When you think about timber flooring, the first things that come to mind are usually colour, finish, or grade. Rarely do people think about the power plants behind it. But the reality is this: the carbon footprint of a floor isn’t just about the tree it came from, it’s about the electricity that turned that tree into a finished board.
You don’t usually see flooring companies talking about power grids and carbon. There’s a reason for that. And although we’ll leave saving the polar bears to the scientists, it’s worth looking a little closer at where that power actually comes from
Why Power Grids Matter
Producing engineered timber flooring for a typical 100 m² home requires around 950 kWh of electricity — kilning, pressing, finishing, and packaging. The impact of that electricity varies wildly depending on where it comes from.
– A renewable-heavy grid = lower carbon footprint.
– A coal-heavy grid = much higher emissions, even if the product looks the same in a showroom.
That’s where the difference between New Zealand, Lithuania (Frevini, Europe), and Asia (origin of most flooring entering the NZ market) becomes so stark.
Power Grids Compared
| Region | CO₂e per kWh (approx.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | ~100–120 g | ~88% renewable electricity (hydro, geothermal, wind) |
| Lithuania (Frevini, Europe) | ~140–160 g | ~80% renewables (wind, biomass, solar) |
| European Avg. | ~250 g | Mix of renewables, gas, and nuclear |
| Asia (origin of most flooring entering the NZ market) | ~600–750 g | Coal-heavy grids, incl. China, Indonesia, Vietnam |
What This Means for a 100 m² Floor
Using those grid intensities, the embodied carbon from electricity alone works out to:
– New Zealand → ~0.10 tCO₂e
– Lithuania (Frevini) → ~0.14 tCO₂e
– European Average → ~0.24 tCO₂e
– Asia (origin of most flooring entering the NZ market) → ~0.62 tCO₂e
That’s a 4–5x difference between Lithuanian-made (Frevini) flooring and Asian-made flooring — the origin of most flooring entering the NZ market today.
Why European Standards Add Weight
It’s not only about cleaner power. European manufacturing is also bound by strict environmental and workplace standards:
– Air quality & emissions: Factories must comply with EU directives on dust, VOCs, and combustion efficiency.
– Energy efficiency: Requirements for Best Available Techniques (BAT) under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive.
– Worker protection: Safer, regulated environments compared to looser frameworks in many Asian manufacturing hubs.
When we say “European-made,” it’s not just machining precision — it’s a whole framework of accountability.
The Takeaway
Two floors can look identical in a showroom. One might carry five times the carbon footprint of the other.
For New Zealand homeowners, designers, and architects, that difference is hidden in the supply chain. The majority of engineered timber flooring available here is manufactured in Asia, where coal dominates the grid.
At Frevini, our boards come from Lithuania — not only within Europe, but within one of the cleanest, renewables-led grids in the region. It means less carbon embodied in your floor from day one, and a choice you can stand on with confidence. And for a country that already runs mostly on renewables, it makes sense to choose floors made under the same conditions.