.
“When a designer, architect or building owner is looking for products through a database like mindfulMaterials and Ecomedes which enable filtering for sustainability certifications, being able to add that our products are carbon neutral offers an important feature to qualify the product with this commercial audience," Keeble said.
Metroflor, in partnership with Everland, has joined its parent company HMTX Industries in supporting REDD+ projects. Everland represents the largest portfolio of high-impact forest conservation (REDD+) projects in the world. Under the REDD+ conservation strategy, revenues from the sale of verified emissions reductions are used to finance sustainable development opportunities for local communities while protecting areas from deforestation and preserving biodiversity.
By partnering with Everland, Metroflor is helping to protect the REDD+ project in the Southern Cardamom Rainforest in Cambodia. The Southern Cardamom is one of the last unfragmented rainforests remaining in Southeast Asia, serving as the region's most important watershed, climate regulator and carbon sink. The Southern Cardamom is a biodiversity hotspot under relentless threat from illegal logging and poaching. REDD+ currently protects 497,000 hectares (over a million acres) of the Southern Cardamom Rainforest.
Déjà New’s carbon offsets will help fund activities of the Southern Cardamon REDD+ project that:
- Establish robust ranger programs to protect the forest against illegal logging and poaching
- Provide incentives to conserve the forest instead of selling it to loggers and developers
- Supply new economic opportunities to forest communities that are not reliant on forest products
Learn more about Metroflor’s carbon commitment by clicking here.
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