AB Gustaf Kähr, parent company to Kährs International Inc. (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) has netted the FloorScore certification for its Kährs Original and Kährs Activity Flooring lines, which are manufactured in Nybro, Sweden. According to Kährs, FloorScore certification meets the indoor air emissions criteria for Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) California 01350, the LEED Green Building Rating Systems Credit 4.3, and the Green Guide for Health Care.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently recognized that 3M's (St. Paul) LeadCheck lead test kit can reliably determine that regulated lead-based paint is not present on wood, ferrous metal (alloys that contain iron), or drywall and plaster surfaces when used by a certified renovator as part of the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule. EPA determined that LeadCheck complies with its false negative response criterion of the RRP rule.
It is estimated that residential construction will increase about 8 percent in 2012, hitting $264.4 billion, according to FMI Corporation. For that to happen, FMI said in its "Construction Outlook: First Quarter 2012" report, there needs to be a reduction in home inventory, lenders need to be willing to lend on reasonable terms, and there needs to be improvements in hiring. Overall, FMI forecasts that construction in the U.S. will increase 5 percent in 2012, hitting $826.3 billion and reaching about the same levels seen in 2000 and 2001.
