1

MATERIA

CALORE

NATURA

AMBIENTE

33

MATERIAL /NATURE/ENVIRONMENT/WARMTH. Listone Giordano’s plants are located in the earth of Umbria surrounded by vineyards,

hills and nature as they have been crated to perfectly fit with the surroundings. Respecting the atmosphere, the soil, protect water

clarity and the landscape, consuming less energy and recycling.

Here in the earth of Umbria wood floors and wines, renowned all over the world, born just few steps away one from the other, are

synonyms of genius and excellence that so well distinguish “made in Italy” products.

For those who love it and respect it, wood is far more than a simple material.

And so producing Listone Giordano is not just our work but our life and our passion.

The wood floor that furnishes the most beautiful homes all over the world is the same on which we walk day by day, on which today

our children play and in the near future our grandchildren will grow up.

This is the consciousness that always drives our choices, when premises are well set all the rest comes consequentially, in a natural

way.

We don’t even have the need to ask ourselves which is the right way, as there is just one.

The way of respecting nature and the other people.

The Original Green project is inspired by these principles that sum up the meaning of Nature for Listone Giordano.

55

Man and wood have always intertwined a special relationship,

and today more then ever this relationship is reaching out to the

future.

Wood is vital for its capability of absorbing and retying

carbon dioxide and if this natural feature is combined with

the low energy consumption needed in wood processing and

transforming, if compared to other building materials, it’s even

easier to understand why wood is a crucial element in fighting

climate change.

Should the wood in question be Listone Giordano hardwood floor,

then the planet will have to thank you twice.

Its chain of guardianship certification, its origin from forests

managed in a sustainable way, allows forest growth and

amplifies the environmentally beneficial effects of the wood.

Every tree is cut at the peak of its life cycle and is substituted by

a younger specimen type which, while growing, will absorb more

carbon dioxide than its older predecessor.

Listone Giordano hardwood floor works in favour of the

environment even after having been installed in the home. It

improves thermal efficiency, balance environmental humidity,

inhibits electrostatic charges accumulation and, as its adhesives

and varnishes are non toxic and its emissions solvents free,

creates natural conditions for a healthy living.

WHy ANd HOW LISTONE GIORdANO HELpS THE ENvIRONMENT

“We have numerous opportunities to act, first of all by asking the global architecture and building community to immediately transform building design. neW techniques are creating dramatic opportunities for huge savings in energy use and global Warming pollution.“ (al gore - nobel peace priZe 2007)

77

INDEX

Forestry ManagementSOUTH AMERICA: NEW

FORESTRy FRONTIER

ITALy: THE GREEN-HEARTEd

LABORATORy

FRANCE: FORESTRy

MANAGEMENT

SCHOOL

Lifecycle

A FIRM EMBEddEd

IN NATURE

CONSTANT

WARMTH

RESpECT HUMAN

BEING

ENERGy SAvING

A LONG LIFE

Ecocompatible TechnologyFORMALdEHydE

ZERO SOLvENTS

GIORdANO’S

TECHONOLOGy

EMISSIONS FREE

Wood

MORE OXIGEN, LESS

CARBON dIOXIdE

ZERO IMpACT

INEXHAUSTIBLE

RESOURCE

ENERGy SAvING

RECyCLABLE

GUGLIELMO

GIORdANO

FOUNdATION

(JOSEpH BEUyS)

“We plant trees and the trees then plant us since We belong to each other and We must coexist”

99

MORE OXIGEN, LESS CARBON dIOXIdE

ENERGy SAvING

RECyCLABLE

1111

ZERO IMpACT INEXHAUSTIBLE RESOURCE

Woo

d

GUGLIELMO GIORdANO FOUNdATION

1313

Wood is a special material, projected by Nature and moulded by

time, with the wise mastery and the patient dedication, basis of

every masterpiece.

A material built respectfully by nature. Unlike other natural raw

materials, as stones, metals or fossil fuels, wood is a practically

inexhaustible resource as it’s nourished only by solar energy and

rain falls.

Wood lifecycle is very slow, but absolutely ecological and

renewable, if conducted according to a sustainable forestry

management. A Forest cultivated, just alike an agricultural

soil, gives not only better products but also a significant social

contribution.

Managed woods, with a controlled lifecycle that encourage wood

usage and its regeneration, represent a systems not only capable

of oxygen production but most of all of carbon dioxide retaining

and reduction even more efficiently then the ones grown wild.

