Environmental Building News

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The Leading Newsletter on Environmentally Responsible Design & Construction

SPECIAL SELECTION from Volume 7, Number 1 — January 1998

Access Floors: In This Issue:

A Step Up for Commercial Buildings Feature Article .......... 1
Access Floors: A Step

S
IMPLY PUT, ACCESS FLOORING IS for electrical wires, communications cables, Up for Commercial
a winner. Long used in computer and air distribution. The floor can be raised
Buildings
rooms, access floors are now finding by as little as 21 ⁄ 2 inches (60 mm) to more From the Editors ........ 2
their way into office buildings and other than three feet (900 mm). When used for Leaping into 1998
commercial space, where they can dra- air distribution, the floor is typically raised
mail@ebuild ............. 2
matically reduce renovation costs while at least 14” (360 mm) above the slab. The
Vinyl Siding Got a
saving energy and improving indoor air access floor is usually a modular system of
Bad Rap
quality—especially when providing an bolt-together steel or aluminum pedestals
On GFX and Electric
underfloor plenum for conditioned air dis- and concrete or metal floor panels. A few Water Heating
tribution. This article takes a look at access low-profile access flooring systems are
floors, their many benefits, and some of the made from molded plastic or aluminum. What’s Happening ... 4
developments under way in this rapidly The floor surface can be carpet tile, vinyl Big Builder Gives
composition tile, high-pressure melamine Certified Wood a Boost
growing field.
laminate on wood composite, decorative Common Plasticizer
Linked to Asthma
Understanding Access Floors finished concrete, finished metal (steel or
Newsbriefs
aluminum), or a natural material, such as
The basic idea with access, or raised, floors linoleum or cork. The floor cavity is ac- Product News &
is to elevate the floor, providing a plenum cessed by lifting up panels. (cont’d, page 2) Reviews ............. 6
Restructuring at L-P
Recycling Old Carpet
Into Insulation
Agriboard’s Inflated
R-value Claims
From the Library ..... 14
A Place in the Sun
Asphalt Nation
Interface Sustainability
Report
Calendar ............... 16

Quote of the month:

“We saved at least a
half-million dollars in
the first year in
relocation costs.”
Jim Eckert, facility manager
at the Owens Corning World
Headquarters, on the benefits
Access flooring has long been used for cables. To get the most out of the investment, though, it should of access flooring
also be used for underfloor air distribution. Photo: InterfaceAR (page 2)

Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com
Feature Article: Access Floors
Access Floors (from page 1)
Access floors have been around for
more than 20 years, but until very
recently they were only used in com-
puter facilities, research laboratories,
cleanrooms, specialized manufactur-
ing buildings, and other spaces where
a readily accessible subfloor space
was absolutely necessary. Within
the past few years, access floors have
begun to find widespread use in
standard office buildings. William
Odell, AIA, a group vice-president
of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum’s
(HOK’s) St. Louis office, believes that
access floors will soon become the de-
fault for flooring in commercial office
buildings.
Access floors make so much sense
not only because they make it ex-
tremely easy to reconfigure a com-
mercial space, but also because they
can often provide very cost-effective
air distribution in large, multifloor
buildings. A conventional commer-
cial building today has a network of
supply ducts in the ceiling cavity
above a dropped ceiling, with the
entire cavity also serving as the
return-air plenum. Conditioned air
is blown down through ceiling-
mounted diffusers where it mixes
with the room air, and return air
exits the occupied space through
ceiling-mounted registers. A signifi-
cant problem with this arrangement,
according to Harry Gordon, FAIA,
of Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Asso-
ciates of Washington, D.C., is poor
air circulation, which can be espe-
cially problematic in an office with
workstation cubicles that interfere
with the air circulation.
With an access floor air distribution
system, the entire floor plenum is
pressurized, and air is delivered to
the occupied space through special-
ized floor-mounted diffusers. These
diffusers “swirl” or “twist” the air,
causing it to mix very quickly with
room air. This conditioned supply
air is delivered at very low pressure,
2 Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com
and directly to the occupant’s level.
From there it gently mixes with the
room air and rises to return grills
mounted at ceiling level.
Benefits of Access Floors
Access floors used for conditioned
air delivery offer numerous eco-
nomic and environmental benefits:
Ease of reconfiguring the space
From a building owner (or occupant)
standpoint, the most obvious benefit
of access floors is ease of reconfiguring
the workspace. According to E Source,
a Boulder, Colorado-based technical
information service, one-third of all
office space in the U.S. undergoes a
floor plan change every year! With
access flooring, the cost and com-
plexity of modifying the floor plan
can be dramatically reduced, offer-
ing significant economic savings.
For example, consider the Owens
Corning World Headquarters in
Toledo, Ohio. Completed in Septem-
ber 1996, the three-story building
was built with access floors through-
out—some 275,000 sq. ft. (25,550 m2).
In the first year of occupancy, the
building experienced a remarkable
130% churn, according to Jim Eckert,
the Director of Real Estate and Facil-
ity Management. (In other words,
every employee moved an average
of 1.3 times that year.) The access
flooring system enabled those moves
to be made very inexpensively—just
$140 per workstation move, Eckert
told EBN. “My estimate is that we
saved at least a half-million dollars
in the first year in relocation costs,”
he said. That comes out to about
$1.80 per square foot ($19.40/m2) in
savings in a single year! Note that po-
tential savings with churn is not al-
ways present; it is only a benefit in a
building where significant move-
ment of employees and workstations
occurs.
To reconfigure office space with ac-
cess flooring, the floor panels are un-
screwed from the support grid (first
removing carpet tile if the floor is car-
peted) and lifted up to expose wir-
ing and cabling systems, which are
modified as needed. In the case of the
Owens Corning project, special Titus
diffusers, with wider-than-normal
flanges, were used to facilitate reuse
of carpet tiles when the space was
reconfigured. Even if a workspace is
rarely reconfigured, evolving com-
munications and networking tech-
nologies demand periodic updating
of cable and wire systems. These up-
grades are greatly simplified with
access flooring.
Along with saving money, increas-
ing the ease of remodeling can have
significant environmental advan-
tages. Many modifications, such as
changing the computer network ca-
bling system, can be done simply by
removing a section of carpet tile and
lifting up floor panels, without modi-
fying walls—drywalling and paint-
ing (and associated IAQ impacts) are
not required. And unlike conven-
tional flooring, with a modular access
flooring system, most if not all of the
carpet tile can be reused, eliminating
both the solid waste impacts from
disposing of old carpeting and the
energy and other environmental im-
pacts resulting from manufacture of
new carpet or carpet tile.
Eliminating ducts also reduces re-
source consumption. Richard Craig,
the U.S. representative for industry-
leading Krantz diffusers (and the
man who introduced this air distri-
bution strategy to the U.S. in the
1980s), claims a 40% to 70% reduc-
tion in sheet metal ducting in a typi-
cal project. In evaluating potential
resource benefits of eliminating sup-
ply ducts, the additional metal and
other materials required for the ac-
cess flooring system should be taken
into account—there may not be a net
reduction in material use. EBN is not
aware of any such analysis to date.
 Feature Article: Access Floors

