Haro Brings Germany’s Top Floors to Surfaces 2020
Haro’s disano commercial-grade resilient floors are 100% pvc free.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche…Bosch, Miele, Siemens…Mont Blanc, Lamy, Pelikan. What do all of these international brands have in common?
They’re all designed and made in Germany, of course. It’s no secret that Germans are famous for their proud tradition of excellent design and innovative engineering, as well as their cultural commitment to excellent quality in everything they make. After all, this is the country that still adheres to a beer purity law, or Reinheitsgebot, established in 1517, limiting brewer’s ingredients to hops, barley, water and yeast.
Not surprisingly this tradition of quality and innovation also extends to interior materials and finishes.
Commercial flooring is no exception.
“We’re excited to be bringing some products that are completely new to North America to the Surfaces fair in Las Vegas this year,” says Matthias Menzel, North American Sales Director for Haro Quality Flooring. “We have a resilient floor that’s completely PVC-free, a laminate floor with higher scratch resistance than the well-known AC4 standard for laminates, a click-installation system that’s one of the most advanced in the world, and truly waterproof options for both commercial and residential use.”
While still new to the U.S. and Canada, Haro is the leading hardwood flooring manufacturer in Germany. The company has been in the wood product industry since 1866 and began making wood flooring in 1950. That same year the company introduced engineered wood flooring, followed by laminate flooring in 1987, and a PVC-free answer to LVT, called Disano, in 2012.
Leadership in PVC-Free Resilient Floors
PVC-Free Disano resilient floors are perfect for schools and nurseries. Click the photo for this case study.
“In Europe, LVT resilient floors are called ‘design floors,’” explains Menzel. “We were one of the first in Europe to introduce a design floor that is 100% PVC-free, and the very first to use PET. That was eight years ago now, and we feel confident now that we’ve worked out all of the challenges that other companies trying to do the same are just starting to deal with.”
One challenge was integrating the patented Välinge 5G click installation systems into resilient flooring as thin as 6.5 mm, or even 4.5 mm which we well managed
“This is almost the same click installation system we’ve used for over 20 years in our engineered wood and laminate floors, which are 13 mm and 8 mm thick. We wanted DISANO to install with the same speed and ease as a floating floor.
Another challenge was making Disano compatible with waterproof installations, which need to be glued down.
“Everybody has a glue for waterproof PVC floors, but it turns out those glues don’t adhere well to non-PVC material,” says Menzel. “We had to work directly with the glue manufacturers to create special glue that works with Disano. Today, seven years after our first development, there’s a broad range of manufacturers offering suitable glues.”
A third hurdle Haro was able to clear with its PVC-free floor was achieving a high-performance surface, Menzel explains.
Disano floors help the hotel neue Post in Mayrhofen, Austria blend traditional and modern design with durability and ease of maintenance. Click the image for the full case study.
“No one had printed a PVC-free, PET floor before. The surface layer is a thin overlay layer that must both carry the print and supply the scratch resistance as well as the smooth, warm feel. That top layer is laminated to a sub layer that is either 100% PET or, for residential floating installation, laminated to a high-density fiberboard with a cork backing for sound control.
Disano Saphir
“This incredibly durable floor, combined with at 100% PET core, is called Disano by Haro Saphir…because the sapphire is such an outstanding gem,” says Menzel. “Even though it’s so durable, it’s still warm underfoot and quiet to walk on as well as 100% waterproof. It’s our most high-end product, and because it’s 100% plasticizer and PVC-free we’re seeing it used often in schools, nurseries and retirement homes across Europe.”
While the competition tries to catch up with their own PVC-free floors, Menzel says Haro is leaping ahead in another flooring category: commercial laminate flooring.
Haro’s Tritty laminate floors are easy on the ears. Click the image for more information.
“Right now the durable commercial laminate floor available in North America is mostly rated AC5. We’re introducing an AC6 laminate floor Tritty 200 Aqua, durable enough for heavy commercial traffic. And as with our Tritty residential laminate floors, we’ve created a product that is much quieter to walk on that standard laminate floors by using a pre-attached soft underlayment Silent Pro or our revolutionary Silent CT.”
Both the Disano and Tritty product ranges benefit from Haro’s many decades of wood flooring design expertise – since 1950.
“You don’t get to be number one in the German engineered hardwood flooring market unless you have great design,” says Menzel. “And we wouldn’t be in that position if we weren’t taking seriously our environmental impacts, because Germans, and Europeans in general, are very aware of how the products they buy impact our health and resources.”
Most of Haro’s raw materials come from PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) forests, and the company’s products have earned it the coveted German “Blue Angel” certification for environmentally friendly products and services.
Which brings us back to Germany’s history of innovation: The Blue Angel, or Der Blaue Engel, is the world’s oldest ecolabel [according to Wikipedia] , first awarded in 1978. Nearly every German citizen knows this award, and more than 75% say that a healthy environment is very important to them.
“Since 1971, we have been using the waste wood from our production to generate eco-friendly green energy,” says Menzel. “This not only benefits our company, but our region as well, because we send our excess energy to the public grid.”
Matthias invites you to meet him and see Haro’s innovations for yourself at Surfaces in Las Vegas 28th – 30th January, booth 5339G Please contact him at usa@haro.com to set a personal appointment to find out more, and a bite to eat!
By Kenn Busch, Material Intelligence
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Discussed in this feature:
PVC-Free Resilient Floors
Commercial Laminate Floors rated AC6
Surfaces 2020 - Find Haro in
booth 5339G
While still new to the U.S. and Canada, Haro Quality Flooring is the leading hardwood flooring manufacturer in Germany.
The company is also a pioneer in commercial-grade PVC-free resilient floors and AC6-rated commercial laminate floors.
Haro’s Room Visualizer lets you ‘virtually’ install different floors in your own spaces.
In Europe, resilient floors are referred to as “design floors.’ Haro’s Disano Design Floors are 100% pvc-free.
PVC-Free Disano design floors in senior-living apartments, above and below.