A forest managed by putting into practice good forestry rules,

while growing, not only continuously produces material of unique

characteristics as beauty and performance, but also performs

an extraordinary role in preserving atmosphere quality, hydro-

geological regulation and environmental conservation.

Wood usage, if applied following forestry regulations, unlike

what happens for quarries or other natural resources, does not

produce any environmental wound hence this is a zero impact

activity.

01ZERO IMpACT INEXHAUSTIBLE RESOURCE

1515

A Tree during its vegetative phase, in order to increase the

wood body, starts a series of exchange between the soil and the

atmosphere so improving the environment.

Roots absorb water and nourishing elements from the soil, a

lymph that through the stem reaches the leaves and the green

parts where a remarkable transformation happens.

photosynthesis is in fact a process that happens thanks to solar

energy, this process makes the tree absorbing carbon dioxide

from the atmosphere and generate new oxygen.This also

produces substances rich in energy, sugars and amides, that are

the constitutive elements of wood: lignin and cellulose. Just

think that a vital tree, for each cubic meter produced, is capable

of absorbing up to a ton of carbon dioxide while releasing 700

kilograms of oxygen.

photosynthesis process, particularly intense in young specimen,

deceases and quite totally ends, with tree ageing: by this is very

important that a forest is cultivated and continuously renewed.

Carbon dioxide excessive concentration in the atmosphere,

mainly caused by fossil fuels burning is considered one of the

main actors of the greenhouse effect and so of earth overheating

and global climate change.

The hopes of fighting this phenomenon lay upon the usage of eco

sustainable wood. In fact, thanks to wood and biomasses growth,

more then 2 millions tons of carbon are yearly absorbed, this

amount is more or less equal to the 50% of total earth capability.

Wood doesn’t have just the carbon absorbency capability, most of

all it retains it, as this element constitutes roughly the 50% of its

anhydrous mass.

By this is very important that wood, apart from being generated

by nature, is also transformed into products: this is the only

guarantee that allows us to have a well managed forestry

environment and the certainty of raw material longer lifecycle.

02MORE OXyGEN, LESS CARBON dIOXIdE

1717

Wood usage as structural element, rather than flooring or

panelling inside the house, has got unique energy saving

qualities. Just to examine the overall aspects we need to take

into consideration the entire product lifecycle.

Starting from the early stage we can state that wood, among

all building and furniture materials, is surely the one that needs

less energy consumption to be transformed. Just think that to

transform a ton of wood from raw to plywood only 1MWh is

needed, whereas to produce the same amount of steel the energy

needed is ten times more and energy expenditure becomes 30

times bigger for aluminium. A research conducted in Sweden has

shown the differences between two identical houses, one was

totally built in wood, the other made of concrete and steel. The

result is that the energy saving achieved thanks to the usage of

wood in the construction, if compared to the energy consumed

for the other materials, has been equal to the energy consumed

in 6 years of heating.

On the other hand, more than two third of the energy used in

buildings, is consumed for domestic use, also on this matter,

thanks to the great thermal insulation, wood is perfect in

contributing to thermal efficiency, cutting down consumptions

whilst increasing the comfort.

In summary, even at the end of its lifecycle, after being reused

and recycled, wood can express another energetic values

thanks to its high heating capabilities, in fact, thanks to modern

cogeneration systems, wood scraps can generate simultaneously

important quantities of electrical and thermal energy, giving back

what absorbed during its growth from the sun and other natural

elements.

03ENERGy SAvING

1919

The lifecycle of a wood product is one of the longest ever

seen. Once concluded its primary functions this product can be

reutilized in several ways.

Here’s how an old girder can be reused giving origin to a superb

flooring, becoming some alluring furniture or covering clapboards,

finding a new fencing shape or becoming a simple packing

boards, but that’s not all. Stepping further there is also the

recycle phase, wood product, regardless of any shape or function,

once chopped, can be reshaped and reused to create every kind

of building or furniture panels. Otherwise wood shaving can be

transformed in cellulose fibres giving as result unexpected paper

or paperboard expressions.

A material that has got hundreds lives, that continuously

changes, being capable of lengthen over any presumable limit its

usage, other then its extraordinary function of carbon retaining.

04RECyCLING

2121

Listone Giordano embeds love for wood into its name.