Energy savings smaller motors, he claims that yearly ent, but, as Harry Gordon explains,
savings in electricity will be $4,000 “your entire delta-T [difference in
Use of an access floor plenum for to $6,000 per floor, at 8¢/kWh. temperature between supply and re-
conditioned air distribution can dra- turn air] moves up a few degrees.”
matically reduce energy use in a Delivery of conditioned air at the
This means that the water doesn’t
number of important ways. Less fan floor level also means that the air have to be chilled as much and the
energy is required to distribute air, doesn’t need to be as cold. Conven-
chiller efficiency increases—in an
because the air is not being forced at tional HVAC systems in commercial
example presented by E Source,
high velocities through from 0.60 kW/ton to
ducts, and because the 0.37 kW/ton (COP 5.9
air mixing in the room to COP 9.5).
is more natural. Clark
Bisel, P.E., a principal at The higher-tempera-
Flack & Kurtz Consult- ture supply air also
ing Engineers in San means that outside air
Francisco, is designing can be used for cooling
systems to deliver air at more of the time (in en-
a pressure of less than gineering lingo, an
1 ⁄ 10 of an inch water “extended economizer
column (25 Pa), com- range”). Because there
pared with a ducted air are so many hours
supply system that typi- with the outside air be-
cally delivers air at more low 63°F (17°C), Bisel
than 1⁄ 2” water column calls this HVAC strat-
pressure (124 Pa). “The egy “a cousin to natu-
floor plenum is like a ral cooling in many
huge duct,” he notes. climates.” Even in more
To make this system severe climates, chilled
work properly, the en- air can usually be deliv-
velope has to be tightly ered at least 3°F (1.7°C)
sealed, but that should warmer with this ap-
be a part of quality con- proach, according to
struction anyway. Rich Kroko, president
of Interface Archi-
Richard Craig, the U.S. tectural Resources
distributor for Krantz (InterfaceAR™), which
diffusers, argues that manufactures access
the differences in total flooring systems. Note
static pressure for these that in humid climates
two HVAC systems are This access flooring system hides a maze of electrical and commu- the higher chiller tem-
just as great. A conven- nications cables. Photo: InterfaceAR
perature will result in
tional system with over- less moisture removal,
head air distribution, so the dehumidifica-
according to Krantz, requires a total buildings deliver air at about 55°F tion requirement cancels out much
static pressure of 4” to 5” w.c. (995- (13°C), while the supply air can be as of the energy savings from this shift
1,244 Pa), compared with just 1.0” to warm as 63°F (17°C) in access-floor- in temperature range.
1.25” w.c. (249-311 Pa) for an under- delivery systems. This is possible be-
floor air distribution system. Other cause the conditioned air is delivered Additional energy savings can some-
engineers estimate a more modest re- in the occupied zone of the room and times be realized by virtue of the ther-
duction in required pressure. Krantz because the delivered air does not mal mass in the floor. Concrete floor
suggests that with a 15,000 square pick up heat from the lights near the panels, for instance, can store “coolth”
foot (1,400 m2) floorplate, the air han- ceiling, as occurs with ceiling air sup- and thus reduce temperature swings
dler needed for each floor can often ply. The upward air flow carries and peak cooling requirements.
be downsized from 25 to 10 horse- away unwanted heat before it
In San Francisco’s moderate climate,
power (19,000-7,500 watts) with un- reaches the occupied space. The ac-
Bisel claims energy savings of up to
derfloor air distribution. In addition tual cooling load may be no differ-
50%, or $0.15 to $0.25/square foot per
to the first-cost savings for the

Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com 3
Feature Article: Access Floors
year ($1.60 to $2.70/m2yr.), com-
pared with a conventional HVAC
system. Richard Craig, who has been
involved with the HVAC design of
60 buildings in the U.S. with access
floor air distribution systems, claims
that 30% to 50% savings in energy
use is typical.
Improved indoor air quality
The “displacement air flow” that re-
sults when an access floor is used for
conditioned air delivery should re-
sult in better air quality, according
to David Bearg, P.E., of Life Energy
Associates in Concord, Massachu-
setts. “Displacement air flow is sig-
nificantly more efficient at removing
air pollutants,” notes Bearg, who
wrote Indoor Air Quality and HVAC
Systems (1993, Lewis Publishers).
There should be less lateral mixing
of air than with conventional air de-
livery, and those pollution sources
that are also heat sources (for ex-
ample, copiers and laser printers)
should rise upward and out through
the return grills, where filtering
should remove pollutants.
Delivery of fresh outside air is also
better. Richard Craig told EBN that
with conventional air delivery sys-
tems, more than 50% of the supplied
outside air never even reaches the
occupied zone. Therefore, to achieve
a true 20 cfm (9.5 l/s) of outside air
per person, one would actually have
to provide 40 cfm (19 l/s). With a
floor delivery system, on the other
hand, 100% of the supplied outside
air gets into the occupied space. Ac-
cording to David Houghton, P.E., in
an E Source paper “Turning Air Con-
ditioning on its Head,” designers of a
building in Toronto used this prin-
ciple to justify a 50% reduction in out-
side air flow while maintaining the
same fresh air delivery to occupants.
There is also a reduced likelihood of
mold growth in the supply ducts
with the warmer supply air, because
the relative humidity of the air is
lower. Dan Nall, P.E., with Flack &
Kurtz in New York, explains that in
4 Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com
a conventional system, the 55°F sup-
ply air is at 93% RH, while with a
displacement air system 60°F to 62°F
is more typical and much less hospi-
table to biological agents.
Indoor air quality expert Hal Levin,
however, cautioned in a 1995 issue
of IAQ Update that under certain cir-
cumstances, the floor plenum could
become an IAQ problem—such as if
an office worker accidentally spills a
drink into the floor diffuser and
mold growth ensues in the plenum.
When using the floor plenum for air
distribution, it is very important to
clean it thoroughly during construc-
tion—before the access flooring sys-
tem is installed. Another IAQ concern
with some access flooring systems is
formaldehyde emissions from wood
composite floor panels. This offers an
opportunity for use of MDI-bonded
straw particleboard as the structural
panel (see EBN Vol. 6, No. 3, page 5).
Increased ceiling height
Access floor plenums are usually sig-
nificantly shallower than ceiling ple-
nums. As a result, it is often possible
either to increase the ceiling heights
in a building or to reduce the slab-
to-slab distance between floors. Con-
ventional practice today typically
provides an 18” (260 mm) to 24” (600
mm) plenum above a dropped ceil-
ing. By eliminating the supply ducts,
a much shallower ceiling plenum can
be designed (say 12” or 300 mm), or
the dropped ceiling can be elimi-
nated altogether—with exposed ducts
used for return air and pendant light
fixtures used in place of recessed fix-
tures. This extra ceiling height can be
used to improve natural daylighting
by having windows extend higher
than normal on outside walls and us-
ing light shelves to reflect daylight
deep into the workspaces. In this
way, the need for electric lighting can
be significantly reduced in many
buildings. Note that if the dropped
ceiling is eliminated, extra expense
(and potential IAQ impacts) will be
incurred in painting the ceiling, ex-
posed sprinkler pipes, etc., and other
strategies may be required to deal
with acoustics.
Alternately, the reduced loss of ver-
tical space can be translated into re-
duced height between floor slabs. By
reducing the slab-to-slab height by 8”
(200 mm) on every floor, it is possible
to provide an additional floor in an 18-
story building. This can increase the
profitability of a project as well as
result in significant resource savings.
Enhanced comfort and control
Properly installed and operated, an
access flooring system with air dis-
tribution should provide enhanced
comfort and controllability com-
pared with conventional HVAC sys-
tems. By pressurizing the floor to a
uniform pressure (say 0.15” water
column, or 37 Pa), balancing is ex-
tremely easy. Floor diffusers provide
some level of individual control—
both through their placement and
how they are operated. The German
diffuser made by Krantz is highly
efficient at mixing supply air with
room air. According to Craig, within
a few inches of the diffuser vertically
and horizontally, the air will be
within 1⁄2°F (0.28°C) of the surround-
ing air temperature in the room. This
is referred to as a “high-induction”
diffuser because it very effectively
induces circulation of a large volume
of surrounding air. Like most other
floor diffusers on the market, this is
a passive system that works without
a supplemental fan.
It is possible to integrate an access
floor air distribution system with a
comfort system that provides indi-
vidualized climate conditions to each
workstation, such as Johnson Con-
trols’ Personal Environmental Mod-
ule (PEM). PEMs are more commonly
used with ducted air supply, but
HOK recently used them in the new
250,000 square-foot (23,200 m2 )
headquarters building for Johnson
Wax in Racine, Wisconsin, which has
an access floor air distribution sys-
tem. Other such products are under
development (see “New Develop-
 Feature Article: Access Floors

