PlybooPure Urea Formaldehyde-Free Products

Even though we’ve always manufactured low-emitting flooring and plywood products that have met or exceeded all formaldehyde regulations here in the United States, in late 2007 we began converting our plants to urea formaldehyde (UF)-free manufacturing processes, and UF-free Plyboo plywood and flooring, called PlybooPure, was launched throughout the North American market.

In 2008, more than 50% of the company’s plywood and flooring production was UF-free PlybooPure, enabling architects and specifiers to achieve points through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards’ EQ Credit 4.4: No Added Urea Formaldehyde.

When the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2007 voted in its two-phase regulations to reduce and eliminate formaldehyde from composite wood products, all Plyboo products had already surpassed the CARB regulations’ most stringent emission levels, but we believe there is no reason urea formaldehyde cannot be completely removed from bamboo plywood and flooring manufacturing processes. And PlybooPure signifies Smith & Fong's commitment to that end.

Products currently available PlybooPure urea formaldehyde-free:

• Plyboo flooring, plywood and veneer (as specified)
• PlybooStrand flooring and plywood
• Durapalm coconut-palm flooring, plywood and woven panels

In 2008 Smith & Fong obtained the world's first non-wood FSC certification for its bamboo resource in China, providing third-party validation of a truly sustainable industry. Later that year PlybooPure FSC-certified bamboo flooring was selected as a "Top-10 Green Building Product" by BuildingGreen, publisher of Environmental Building News, the architecture and design industry's most respected source of information on sustainable building and design.