My Chemical-Free House

A Guide to Creating a Healthy Home

GreenGuard Gold Certified Flooring Brands

Published: March 23, 2023 |

GreenGuard Gold certification is the most useful of all the healthy product certifications out there for certifying products low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

GreenGuard has two levels of certification that measure VOC levels in products. 

  • GreenGuard allows – 500 μg/m3 total VOCs.
  • GreenGuard Gold allows – 220 μg/m3 total VOCs.

For reference, the average house has a total VOC count of mean = 150 μg/m3 and median = 91 μg/m3, and the outdoor or “background rate” is around 2-5 times lower than indoor levels.

What Does GreenGuard Gold Certified Indicate for Formaldehyde Levels?

If you look through the individual levels of VOCs and their limits you can dig in even deeper. 

The formaldehyde level allowed in GreenGuard Gold certified products is extremely low – just 9 μg/m3 or 7.3 ppb (parts per billion). 

I have a post that contains a reference-level table for formaldehyde.

Outdoor urban air contains 1.5- 47 ppb. GreenGuard Gold formaldehyde levels are lower than the outdoor air in many places. 

Formaldehyde levels allowed with standard GreenGuard are significantly higher at 50 ppb (parts per billion) or 61.3 μg/m3 (Compared to GreenGuard Gold 0.0073 ppm). 

This article contains affiliate links, upon purchase I earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Table of contents

Let’s Look at My Top Recommendations For Certified Flooring:

1. GreenGuard Gold Laminate Flooring

a man installing laminate flooring click together flooring over a foam underlayment

The only real chemical of concern in laminate flooring is formaldehyde, and most laminate flooring is made with a formaldehyde binder in the HDF core except for a few brands. 

This is one type of flooring where GreenGuard Gold is extremely helpful to make sure it’s very low formaldehyde (no more than 0.0073 parts per million), if it is a brand using formaldehyde as the binder.

Laminate Flooring Brands That Are Certified GreenGuard Gold Include:

  1. Duravana from LL Flooring looks like your typical laminate but the core seemed a little different to me so I asked the company about it. The core has polystyrene added to it (it also contains the usual wood fiber and melamine-urea-formaldehyde) which makes it more inherently waterproof than other brands. It does not have more offgassing than other brands. 
  2. Swiss Krono USA
  3. Traffic Master, A&A and MSI from Home Depot
  4. AquaGuard Laminate from Floor and Decor
  5. Optimax from Floor and Decor (this might be a hybrid of wood fiber and plastic, the company won’t confirm that)
  6. Evoke Surge 
  7. Kaindl
  8. MSI Waterproof Hybrid Rigid Core – Smithciffs Collection

Other:

  • Shaw Laminate is GreenGuard (not Greenguard Gold)
  • Pergo used to have GreenGuard Gold certification before they were bought out by Mohawk. Mohawk simply doesn’t use GreenGuard for any of their flooring. They have recently switched to a formaldehyde-free adhesive which is ultra-low VOC.
  • RevWood from Mohawk is my top pick for formaldehyde-free laminate flooring. The VOCs are listed as 9 ng/m3 which is extremely low and would qualify for GreenGuard Gold based on that test.

My article on laminate flooring goes over the ingredients used in this type of flooring and the additives of the different brands.

2. GreenGuard Gold Engineered Wood Flooring

a stack of the end grain 7 engineered wood flooring pieces, you can see the different layers of the engineered core

With engineered wood, I personally would not look for a certification but instead, I would choose a floor based on the construction type.

A solid slat core has the least amount of offgassing, followed closely by plywood.

I would choose these over the MDF or HDF core which usually offgas significantly more.

I would also generally go with a water-based finish which won’t have any offgassing over an oil-based finish unless you know the oil-based finish is natural and/or suitable for you.

The article on engineered wood goes over brands by construction type.

