1. Flooring Materials Green Architecture
© 2012 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

2. Engineered Wood - $2.97/sq. ft.
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Engineered Wood - $2.97/sq. ft.
Engineered wood flooring is composed of two or more layers of wood in the form of a plank. The top layer (lamella) is the wood that is visible when the flooring is installed. It is adhered to the core (or substrate), which provides the stability.

3. Hardwood - $4.29/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Hardwood - $4.29/sq. ft.
Solid hardwood floors come in a wide range of dimensions and styles, with each plank made of solid wood and milled from a single piece of timber.
The advantage of using solid Hardwood flooring over the other types of flooring is that 3/4 solid hardwood flooring has a thick 5/16 top wear layer that can be sanded and refinished new again up to 7 times and can last well over 100 years. Solid Hardwood flooring also adds structural strength to a floor system due to its 3/4 thickness and interlocking tongue and groove milling. If you have a wood subfloor you would most likely want to use 3/4 solid wood flooring.

4. Engineered Wood vs. Hardwood
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Engineered Wood vs. Hardwood
The benefits of using engineered wood floors include more resistance to higher moisture levels than solid wood flooring, which adds to their appeal to use in damp basements or in regions of the country that have higher relative humidity levels. Also, engineered flooring can be directly glued down over (dry) concrete slabs above or below grade or stapled down over a wood subfloor.
Purchasing engineered wood flooring helps conserve expensive prized wood. For every 1 sq foot of 3/4 inch thick solid wood flooring manufactured, we can manufacturer approximately 4 times that amount of engineered wood flooring. Engineered wood flooring is the best flooring to consume in order to conserve our forests.
Engineered Wood Plank
Hardwood Plank

5. Bamboo Flooring - $4.48/sq. ft.
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Bamboo Flooring - $4.48/sq. ft.
The majority of today’s bamboo flooring products originate in China and other portions of Asia. Bamboo has gained a reputation as an eco-friendly, highly renewable source of material. Compared to wood, it grows much faster because bamboo is a grass, not a wood. Traditional hard woods can take 20 – 120 years to mature. It takes about 3 – 5 years for bamboo to reach full maturity. Also, bamboo can be harvested without the need to replant because the root system is left intact when it is harvested.

6. Cork Flooring - $4.12/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Cork Flooring - $4.12/sq. ft.
Cork comes from trees found mostly in Spain, Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, France, Italy, and Tunisia (Portugal accounts for 50% of the world’s cork harvest). The bark of the tree develops considerable thickness and can be harvested every 9 to 12 years. The harvesting of cork does not harm the tree. No trees are cut down during the harvesting process. Only the bark is extracted, and a new layer of cork re-grows, making cork a renewable resource.
Cork Oaks live about 150 to 250 years. The first cork harvest occurs when the tree is generally 25 years old. Another 9 to 12 years is required for the second harvest, and a tree can be harvested about twelve times in its lifetime.
Cork harvesting is done entirely without machinery and is dependent solely on human labor. Usually five people are required to harvest the tree’s bark using a small axe.

7. Ceramic Tile - $1.58/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Ceramic Tile - $1.58/sq. ft.
Ceramic tiles are made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials, and hardened in fire. Some ceramics are glazed and fired to create a colored, smooth surface.

8. Travertine Tile - $3.99/sq. ft
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Travertine Tile - $3.99/sq. ft
Travertine tile comes from a type of rock formed by the minerals found in ground and surface water and from geothermally heated hot springs. It must be mined from quarries, the most famous (and most expensive) found in Italy. In the United States, travertine can be found in Yellowstone National Park, Tuner Falls, OK, and in the limestone cliffs around Austin, TX.
Travertine can be very slippery when wet.

9. Vinyl Tile - $2.09/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Vinyl Tile - $2.09/sq. ft.
Vinyl is good for do-it-yourself projects that require a low-cost, tough, and moisture-resistant material. Vinyl is best-known for being a substitute for leather. It may be called "faux leather" or "fake leather." Vinyl is a kind of plastic resin made from chlorine and ethylene. The name "vinyl" is actually derived from its full name of "polyvinylchloride" (PVC). Unlike most other plastics, vinyl usually recycles well, which makes it a big plus for the environment over other synthetic materials.
Tile vinyl flooring typically comes in 12"x12" sizes and can cost as little as $.50 to $.75 per square foot. Virtually any type of surface can be replicated with vinyl tile--stone, wood, tile, etc.--but most vinyl tile gives itself away upon close examination. The best feature for the DIY home renovator is that tile vinyl is easy to handle. The squares can be cut and manipulated with ease. Also, some tile vinyl has a self-adhesive backing, eliminating the need for smelly adhesives.
Sheet and tile vinyl flooring are one of your best bathroom flooring options.

10. Sheet Vinyl - $1.00/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Sheet Vinyl - $1.00/sq. ft.
Sheet vinyl flooring is just like a vinyl version of carpeting: it is available in wide rolls of six or twelve feet. For rooms wider than these sizes, sections of sheet vinyl are fused together. In fact, expert sheet vinyl installers are often so good at fusing the seams that it is not immediately apparent (carpeting is fused together, as well). The size and seamless quality of sheet vinyl is its chief advantage. With any type of flooring, it is desirable to limit the number of seams--at least from the perspective of repelling moisture. With sheet vinyl flooring, your kitchen or bathroom might end up with no seams, or at most one seam, to contend with. Another great thing about sheet vinyl flooring is that it helps bridge and cover up imperfections in the subflooring. It can even be laid over existing sheet or tile vinyl flooring. However, the main disadvantage of sheet vinyl is that it really does require an expert's hand.
First, the large sections of vinyl are unwieldy to handle, especially by one person. Second, sizing out the sheet vinyl requires templating with builder's paper. It is not possible to just start laying down sheet vinyl. It requires much planning.
Third, all sheet vinyl requires the application of adhesives. You will not have the self-adhesive option which tile vinyl flooring offers.

11. Carpet Tiles - $1.40/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Carpet Tiles - $1.40/sq. ft.
Carpet is both a comfortable and fashionable choice for your home. It is quiet, insulates well from cold, and comes in a wide variety of colors. 
Berber features large, uncut loops of natural-tone fibers fastened to the backing, varying in size and usually made from wool, nylon or olefin. It is denser than most other carpets and very stain resistant. These are very durable carpets and usually a good choice for high traffic areas. This is not a good choice for houses with animals, though, as their claws can snag on the fibers.
Peel and stick carpet tiles have become an excellent do-it-yourself flooring method. New technology has provided carpet squares that are easy to install, clean, and maintain. The adhesive system keeps the carpet in place and eliminates curling. Homeowners can mix and match colors and patterns to suit their décor.

12. Carpet - $3.25/sq. ft. Presentation Name Course Name
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Carpet - $3.25/sq. ft.
Has some of the same characteristics as carpet tiles: It is quiet, insulates well from cold, and comes in a wide variety of colors. 
Saxony is a popular carpet of dense, level-cut pile clipped to about 1/2" high. The closely packed yarns give a soft smooth surface which is perfect in formal settings. A smooth-finished saxony is often referred to as plush. Saxony carpet is highly susceptible to showing seams, footprints, and vacuum marks.
However, it has the additional cost of the pad. Padding is just as important as the carpet itself - in some ways even more so. Although it's not visible, the cushioning layer is critical to a quality carpet installation. Installing the proper backing cushions the foot, insulates from cold and noise, and increases the life of the carpet.