About
We are the North American Laminate Flooring Association, but you can call us NALFA.
We are the only trade association dedicated solely to the laminate flooring industry, and therefore, we are your source for all things laminate. We recommend you visit our blog often for valuable advice about laminate flooring choices, laminate flooring standards and laminate flooring performance. And if by some chance we’ve missed something on our blog, you can visit us at www.nalfa.com. NALFA is proud to be a member of the Floor Covering Leadership Council (FCLC). The FCLC is currently made up of 16 associations – all dedicated to flooring. Its purpose is to identify and develop solutions that lead to the success of the floor covering industry and its professionals.
Setting the Standard Since 1997
In 1997, a group of US and Canadian laminate manufacturers and importers joined forces in an effort to promote continuous and responsible growth within the laminate category as well as help consumers through the confusing shopping process. Together, they became NALFA, now the Voice of Laminate Flooring in North America™.
As a voluntary team of the industry’s top leaders, NALFA is the only trade organization exclusively dedicated to the laminate flooring industry. In 2008, NALFA became an accredited ANSI standards developing organization and published testing and performance criteria that is the benchmark today by which all quality laminate flooring is measured.
Products that pass 10 rigorous performance tests and meet approved standards are awarded the NALFA Certification Seal as a testament to its quality. The seal provides assurance for retailers and consumers that they are selling and buying quality products respectively.
As NALFA continues to expand and grow, its members remain seated in the principals by which it was founded:
- ESTABLISH and MAINTAIN consistently high performance and quality standards for laminate flooring products
- EDUCATE and COMMUNICATE the meaning of NALFA standards and the value of the certification seal
- SHARE knowledge with retailers and installers through hosted certification classes
- RESEARCH and EVALUATE ongoing opportunities for improved standards and technologies
NALFA's Commitment to Sustainability: Maximizing Wood Fiber Utilization for Climate-Positive Laminate Flooring
Utilizing more Harvested Wood Fiber
Solid wood lumber and furniture operations can only use about half of the wood fiber they harvest, leaving the rest to burn or decay on the forest floor or in landfills. NALFA member flooring products are made from the rest of that harvested fiber. The usage is impressive – we can now convert
almost all of the wood fiber harvested from managed forests into products that can be used for decades.
Climate Positive Carbon Storage
Even better: Trees naturally capture and store atmospheric carbon as they grow, which is stored, or sequestered, until the wood burns or decays. Life cycle assessments show that wood-based laminate floor cores store more carbon than is released in their production, offsetting extra atmospheric carbon. This is what makes wood-based laminate flooring a truly Climate Positive material.
Guilt-Free Woodgrains
Laminate flooring carries durable surface designs that are meticulously scanned from samples of rare and fragile woods. This way more of us can enjoy the unique beauty of wood while minimizing negative impacts on old-growth forests.
