Daniel Heney
Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association
Since 1897, the members of the MFMA have been dedicated to producing the highest quality northern hard maple flooring and sports flooring systems in the world. More than 100 years later…
Tell us about yourself, your company, your product.
Since 1897, the members of the MFMA (Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association) have been dedicated to producing the highest quality northern hard maple flooring and sports flooring systems in the world. More than 100 years later, MFMA continues to attract new members who subscribe to the same high standards for which the association has become known. Through consistent enforcement of strict manufacturing, grading, packaging, shipping and installation, MFMA has become synonymous with quality. As the most recognized name in sports flooring, the experience of MFMA Mill Manufacturer and Sport Floor Contractor members is unmatched.
What is the role of your materials and products in the development of today’s leading architectural ideas?
The MFMA Sourcebook has expanded listings of all members, along with MFMA’s library of technical information, Performance & Uniformity Rating (PUR) standards, MFMA position statements, order forms, information on MFMA’s Inspection Services, and more. The MFMA Sourcebook is available for FREE to all architects. In addition, MFMA provides useful information such a Daily Care and Maintanence wall charts for facilities, Grading Rules full color brochures, residential information and CE Units all available at no cost or ready to download from the MFMA Website.
What are the latest innovative developments that you are working on and what products do we have to look forward to and expect in 2011 and beyond?
Within the last 20 years, there has been a movement within the industry to quantify performance characteristics that best define “a good sports floor.” As a result, our industry has hundreds of different sports flooring systems each with varying levels of performance. Within this range of system options, there are some common performance characteristics that the industry has recognized as being most desired and important.
MFMA’s PUR Standards focus on shock absorption, vertical deflection, area of deflection, ball bounce, and surface friction. These standards have been designed, utilizing exacting testing methodologies, to ensure that customers receive a reliable, well performing, competitive sports surface. No one knows more about how a good floor should perform and how it should be installed than the MFMA members. As an organization representing the worldwide sports flooring industry, our goal is to balance technical standards with practical flooring system design in order to create uniform standards of performance for competition sports floors.
Have you seen your product most frequently used on a specific building type?
MFMA works very closely with educational architects specifying maple sports floors in schools and universities. The vast majority of NCAA basketball floors and NBA floors were produced and installed by members of the MFMA.
Please supply any additional thoughts that would help promote and explain your product or material.
Wood flooring is a good “green” option. Unlike bamboo or synthetic flooring, wood flooring meets or exceeds the majority of the “green” criteria. Although there is currently an emphasis on materials that are rapidly renewable, this is only one aspect of many considerations for selection of the best “green” product. Wood is a managed resource that is renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and re-usable. As a local resource, no additional environmental damage is done in transportation and there are no toxic chemicals used in the production of the flooring. Don’t believe everything you hear about GREEN products – some are not as environmentally friendly as they would like you to believe.