GreenGuard Gold Engineered Wood Flooring Brands:

  1. Shaw Engineered wood – especially good are the Shaw lines with a plywood core like Shaw Castlewood which used to be GreenGuard Children and Schools which then became Gold, but now it seems they are only Greenguard (not Gold).
  2. LL Flooring: AquaSeal, Virginia Mill Works, Bellawood Artisan, Builder’s Pride (you can use the filters on the left-hand side to select the core type of solid slat or plywood which are lower in offgassing than MDF).
  3. LifeScapes and Woodland Reserve from Floor and Decor
  4. Pioneer Millworks
  5. Lifecore
  6. Kentwood Floors
  7. Preverco
  8. Johnson Hardwood
  9. Craft Floor

The following brands use a solid slat core which is lower in offgassing than plywood or HDF though these are not GreenGuard certified:

  • Tesoro Coastal Lowlands – White Oak, Hickory, Maple, Walnut
  • Tesoro Great Southern Woods
  • Tesoro Great Northern Woods
  • Mirage Hardwood Trubalance

3. GreenGuard Gold Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) Flooring

a man installed a fairly thin vinyl plank flooring that looks like a click together type in a mid brown color

Almost all LVP flooring has the same basic composition of a vinyl top layer and an SPC core (stone + vinyl + plasticizer) or WPC core (wood or plastic + vinyl), and often a plastic foam-based underlayment.

The offgassing of most brands, whether certified or not, is extremely minimal and close to zero VOC (if not 0-VOC).

The major concern with vinyl is the effect on the environment and the plasticizers and metals which are not considered in GreenGuard Gold.

I would choose the brand based on construction type not certifications personally – choosing SPC core over WPC, avoiding cork underlayment if you really want to go extremely low VOC (it is the only underlayment that has significant offgassing), and avoiding EVA underlayment because it’s often made with phthalates.

The following brands are certified GreenGuard Gold:

  1. LL Flooring Coreluxe Rigid Vinyl Plank (what most companies call Luxury Vinyl Plank)
  2. COREtec Pro
  3. Floor and Decor DuraLux and NuCore
  4. Provenza MaxCore
  5. Flexco Natural Elements Luxury Vinyl Tile
  6. Traffic Master, LifeProof, Home Decorators Collection, & MSI Luxury Vinyl Plank from Home Depot
  7. SmartCore from Lowes
  8. Evoke Rigid Core and Luxury Vinyl
  9. Firmfit
  10. Select Surfaces Claremont Rigid Core Vinyl Plank Flooring from Sam’s Club

0-VOC Brands

Proximity Mills has a 0-VOC LVP.

4. GreenGuard Gold Hybrid Flooring (Wood Top + Vinyl Core)

the edge of a hybrid flooring with a thin real wood top layer and a grey plastic vinyl + stone core

This type of flooring has a real wood layer on top and an SPC (vinyl + limestone) core.

I have not seen any significant differences between brands.

I would go with any brand with this construction – the offgassing is extremely minimal.

The following brands are certified GreenGuard Gold:

  1. Aqua Guard Hybrid (listed under engineered hardwood on their website) from Floor and Decor
  2. Raintree Waterproof Hardwood
  3. MSI Woodhills Waterproof Wood

5. GreenGuard Gold Cork Flooring

a man installing a click together cork flooring and using a hammer to push the pieces together

Wickanders Cork is GreenGuard Gold and is one of the only brand of cork I would go with if you want an ultra low-VOC product, as most cork flooring brands have significant offgassing.

Other 0-VOC brands can be found in my article on cork flooring.

6. GreenGuard Gold Bamboo Flooring

a close up of the edges of two types of bamboo flooring, one has a real bamboo top layer which is quite thick with a plywood base and the other is a solid strand bamboo which looks solid

A solid-strand bamboo floor, pictured right, has various strands of bamboo glued together into one solid piece.

It can be made with various glues.

Engineered bamboo (pictured left) is a flooring that has a top layer of bamboo over a plywood, SPC, or HDF core. 

SPC is “stone polymer composite”, a composite of vinyl, limestone, and plasticizer.

HDF is high-density fibreboard – a mix of wood fiber and formaldehyde.

I would avoid the HDF (or MDF) cores, in most cases, if you want to stay really low VOC.

The following brands are GreenGuard Gold certified:

  1. LL Flooring AquaGuard Bamboo (real bamboo top with SPC core)
  2. LL Flooring ReNature (real bamboo top with MDF core)
  3. Home Legend (bamboo with an SPC core, with an HDF core, and solid-strand). They say they have GreenGuard Children and Schools which is an old certification that no longer exists but it is the same VOC levels and the Gold level now.
  4. Floor and Decor EcoForest (solid strand bamboo) and AquaGuard (HDF core bamboo).
  5. Wellmade engineered bamboo (with SPC core)
  6. Home Depot’s OptiWood Bamboo (SPC core)

Other:

Solid Bamboo Flooring from Home Decorators Collection, Home Depot is GreenGuard, not GreenGuard Gold.

