The adhesives we use to bond bamboo slats are as important as the quality of bamboo we use in manufacturing. These incredibly strong and durable blanks and blocks are what we use to make such diverse products as floating flooring, stair parts, panels and butcher block countertops. We have worked with our factory partner for more than 10 years to develop proprietary adhesives with exceptional stability and moisture resistance that help Teragren products perform in nearly every setting or climate.
Because many of the most durable, economical adhesives contain different forms of formaldehyde, one of the industry's ongoing challenges is to make adhesives more environmentally friendly while maintaining high levels of performance. One widely accepted benchmark is the LEED® Green Building Rating System™ IEQ Credit 4.4: Low-Emitting Materials. Teragen is actively applying its experience and environmental commitment to the task of developing adhesives that comply with this requirement. Currently, most of our products can be special-ordered with IEQ-compliant adhesives. (At this time, our IEQ 4.4 Enhanced program does not include Studio floating floor.) Call 800.929.6333 or email us for details.
Teragren currently uses three types of manufacturing adhesives—urea-formaldehyde based, phenol-formaldehyde based, and formaldehyde free. Our proprietary manufacturing adhesives emit 0.03 ppm or less of formaldehyde, less than allowed by U.S. OSHA, European E0, CARB Phase 1 and Phase 2, and Japanese JIS/JAS (F****) emissions standards.
Note: while it might seem logical to use our formaldehyde-free adhesive to construct all of our products, this material is very expensive and, most importantly, quite difficult to work with. Teragren is actively researching adhesives that meet all of our environmental and manufacturing criteria.