ments” below). not require final runout duct.” The in- California (see table, page 6). The ex-
herent adaptability of these systems tra cost of the access flooring was $8
With access floor air distribution, ex- allows for easy modification if, for per square foot ($86/m2), but when
tra effort may be required to ensure
some reason, performance is not meet- other costs relating to finishes, con-
that perimeter spaces will achieve
ing the needs. ditioned air distribution, and wiring
comparable comfort to interior spaces. systems are included in the compari-
With a well-insulated envelope and The floor level requirements are also
son, the access flooring system actu-
high-performance glazings, pockets more forgiving, notes Harry Gordon.
ally saves $2.70 per square foot ($29/
that are too warm or too cold should With access floors, floor leveling m2) in construction cost. Most de-
not be a problem. Without adequate costs can usually be avoided, because
signers familiar with access floor air
attention to envelope design, how- the support posts provide for precise
distribution systems who were inter-
ever, it is sometimes necessary to in- height adjustment. viewed by EBN claimed significant
corporate special radiant
first-cost savings, but some
heating elements or addi-
indicated that first costs
tional floor diffusers. would be somewhat higher.
Craig claims that an access
Wiring and cabling
floor system used for air
savings supply will save an average
With access flooring, the of $1.50 to $3 per square foot
construction schedule for ($16-$32/m2) in construction
electrical rough-ins can often cost. Engineer Paul Scanlon,
be more flexible because the P.E., of Burt Hill Kosar
wires are readily accessible. Rittelmann Associates, be-
Also, because floor modules lieves typical savings to be
with outlets and cable jacks about $2 per square foot
can be located anywhere in ($21.50/m2), while Dan Nall
the floor, it may be possible of Flack & Kurtz’s New York
to get by without electrified office estimates that an ac-
furniture (furniture with cess floor system will increase
integral cable trays and wir- first costs by $1 to $1.50 per
ing). This can reduce furni- square foot ($10.75–$16/m2).
ture costs by $1,000 per Along with the savings in
workstation, according to installed cost for an access
Dan Nall. Finally, modifica- floor system that is used for
tions to the wiring and ca- air distribution, there are
bling can be made very very significant savings in
easily—often with in-house operating cost, as outlined in
staff, avoiding the expense of the discussion on benefits
union electricians. above. Overall HVAC costs
Source: Owens Corning
can be reduced by as much
More forgiving design An access floor alows quick and easy modification of wiring. as $0.25 per square foot
Despite the newness of ac- ($2.70/m 2) per year in
cess floor air distribution California’s moderate cli-
systems and their sophistication in mate, according to Bisel of
terms of energy performance, the Overall cost savings Flack & Kurtz. Researchers at
HVAC design is actually quite Because air distribution access floor Carnegie Mellon University suggest
straightforward, according to Trox systems are still relatively new in the a 20% to 30% reduction in energy
USA, Inc., another German manufac- United States, there is little data on costs with this air distribution sys-
turer of floor diffusers. According costs and measured savings. Flack & tem, according to material provided
to a technical bulletin the company Kurtz Consulting Engineers com- to EBN by Krantz. Reduced churn
provides, “underfloor air distribution piled cost information for both a con- costs can be even more significant,
systems are both easier to design and ventional HVAC system and an saving more than $1 per square foot
more forgiving of slight oversights access floor system for a 50,000 ($10.75/m2) per year, according to
and miscalculations than are over- square-foot (4,650 m2) building in Eckert at Owens Corning.
head systems, largely because they do

Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com 5
Feature Article: Access Floors

New Developments in
Access Flooring
The access flooring industry is highly
dynamic today, quickly expanding
as more designers come to appreciate
its advantages, and evolving to meet
new needs. There are three principal
manufacturers of access floor systems
in the U.S.—Tate Access Flooring
(who in 1994 purchased U.S. Gyp-
sum’s access flooring assets), Interface
Architectural Resources (Inter-
faceAR™), and Maxcess Technologies
(a subsidiary of Hitachi) —along with
several regional producers or packag-
ers of access flooring systems.
First Cost Savings with Access Floors
Description
InterfaceAR, with strong environ-
mental directives from parent com-
pany Interface, Inc. (see page 15), is
probably the most active in pursu-
ing new technologies, materials, and
strategic alliances. The company was
formed in the early 1990s and in Feb-
ruary 1996 acquired C-TEC, which
had been producing access flooring
since 1982. (C-TEC was originally a
Westinghouse company.)
InterfaceAR recently entered into a
joint venture with the office furniture
manufacturer Herman Miller to pur-
sue integrated comfort systems for
the office environment based on a
raised-floor platform. This joint ven-
Standard HVAC Access Floor
(overhead mixing) (underfl. air dist.)
ture, which does not yet have a for-
mal name, will likely develop systems
to address the fact that different in-
dividuals have different require-
ments when it comes to comfort.
According to John Doris, InterfaceAR
Vice President for Technical Services
and Advanced Technologies, produc-
tivity-boosting systems will provide
task conditioning that, in effect,
“tops off” the climatic conditions at
each workstation. Their approach
will differ from what Johnson Con-
trols does with their Personal Envi-
ronmental Module (PEM), which
controls zone conditions as well as
task conditions.
The floor diffuser industry is also
seeing a great deal of activity. There
are currently four manufacturers of
floor diffusers with a strong presence

BUILDING SHELL & CORE SYSTEMS

Steel beam duct penetrations $8,000 $0
Floor stop at core/tenant space transition $0 $4,200