Similar:

Floor and Decor Eucalyptus Engineered wood (with plywood core) is GreenGuard Gold.

7. GreenGuard Gold Certified Solid Hardwood Flooring

There is no need for solid wood to have GreenGuard Gold in my opinion, neither for unfinished nor for UV-cured polyurethane finishes.

If you went with an oil-based finish, I would look closer at the VOC levels of that. UV curing helps to off-gas it faster, generally.

There are some brands of solid hardwood (prefinished) that are GreeGuard Gold – Portercraft is one.

GreenGuard Gold Certified Carpet?

There are no carpet brands that are GreenGuard Gold Certified as of the writing of this article.

Interface Carpet Tiles has some documents saying they are GreenGuard Gold, and they are listed on the UL website, but now the company website says “All Interface flooring and adhesives are third-party certified for low VOC emissions in compliance with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) 01350 Standard. This is the standard used by certifications like GREENGUARD Gold.”

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Corinne Segura is an InterNACHI-certified Healthy Homes Inspector with certifications in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. You can book a consult here.

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Comments

  1. Kristina Cegla

    I’m always amazed at how thorough and researched your articles are. I have MCS and have used your website now many times to help me find safe products and research products I already have in my home. Thank you for your wonderful website!

    Reply

  2. Bri

    Hi, I wanted to share a Green Guard Gold Wood/Vinyl Hybrid option I found. MSI Woodhills collection The only thing concerning I found is it says “antimicrobial protection” which customer service said is built into the top layer coating, but wouldn’t specify what it was. Also, they were not clear about what kind of finish the “Crystal Luxe Layer” is composed of. Do you have any extra info on this brand, Corrine?

    Reply

  3. Bri

    Hi, I wanted to share a Hybrid Wood/Vinyl Green Guard Gold option- MSI Woodhills collection
    The only thing concerning thing it lists is “antimicrobial protection” which their customer service rep said was built into the top protection layer but wouldn’t specify what it was. Also, I am not clear on what the top coating itself is made of. But otherwise I think looks like a decent option

    Reply

  5. Allen

    I need to purchase Green Guard Gold 500 sq feet, the lowest VOC possible,
    perhaps this week. What do you recommend. Highly allergic.

    Please contact me at my email.
    Please do not post.

    Reply

    • ROBIN FURNER

      Hi there, what is the least VOC outgassing flooring that isnt carpet in Australia. Looking at a laminate floor, thank you, Robin

      Reply

  6. Jade

    Hello,
    Thank you for this detailed article and it’s so helpful! But I don’t see a solid hardwood flooring brand listed here. So based on your research, do you have a list of brands for solid hardwood that is also Green guard Gold certified? Thank you!

    Reply

  7. james yang

    most of solid hardwooding use Aluminum Oxide finish ,right? do you know if it means Aluminum Oxide+-cured polyurethane ? we don’t have much choice , this is the one I am about to use

    Reply

        • james yang

          hmm. it seems like when it come to solid hardwood flooring, greenguard certification may not improtant bc they are solid wood? is that the case? I went to several local stores, their solid hardwood floor don’t have greenguard certification, less of them have floor score. but most of solid hardwood in F&D and most in LL flooring have either floor score or greenguard gold certified. So I am little bit confused if I need to insist to look for solid hardwood with greenguard gold certification. I may not have time to install DIY, so have to rely on local stores.

          Reply

          • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

            You don’t need any certification on solid, just ask about what finish it has. oil based is higher off-gassing.

  9. Amanda INgram

    HI, I;m in the UK
    I would like to take up my old lounge carpet, which is on a concrete floor. The house is about 15 years old. For practicality I would like a wood look Vinyl floor. I have a dog, I move furniture by dragging it, so I would ruin laminate. Is there a Vinyl flooring which is VOC free/ Green Guard Gold/Green Guard?
    ANd available to me in the UK at a reasonable price. I am not rich.
    ThankYou

    Reply

    • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

      I haven’t looked at UK brands. Though you could check if the GreenGuard Gold ones here in the article are also available over there.

      Reply

  10. Julia S

    We want to put garage flooring tiles down in part of our garage (to create a mudroom area). It seems most are made with polypropylene or PVC. Do you know if there are issues with these? I’m having trouble finding any that are certified (which makes me think there are none). thanks!

    Reply

  11. Rachel Falkner

    Do you have any knowledge of Paradigm flooring? Are the green guard certified?
    Our builder is using them in our home and we have two young children.

