As the Earth’s resources are dwindling, it is critical that we do what we can to use our planet’s resources responsibly and preserve what we can to offset our carbon footprint for the oncoming generations. The development of our SteriFloor suite not only allows us to provide a sterile, food-safe floor, but also one that preserves other surfaces for many years, reducing unnecessary waste. On top of this, our solutions have been designed to lower carbon emissions, remove VOC emissions, and other discharges typically found in flooring and throughout the installation.
After water, concrete is the most consumed material on earth, and accounts for approximately 67.5% of all construction and demolition waste by weight. While waste concrete itself can be recycled, one of the key components of concrete production is sand, being the world’s second most consumed natural resource[1]. The issue today, is not that there isn’t enough sand on our planet, but that desert sand is largely useless to us, particularly in producing concrete, where desert sand grains are the wrong shape. A researcher by the name of Pascal Peduzzi with the United Nations Program said, “The issue of sand comes as a surprise to many, but it shouldn’t … we cannot extract 50 billion tonnes per year of any material without leading to massive impacts on the planet and thus on people’s lives.”
[1] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191108-why-the-world-is-running-out-of-sand
SteriFloor solutions (both polyurethane cement and epoxy solutions) applied in food manufacturing facilities have a life expectancy of approximately 7-10 years, depending on the conditions of the substrate. With all the various chemical, acid, thermal, and traffic pressures flooring in this industry is under, unsealed concrete would last approximately 1 year, before having to be replaced. SteriFloor solutions protect the concrete and stand up to the various pressures in food manufacturing facilities.
In addition to protecting concrete and saving tonnes of it from going to waste each year, SteriFloor solutions are highly effective insulators, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, and reducing the need for heating and cooling, thereby lowering carbon emissions. This insulating property is due to its structure of small cells, together with the composition of the gas occluded inside these cells.
One of the critical aspects to developing our SteriFloor solutions was to provide a suite that was solvent-free, and to significantly reduce the emissions of any harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the atmosphere during installation. In addition to this, we have advanced our flooring preparation methods, to eliminate the use of acid etching to prime the floor, which most flooring solution providers use, releasing damaging emissions into the air. As well as changing this preparation method, we make sure to only use electric grinders, ruling out the use of gas or petrol grinders on every project.
At Allied Finishes, we strongly believe that we need to take action to preserve and use our available resources responsibly for the benefit of our future generations. We put extensive time and effort into research and development of our SteriFloor solutions, to ensure they are sustainable solutions, that are extremely durable, preserving other materials, as well as limiting emissions released during the installation and in the products.