Napa, CA– ReCORK America has added another partner to support its cork recycling program. SOLE, the manufacturer of premium footbeds, socks and sandals, will use a blend of recycled cork wine bottle closures in its line of 2010 footwear products.
SOLE joins the many restaurants, resorts, organizations, wine retailers, and wineries who help collect and find use for used natural corks.
To read the full article on this new partnership, please follow this link
Amorim Flooring North America, Inc. has appointed Architectural Systems, Inc. (ASI, www.archsystems.com) as its distributor in the commercial segment of Wicanders cork flooring. ASI will cover the Metro New York and New Jersey areas.
Founded in 1990, ASI has been known from the start for its fresh, innovative solutions for commercial interiors. Today, the company’s products are confidently specified by the foremost architecture & design firms and installed globally in major retail, entertainment, hospitality, corporate, healthcare, education and institutional projects.
ASI’s clients return again and again for ASI’s extensive product expertise, professionalism, commitment to service, and collective eye for what’s next®, and the ability to find it all in one place. Founders 
Nancy Jackson (President) and Ron Jackson (CEO) are design advocates who help their clients materialize their vision and have worked with the most prestige clientele. ASI’s team of experts has been recognized for their involvement in every part of the contract project process from concept to installation. Their innovative style and established relationships in the A& D community distinguish them from the rest. Their exceptional knowledge of the industry is known globally and sets trends before anyone recognizes them as trends.
Architectural Systems, Inc. (ASI), a family business, is acclaimed by the industry as a leading provider of architectural materials including sustainable products.
Amorim’s international flooring portfolio is known for its unique ecological properties, aesthetic design and technical attributes.
This new strategic partnership reinforces the demand for high quality eco-efficient flooring solutions, and will strengthen Wicanders’ presence in the New York and New Jersey markets.
We welcome ASI to our family.
Team WIcanders
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For those of you who didn’t get a chance visit our booth at the 2008 NeoCon, here’s an excerpt from Floor Focus Magazine, which features our new product debut—Cork Plank. You’ll love the microbevel!
“Wicanders introduced a 4½” cork plank collection called, appropriately enough, Cork Plank. It’s a fairly significant departure from its more traditional cork looks, with the basic feel of wood plank flooring but with the distinctive look of cork.
It’s microbeveled and is installed as a floating floor. Cork Plank comes in 12 visuals and the colors of exotic hardwoods and uses the non-VOC binder Acrodur, developed by BASF, which makes it one of the greenest cork products on the market and a natural for LEED projects. Wicanders is the only cork company using the Acrodur binder. Cork Plank comes with a five-year light commercial or 15-year residential warranty.
It will be available in August or September.”
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If you are an architect, interior designer, construction manager, or government official, you’re probably very familiar with LEED— Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design—the rating system offered by the US Green Building Council that provides independent verification that a building project meets the highest green building and performance measures.
So what’s all that buzz about?
LEED affects all of us; it’s a whole-building approach to sustainability that deals with 5 key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
You’ve already known that Wicanders cork oak floors represent a generations-old balance between environmental health, wellbeing, and socioeconomic development. But did you know that when you choose Wicanders, it counts towards 5 out of 26 LEED certification points?
Here are the qualifications:
o EQ 4.1 (Indoor Environmental Quality)- Low-Emitting Materials: Adhesives & Sealants
o MR 4.1 (Materials & Resources)- Recycled Content: 10% (post-consumer + 1/2 pre-consumer)
o MR 4.2- Recycled Content: 20% (post-consumer + 1/2 pre-consumer)
o MR 6- Rapidly Renewable Materials
o MR 7- Certified Wood
Stay tuned, as we make continuous efforts in our R&D area to bring you the best in flooring technology and to optimize the shared value of every ounce of cork oak.
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Wicanders Cork Oak Blog 