mafi wins the Energy Globe Award 2011

The family run company within the natural wood floor industry has won the prestigious Energy Globe Award, as part of the award-giving ceremony in the Linz Chamber of Commerce, for its unique use of the resource timber.

The mafi Natural Wood Flooring Ltd has always stood for ecological and sustainable work using the renewable resource which is wood. Here values such as naturalness, environmental efficiency and also resource efficiency are central to the daily operation. This philosophy permeates the entire organisation – from material procurement to the production, the products themselves, on the packaging, the delivery, research, and the installation as well as the cleaning thereof. This living spirit of responsibility towards nature leads, ultimately, to an increasing of awareness around the natural use of wood.

As part of the Energy Globe Award, mafi put its previous work along with its philosophy to the test – and was successful. “We are very proud of winning the Energy Globe Award. But we are especially pleased to be able to show that a successful economy does not need to be a contradiction to the conservative use of resources – but quite the opposite. Our mafi natural wood floors are just so popular because each floor is absolutely unique, just like the tree from which it was made.” says Friedrich Fillafer, the managing director of mafi Natural Wood Flooring Ltd, who is convinced of that.

mafi as a Trendsetter in the natural wood flooring industry

From its home in Schneegattern, Upper Austria, mafi exports its both natural and innovative wood flooring to over 50 countries around the world. Even celebrities such as Claudia Schiffer, Giorgio Armani and star architect Norman Foster trust mafi natural wood floorings, not least because each mafi flooring is totally unique. Every year, new technologies and designs are developed, many of which are already proven as pioneers of international trends.

Additionally, nothing is wasted thanks to the approach that the entire tree is used during the manufacturing process. Therefore, each floor is as unique as its source tree. “Nature is our best designer,” says Friedrich Fillafer.

This philosophy can be clearly seen in the product range. In order to also use the products resulting from the processing of shorter, narrower or wider wood lots, own product lines for these have been established. Extra-wide slats are specially offered as a broad range of boards with impressive lengths of up to 5m. The mafi Carving Edition not only sets new trends in design but also visually broadens narrower slats through the special engraving. The designs span multiple slats and thus create a larger surface appearance using fewer resources. Short boards like the mafi Piccolino or Vulcanino are particularly well suited for unusual types of installation. The incidental sawdust is used to heat the entire company. Apart from electricity, the company mafi is thus fully self-sufficient. Additionally, 2,000 tons of wood pellets are produced annually from the sawdust.

An equally groundbreaking and ecological trend is provided by the oiled surface of the mafi natural wood floorings. This family run company was the first in the industry, which declined to use any form of paint or chemical additives in the production of wood floorings. mafi’s special oils penetrate deeply into the top layer of the wood flooring, cure and thus make the wood resistant from the inside out, without forming a film layer. This keeps the wood alive, allows it to breathe and thus it retains all its beneficial properties. Both the oils and also the soaps used for cleaning are made entirely from natural materials.

The mafi Vulcano flooring offers a real and most importantly, sustainable alternative to tropical wood floors. This allows mafi to abstain from the use of tropical timber and rely on domestic wood species. Through a complex thermal treatment, the wood obtains a dark colour with warm brown tones. During this thermal treatment, no chemical additives are used. With this method, only heat, wind and water are used and this reduces swelling, shrinkage and internal stresses. The drying of mafi Vulcano products has since been perfected and thanks to this technical innovation has become one of the biggest energy savers in the entire production process.

The 3-D surfaces of the mafi Fresco Edition are especially enjoyable barefoot. The raised upper layer performs a slight but nonetheless unforgettable massage effect. 2009 brought with it an honourable mention in the Red Dot Design award for the mafi Fresco Duna white oiled.

“We do not negate the natural appearance of the wood, we celebrate it. Hand planed wells or the individual colours of the cracks are only the tip of the tradecraft iceberg. Our Carving designs, 3D surfaces or Vulcano floorings complete the picture,” says Friedrich Fillafer. “Last but not least is ‘made in Austria’ by mafi no empty wordplay. Production takes place exclusively in Upper Austria and Salzburg and plays an important role for many regional suppliers,” says Friedrich Fillafer.  The next step to be made by mafi in a sustainable future is the vision of its own power plant for in-house electricity generation.

mafi: walk on art

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