in a manufactured free standing (unrestricted) shape in respect to thickness, length, width, straightness and squareness. Caster Chair Resistance – Specifies a method for determining the change of appearance and stability of a laminate floor, including joints, under the movement of a caster chair. Surface Bond – Measures the force required to delaminate or split away the surface of laminate flooring plank or tile. Potential health effects and LEED status Laminate flooring is often made of melamine resin, a compound made with formaldehyde. The formaldehyde is more tightly bound in Melamine formaldehyde (MF) than it is in Urea-Formaldehyde (UF), reducing emissions and potential health effects. Thus LEED v2.2's EQ Credit 4.4 precludes the use of UF, but allows the use of MF. Laminated flooring is commonly used in LEED residential and commercial applications. History Laminate flooring was invented in 1977 by the Swedish company , and sold under the brand name Pergo. They had been making floor surfaces since 1923. The company first marketed its product to Europe in 1984, and later to the United States in 1994. Perstorp spun off its flooring division as the separate company named Pergo, now a subsidiary of Mohawk Industries. Pergo is the most widely known laminate flooring manufacturer, but the trademark PERGO is not synonymous for all laminate floors. Glueless laminate flooring was invented in 1996 by the Swedish company Välinge Aluminium (now Välinge Innovation) and sold under the names of Alloc and Fiboloc. However, a system for holding flooring panels together was also developed in parallel by the Belgian company Unilin released in 1997 and sold under the name of . The two companies have been in a great number of legal conflicts over the years, and today most, if not all glueless locking flooring is made under license from either Välinge, Unilin, or even a combination of both. References External links North American Laminate Flooring Association World Floor Covering Association The Flooring Contractors Association Composite materials Floors Swedish inventions fr:Parquet flottant