An innovative flooring, result of knowledge, genius and intuition

that reminds us of its inventor, a man that committed to wood

studies and research his whole life.

professor Guglielmo Giordano, researcher and author of vital

scientific studies, has been one of the most outstanding

scientists in wood technologies. A person of high intellectual

value who combined and harmonized the rigorous scientist soul

with the most exquisite artist’s sensitivity: fascinated by natural

beauty and arts expressions.

Guglielmo Giordano Foundation is repository of this valuable

heritage pursuing his goal, through a wide array of activities

ranging from forestry to eco-sustainable wooden resources

management, from university grants to arts and events

sponsorship and last but not least workshops and events focusing

on the application of wood in arts, architecture and design.

05GUGLIELMO GIORdANO FOUNdATION

FRANCE: FORESTRy MANAGEMENT SCHOOL

ITALy: THE GREEN-HEARTEd LABORATORy

2323

SOUTH AMERICA: NEW FORESTRy FRONTIER

Fore

stry

M

anag

emen

t

2525

Listone Giordano is the offspring of centuries of wood culture.

Knowledge, passion and respect of this noble material are rooted

in Burgundy, where Listone Giordano is sourcing the best raw

materials since 1950.

France boasts international reputation as the “model” country for

sustainable and renewable forestry management, that preserves

enormous forestry resources: more than 14 millions productive

acres, on which every tree is numbered, cultivated, hacked up,

hence systematically replaced with a new one respecting ancient

regulations.

France forestry management has got deep roots: the first rumours

dates back to the Middle age, when liege lords and monastery

orders became keepers of this important asset; as the Cîteaux

forest, in Burgundy, planted around a.d. 1000 by the Trappist

monks who maintained and supervised it through the centuries.

Nowadays the same ancient rules protect the forest health by

planning trees lifecycle, controlling the correct usage of wood

and guaranteeing progressive acreage increase.

A meaningful figure that accounts for more than hundred words:

a correct and responsible handing down from a generation to the

next of this heritage, a gaze at the future and a strict observation

of the rules, over the past century the French forest has doubled

in surface and tripled the amount of volume of raw material.

01FRANCE: FORESTRy MANAGEMENT SCHOOL

2727

Listone Giordano has recently implemented in Umbria, the green

heart of Italy, the most important Italian re-implantation of

broadleaf forest by planting over 25.000 new oak plants.

The project that spreads out on more than 150 acres, obtained,

first in Italy, the international FSC certification that guarantees

a forestry management that strictly follows the most up-dated

criteria of eco and social sustainability.

Città della pieve forest, that has scheduled a 150 years tree

lifecycle, represents the real evidence that only long term

visions, respectful of biological rhythm and nature time flow, can

guarantee an environmentally safe future.

The project is going to restore, in the territory that gave birth to

the painter perugino, the landscape and the natural beauty that

the great renaissance painter, master of Raffaello, made eternal

in its paintings.

This programme goes beyond a symbolic meaning, stating better

than thousands words or vague ecological aspirations, the well

documented hands-on approach that characterize the actions

undertaken by Listone Giordano for sustainable development and

environmental protection.

The experience gained thanks to the Città della pieve project,

under the guidance of the Guglielmo Giordano’s Foundation, and

with the contribution of renowned universities, represents a

good practice pattern for the Italian forestry and a vital research

laboratory for the improvement of new forestry techniques and

the implementation of international eco-certification projects.

02ITALy: THE GREEN-HEARTEd LABORATORy

2929

Listone Giordano has initiated years ago a project focusing on

a conscious and respectful usage of the forestry resources,

the outcome of this process are FSC and pEFC certifications

of the chain of guardianship. These certificates guarantee the

control of the provenance of the raw material and its traceability

throughout the entire production process.

A similar project, that granted the certification to all European

wood species, has now expanded in order to apply the same

commitment and principles to tropical wood species. Listone

Giordano decided to bring its know-how and expertise in forestry

management acquired in France in more than half a century of

activity and consolidated in Italy thanks to Città della pieve in

developing countries that provide favourable conditions for long

term investments in the field of sustainability.

Listone Giordano has find out in South America, particularly

focusing on Bolivia and Argentina, the most relevant areas

where to develop international cooperation projects aimed at

sustainable certification of tropical wood species.

And so in the Tarja district (Bolivia) and in the Biosfera reserve

(Argentina), Listone Giordano, together with local authorities

and local communities, has started a significant developing plan

aimed at numerating and manage, in a sustainable way, more

than 50.000 acres.

due to investments in directly owned and managed forests and

specialized human resources employment, Listone Giordano

is nowadays one of the bigger players in the FSC certification

process in South America.