TENANT FIT-OUT
Drywall partitions allowance (to struct. floor) $75,000 $82,000
Drywall furring of cols./ext. wall to 10 ft. $38,620 $42,372
Raised flooring (incl. floor-mounted diffusers $0 $400,000
Acoustical and/or drywall ceilings $150,000 $150,000
Carpeting (rolled goods vs. tile)* $111,128 $12,600
Fire sprinklers $12,500 $12,500

HVAC
Main duct** $115,500 $0
Branch ducts to VAV terminals $31,500 $16,000
Branch ducts to diffusers $66,000 $0
Diffusers** $46,876 $0
Ceiling registers $31,260 $1,000
Duct insulation $30,000 $0
Hot water reheat piping $45,000 $45,000
VAV boxes $76,600 $75,000

ELECTRICAL
Power distribution $100,000 $75,000
Receptacles $34,725 $11,250
Data/communication devices $16,650 $0
Data/communications cabling allowance $200,000 $150,000
Cable tray vs. hard floor “routing” $26,000 $3,000
Light fixtures $156,500 $156,500
Low-voltage systems/security/video allow. $100,000 $100,000

TOTAL $1,471,859 $1,336,422

Source: Krantz
Cost per square foot $29 $26 ① Floor-mounted twist outlet
Cost per square meter $316 $287 ➁ Throttle device
Data from 50,000 sq. ft. (4,650 sq. m) office building in California.
➂ Dirt-collection basket
* Access flooring system included finished surface. These passive air diffusers from Krantz swirl air, causing it to
** Main duct and diffusers included in cost of access floor.
mix quickly with surrounding air.
Source: Data provided by Flack & Kurtz Consulting Engineers and E Source, Inc.;
adapted by EBN to reflect more common practice.