    Reply

    • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

      They are not greenguard gold. The first thing to do is find out which flooring by them they are using, then go to the corresponding blog post – vinyl plank or engineered wood to see how it holds up to the most non-toxic compositions.

      Reply

  12. Christian Caicedo

    Hello, have you heard of the LVP brand Instinto? They have a solid core and feel like tile but they’re LVP. I have a baby and want it to be low VOC as possible – the bottom is eva foam. Would you say this is relatively safe to pull the trigger on?

    Reply

  13. Michael Gayda

    I just purchased a bamboo from HD. It says its a glue down application. I have a 300 sq/ft
    cottage and Horizontal toast 5/8 inch . Do you an adhesive I could possibly use?

    Reply

  14. CYNTHIA SIX

    Thank you so much! Its difficult to find products that do not emit chemicals. I appreciate the work you do!!! Thank you so much! Can you tell me what type of underlayment and glue to use on a Ecoforest bamboo floor that is non-toxic??

    Reply

    • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

      Start by seeing what the company recommends, and it also depends on your subfloor. See the article on flooring underlayments.

      Reply

  15. Donald Lynn

    Hello, thanks for the work you do!
    What about Choice carpet underlay? (They have underlay for most flooring). You mentioned you do not recommend polyurethane foam, however, this is GreenGuard Gold certified and states it is recyclable at the end of life. Let me know what you think.

    Reply

  16. Betsy

    I’ve chosen the Woodland Reserve Engineered Eucalyptus w Plywood core from Floor and Decor. Do you have any thoughts on it – I’m extremely sensitive to chemicals. This seemed like one of the best options I could go.woth – I have dogs and I also have a need to I stall a floating floor. This seems like it should be healthy and durable, any notes to be aware of as far as installation materials? Tha nk you.

    Reply

  17. Helen Coles

    I am thinking about getting Karndean LVP flooring. Do you know anything about it? Or can you find out anything for me?

    Reply

    • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

      the article on vinyl plank goes over what is in LVP and what you can ask them about

      Reply

  18. Travis

    I have LL flooring Renature Bamboo Engineered hardwood. Do you know anything about VOC and formaldehyde levels in that flooring?

    Reply

    • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

      The MDF core likely is made with formaldehyde. The bamboo strands may also be glued together with formaldehyde. Other articles cover the formaldehyde level in MDF. there is also an article on bamboo flooring and formaldehyde levels. It’s more likely the MDF is the concern not the top layer. If you’re having a reaction you may want to test the formaldehyde levels in the room.

      Reply

        • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

          I would choose SPC core LVP yes if i did go with that. See the article on vinyl plank flooring for the list of things to look for

          Reply

    • Corinne Segura, Building Biologist

      there are 100s of LVP brands now, and 80-90% have the same composition so you can use the article on vinyl plank flooring as a guide.

      Reply

  21. Cyna Gilden

    you have a list of greenguard gold certified floors that you recommend but coretec has a cork backing, so I am somewhat confused. Are there any coretec that doesn’t have it???

    Reply

    • Corinne Segura

      this is a list of GGG certified brands. I also mention in my written bits what I would choose which doesnt always align with certified brands.

      Reply

  22. lisa

    HI. I was wondering your thoughts on Stuga flooring or Califlooring. I am interested in putting new flooring in my basement and laundry room and these have been recommended to me. Have you any information on these brands? Thanks for your time.

    Reply

    • Corinne

      Check out the individual posts for each type of flooring, for example the engineered wood post has all the info you need to evaluate any brand.

      Reply

  23. Lindsay

    Hi there! I am looking at NuCore Luxury Vinyl in Sugar Sand. They are supposedly Green Guard Gold certified; however, they do have a cork board attached to the back and I noticed you said cork can off gas’s a bit. Do you think the Green Guard certification is only for the board itself or the attached cork too? How can we tell if they have other chemicals in them (phalates?) Thank you!

    Reply

    • Corinne

      Most VOC testing isolates the top of the flooring product, I don’t know if GGG does that. So you will get a little of the cork offgassing around the edges and possibly at the seams in real life. You would have to ask the company about phthalates. The article on vinyl flooring goes into more detail.

      Reply

    • Corinne

      it does seem odd that shaw LVP is not GreenGuard Gold. In the post I outline which types I would go for. There is also a article just on LVP that is more detailed.

      Reply

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