03SOUTH AMERICA: THE NEW FORESTRy BOUNdARy

ZERO SOLvENTS

GIORdANO’S TECHNOLOGy, AN ENvIRONMENTALLy-FRIENdLy

INNOvATION

3131

FORMALdEHydE-FREE

Eco-

Sus

tain

able

Te

chno

logy

NO EMISSIONS

BIRC

H SU

ppOR

TpR

EMIU

M Q

UALI

Ty T

Op-L

AyER

3333

Looking carefully at wooden floor we can find the coexistence of

two different mechanical attitudes: the top layer, which is directly

exposed to humidity variations, is subject to movement; the bottom

layer, firmly adheres to the subfloor. Traditional solid planks as well

feature a support which is supposed to accomplish this task though

this kind of support is unsuitable and not specifically engineered

to fulfil this function. This determines a higher floor instability and

tendency to deform. The birch multilayer plywood support patented

by Listone Giordano, on the other hand, is specifically engineered

with a cross-ply construction that perfectly solves the problem of

stability combining the stunning beauty of wide and long planks

with the highest technical performances. The result is a unique

wooden floor featuring large dimensional boards and perfect in-

deformability.

As only witty intuitions can be, technical innovation is linked to a

rational usage of natural resources, as a matter of fact the wood

species used in the manufacturing process of Listone Giordano’s

support are the ones of rapid growth such as birch, combining

unrivalled mechanical characteristics with the best environmental

sustainability and forestry regeneration efficiency.

01GIORdANO’S TECHNOLOGy, AN ENvIRONMENTALLy FRIENdLy INNOvATION

3535

Listone Giordano pays constant attention to each phase of

the manufacturing process and to all raw materials required

to manufacture wooden floors. By these means, all the

complementary products used are absolutely ecologic, non-

toxic, and odourless. The specific awareness characterizing the

production process becomes even more important when related to

varnishing.

Natif natural oil varnishing treatment is made, as of tradition, by

applying essential oils that deeply permeates the fibers, whilst

protecting the wood.

Xplus and Naturplus, Listone Giordano’s high resistance

treatments, are made of a special ultraviolet catalyzed finishing.

This process- unlike what happens in solvent or water finishing-

gives a 100% dry residue product, that totally eliminates toxic

substances emissions in the atmosphere. This responsible choice

positively contributes to the environment and to the health of both

our employees engaged in the manufacturing of the product and of

the customers that choose our products, as life companion, in the

decoration of their homes.

02ZERO SOLvENTS

3737

Several commercial products as paper, beauty products,

medicines, fabrics, paints and glues contain Formaldehyde that

is an extremely volatile organic compound and may cause, after

a long exposure to high concentration, harmful effects on the

respiratory system or generally on health.

This compound is broadly utilized in wood industry and generally

in all construction materials. By this during refurbishing,

or general house renovation, formaldehyde can reach high

concentrations if harmful or uncontrolled products have been

used.

Listone Giordano carries out strict controls on formaldehyde

emissions both on raw materials and finished products and its

wooden floors are tested and certified with values ten times

lower then the ones set by the most severe EU regulation.

03FORMALdEHydE-FREE

3939

Exposure to ionizing radiation, of cosmic or earth origin is a

constant phenomena in nature, in fact even in a wide open and

unpolluted environment is detectable a minimum radioactivity

quantity.

By the way radioactivity levels are harmful beyond a given rate.

These rates are frequently detachable also on construction

materials and home products: this phenomenon is commonly

known as domestic radioactivity, a parameter that is often

neglected, because of the lack of specific laws that rule this

subject. For this reason Listone Giordano has adopted a self-

regulation that consists in strict controls and restrictive limits of

radioactive emissions, both for raw materials and finished

products.

04NO EMISSIONS

A FIRM EMBEddEd IN NATURE

RESpECT HUMAN BEING

ENERGy SAvING

4141

Life

cycl

e

CONSTANT WARMTH

A LONG LIFE

4343

Wood is a material that, if well crafted and maintained,

guarantees a long lasting life. As clearly demonstrated by

beautiful ceilings, floors or antiques that after centuries

embellish our cultural and historic heritage.

Naturally a long lasting product is also ecological as, maintaining

its function unchanged, doesn’t need to be replaced with the

consequential resources expenditure needed to produce the new

one and get rid off the old one.