6 Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com

ACCESS FLOORS CHECKLIST: Doing It Right
1. Specify high-performance glazings and
adequate curtainwall insulation to avoid
cold pockets at perimeter workstations.
2. Seal the building envelope carefully be-
cause the floor plenum will be pressurized.
3. Reduce the depth of dropped ceiling
plenums to take advantage of height
gains—there is no need for supply ducts
in the ceiling.
4. Use light shelves or other shading devices
to keep direct solar radiation away from
floor level—at a higher level, displace-
ment ventilation will carry away heat
before it affects the occupied space.
in the U.S.: Krantz (distributed by
Eurotech Products), Trox USA, Titus,
and Tate. Krantz and Trox are Ger-
man companies, with Krantz having
been the leading provider of floor
diffusers since the late 1980s and
Trox only recently having entered
the U.S. market. Titus, a U.S. com-
pany that is the world leader in ceil-
ing diffusers, now offers floor
diffusers and is likely to become a
major presence in this market (their
products were recently used in the
Owens Corning World Headquar-
ters access floor system). Tate Access
Floors makes its own line of floor dif-
fusers, including fan-assisted mod-
els. The fan provides a greater degree
of controllability, but comes with the
penalty of increased complexity,
electricity consumption, and motor
heat that some say should be fac-
tored into the cooling load calcula-
tions. Most other floor diffusers on
the market are passive.
InterfaceAR is actively pursuing
low-toxic and natural materials for
use in their access flooring systems.
“We’re getting more and more de-
mand for natural finishes,” said
Doris, who is overseeing research on
such materials as straw particle-
board, bamboo, cork, natural rubber,
and natural linoleum. “[Interface
Chairman] Ray Anderson has en-
couraged us to stretch ourselves and
Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com
5. Handle dehumidification separately from
cooling to maximize energy savings from
higher-temperature air distribution.
6. Take advantage of the extended
economizer range to reduce cooling
energy use.
7. Clean the underfloor plenum thoroughly
before installing the access floor system.
8. Specify diffusers and a carpet tile system
that allow easy reconfiguration while
reusing carpet tile.
9. With wood composite floor panels,
specify non-formaldehyde-offgassing
products, such as straw particleboard.
look at options,” he told EBN. Re-
cycled content is an important part
of that directive. The company’s new
Tri-Tec™ access flooring system for
cleanroom applications is made from
100% recycled aluminum, including
both the support structure and the
panels, according to company presi-
dent Rich Kroko. The aluminum is
made from a mix of post-consumer
and post-industrial waste.
Perhaps the most environmentally
innovative new development is a
residential access flooring product
made from 100% recycled material
that InterfaceAR expects to introduce
in the third or fourth quarter of 1998.
According to Doris, this will be a
very low-profile raised floor de-
signed for the do-it-yourselfer for
home offices and home entertain-
ment rooms. It will be manufactured
in 4-foot by 8-foot sheets (1.2 m x 2.4
m) and suitable for retrofit applica-
tions. This product should make fin-
ished basements in homes more
comfortable and less prone to mil-
dew by raising the carpeted floor
above the concrete slab.
A small Canadian company, Camino
Modular Systems in Etobicoke,
Ontario, deals with recycling at the
other end. The company salvages
and refurbishes access floor systems
from older buildings that are under-
going major remodeling or being
Feature Article: Access Floors
10. Specify natural surfacing for floor
panels if available, such as linoleum or
cork. Linoleum has inherent anti-static
properties, so savings may be achieved
by leaving out static control wiring.
11. If concrete floor panels are used, take
the thermal storage capacity into
account when sizing HVAC equipment.
12. Make sure that at least one diffuser is
provided in every office cubicle.
13. Save money by specifying non-electri-
fied office furniture.
14. Provide training so that office staff will
understand the air distribution system
and operate it for maximum comfort.
torn down. These systems are sold at
prices 10% to 20% below those of
new systems (see EBN Vol. 5, No. 5,
page 14). Because access floors are
relatively new for all but computer
facilities, however, and because they
are inherently adaptable, there should
not be a significant supply of sal-
vaged floor systems for a long time.
Project Manager Matt Roberts of the
company told EBN that they refur-
bished 10,000 to 25,000 square feet
(930-2,300 m2) of access flooring last
year. This is just a sideline to their
primary business of producing their
Woodcore line of new access floor-
ing, which the company sells through-
out Canada and in some foreign
countries (but not the U.S., since the
company is also a distributor for Tate
Access Flooring). In the U.S., Irvine
Access Floors in Eldersburg, Mary-
land salvages and refurbishes access
flooring systems.
As access flooring systems become
better understood over the next few
years—particularly as the economic
advantages of air distribution through
access floors are appreciated—we
can expect to see a rapid increase in
their use in the U.S. According to dif-
fuser manufacturer Trox USA, less
than 2% of commercial office space
in the U.S. is currently being built
with access flooring systems that are
used for air distribution, compared
7
Feature Article: Access Floors
with as much as half of commercial
space in Japan and Europe. Not only
is the U.S. likely to catch up with the
rest of the developed world, but with
companies like InterfaceAR, it may
well move ahead with a new genera-
tion of environmentally friendly ac-
cess flooring systems.
— Alex Wilson
For more information:
Access Flooring Systems:
Interface AR
3700 32nd Street
Grand Rapids, MI 49508
616/977-8600, 616/977-8620 (fax)
www.ifsia.com/iar
Maxcess Technologies, Inc.
A Subsidiary of Hitachi Maxco, Ltd.
8 Environmental Building News · 28 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 · 802/257-7300 · http://www.ebuild.com · ebn@ebuild.com
P.O. Box 2450 Diffusers:
Summerville, SC 29484
803/821-1200, 803/821-0405 (fax) Krantz (Swirl diffusers)
www.mtiaccessfloor.com Eurotech Products, Inc.
3835 Deer Run
Tate Access Floors (also diffusers) Denver, NC 28037
P.O. Box 278 704/483-2050 (phone & fax)
Jessup, MD 20794
410/799-4200, 410/799-4207 Titus (Architectural Products Group)
www.TateAccessFloors.com 990 Security Row
Richardson, TX 75081
Access Flooring Salvage & Refurbishing: 972/699-1030, 972/918-8880 (fax)
www.titus-hvac.com
Camino Modular Systems, Inc.
89 Carlingview Drive Trox USA, Inc. (Swirl diffusers)
1005 Alderman Drive, Suite 103
Etobicoke, ON M9W 5E4
Canada Alpharetta, GA 30202
800/370-0226, 416/675-2424 (fax) 770/569-1433, 770/569-1435 (fax)
Johnson Controls, Inc. (Personal
Irvine Access Floors, Inc.
1311 Londontown Blvd., Suite 135 environmental module)
P.O. Box 423
Eldersburg, MD 21784
410/766-8870, 410/766-2644 (fax) Milwaukee, WI 53201
414/274-5412