Organizations of all types are realizing that sustainable design practices are not just good for the environment - they are also good for business. The design community is discovering that sustainability is critical to staying competitive and ethical in today's market.

In the field of sports flooring, a critical design decision brought to the forefront by Horner and USGC is the choice of FSC wood material harvested from sustainable forest land – but another critical sustainability question comes into play when specifying a particular cut of maple.

At Horner we believe the intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design". (see Wikipedia) To us this means choosing a sports maple design which consumes the least amount of trees possible while maximizing the maple trees resource to the greatest benefit of both design professional and owner.

Please note the 2 graphs below clearly illustrate why Horner feels a choice of 2nd & Better Grade maple has the best utilization of resources and uses the maple tree in the most efficient manner possible for all parties.

Relative Number of 17" Logs Needed
to Make an 8,000 Sq. Ft. Gym Floor
Based on Material Choice

Percentage of Maple Log by Grade
for Sustainable Design