With its 5mms thickness, Listone Giordano’s upper layer can be

sanded, and so it can be renewed several times.

This characteristic allows the product to last more than 100 years

making Listone Giordano one of the longest lifecycle product in

home furnishings. We also need to take into consideration that

a high-end wooden floor is not subjected to trends and fashion

maintaining its beauty unchanged overtime, on the contrary,

the passing of time increases its charm. Really a long term

investment, also for the planet.

01A LONG LIFE

4545

Wood is a great thermal insulator. A feature that comes from

the extraordinary alveolar cellular composition, in accordance

with the awesome nature’s project. For its characteristic it

has been appreciated as covering since ages, able to increase

heating efficiency by reducing heat lost. At the same time, whilst

insulating buildings, Listone Giordano, thanks to its technical

characteristics that ensures perfect dimensional stability in

a limited thickness, it’s the perfect match with modern floor

heating. This peculiarity, combined with glued fitting, allows

perfect heat diffusion by optimizing heating efficiency.

02CONSTANT WARMTH

4747

Listone Giordano comes to life in the heart of Umbria, in a plant

surrounded by a unique landscape where it perfectly fits the

surroundings.

Respect of the atmosphere, the soil, protect water clarity and

the landscape are just a few of the aims that have driven our

engineering process since the very beginning, a particular

attention has been paid to energy saving and production waste

materials recycling. Listone Giordano plants have been certified,

amongst the firsts, ISO 14001 to comply to, this demonstrates a

tangible commitment to pollution reduction and environmental

impact management.

03A FIRM EMBEddEd IN NATURE

4949

Respecting nature and mankind. These are the principles that

inspire Listone Giordano’s philosophy and action.

The respect of human beings follows two complementary paths:

by guaranteeing worker’s health and safety in the workplace and

with the result of a safe and sound product for the end users.

These warranties albeit different are strictly connected. .

As demonstration of attention on these matters, Listone Giordano

has been one of the first company to be granted OHSAS 18001, a

certification that testifies an attentive management of workers’

safety and health conditions.

04RESpECT OF HUMAN BEING

5151

Reducing environmental impact is a commitment that rules

Listone Giordano’s choices within the whole productive processes

since its very beginning.

Using wood as raw material for flooring and panelling is an

important asset as wood is, amongst the others, one of the

most ecological product as allows considerable energy saving in

the transformation process of raw material. Moreover it keeps

helping the environment even after being fitted thanks to its

thermal efficiency.

Beside these characteristics, Listone Giordano is also sensitive to

energy saving thanks to several solutions aimed both at wastes

economizing and recycling. plants are conceived and engineered

to reduce as much as possible the usage of fossil fuels, as

demonstrated by thermal power plants fed by biomasses or by

special suction system, tanks farm and sawdust compression for

the production of wood pellets.

05ENERGy SAvING

CERTIFICATIONS:

Solvent-free

No emission of solvents, as resultingfrom the analyses conducted on ListoneGiordano by the SERECO BIOTESTchemical laboratory.

Formaldehyde

Listone Giordano fully compliesto the class E1 regulation, whichis amongst the strictest Europeanregulations (UNI EN 14342).

PEFC Certification of the chain of custody thatguarantees the provenance of productsfrom forests managed in an ecologicallysustainable manner.

FSC

Certification of the chain of custodythat guarantees the provenance from forestsmanaged according to strict environmental,social and economic standards.

5353

ISO 9001

Quality ManagementSystem Certification.

OHSAS 18001

Health and SafetyManagement SystemConformance Certification.

CE Certification

Listone Giordano strictly complies to all CE rules.

ISO14001

Environmental ManagementSystem Certification.

MATERIA

STORIA

NATURA

AMBIENTE

MATERIAL/NATURE/ENVIRONMENT/WARMTH

5555

MIRALDUOLO, PERUGIA, ITALIAFEBRUARY 2010 THIRD EDITION

Listone Giordano is a brand of Margaritelli Group

Margaritelli SpADivisione legno per la casafraz. Miralduolo06089 Torgiano (PG) - Italia tel. +39 075 988 681fax +39 075 988 9043www.listonegiordano.cominfo@listonegiordano.com

This Publication has been realized by Margaritelli SpA.

Images: bcpt associati perugia

art direction:Marco Tortoioli Ricci

graphics:Francesco Gubbiotti