What’s Next For Terrazzo?

Healthier Materials Take Centerstage

Terrazzo has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. Today terrazzo can be seen almost anywhere from airports to universities to even your local grocery store. And it’s not only used for flooring these days. Terrazzo is now used commonly as stairs, countertops and bartops, tabletops, and wall coverings. Through the decades, terrazzo continues to evolve. So the question is: What’s next? We’ll take a look at how Concord Terrazzo Company is planning for the future, and why healthier materials are at the forefront of it all.

To start off, let’s review the history of terrazzo, and how it has evolved through the years.

Terrazzo: How It All Started

The way terrazzo is installed today is greatly different than how it was installed back in 15th century. At that time, Venetian mosaic workers found a resourceful way to reuse scrap marble remnants to build terraces around their living quarters.

Terrazzo means terrace in Italian. Marble fragments were hand laid, then grind and polished. Because of the reuse of materials to create inexperience flooring, terrazzo is often regarded as the original “green” flooring systems.

Eventually, terrazzo moved westward to the United States in the early 1900s as Italian immigrants moved to the country. It wasn’t until the 1920s that terrazzo rose to prominence, as architects find the floor ideal for the Art Deco/Modern styles during this period.

Fast forward to today and terrazzo is experiencing a renaissance. Its combination of durability, low maintenance and beautiful aesthetics has contributed to its wide use in public buildings. Terrazzo has a great track record for lasting the lifetime of a building with proper maintain. This results in terrazzo having low lifecycle costs.

Ways Terrazzo Evolved Through the Years

Matrices – Original terrazzo is set by cement. The introduction of epoxies in the early 1970s led to epoxy terrazzo, which is the system mostly installed indoors today. Epoxy terrazzo is quicker to install, and offers greater durability, crack resistance, color options and consistency.

Aggregates – Traditional marble and granite chips were commonly used in terrazzo. Today there are greater options including recycled glass, shells, metal, and synthetic materials.

Divider Strips – Divider strips helped expand the possibilities for artistic terrazzo designs. Early forms of terrazzo used wooden strips, but today aluminum, zinc and brass and commonly used.

Sealers – Goat milk once was used as a coating over the terrazzo that added luster and color that made the floor more appealing. Today the NTMA recommends using a water-based sealers for terrazzo floors.

What’s Next For Terrazzo?

Terrazzo gained a renewed interest as it has became an ideal material for green construction projects. Characteristic such as zero VOCs, use of recycled materials, and antimicrobial properties make terrazzo appealing. Epoxy resins contain zero VOCs which improves the overall indoor quality of buildings. If materials are sourced locally as well, this minimizes the carbon footprint.

Architects have been thinking about sustainability for years. How can they use better building materials for their projects that are more efficient and have a positive impact on the environment and human health?

Healthier Materials Take Center Stage

The next focus for terrazzo is working with architects to specify products that promote good health, offer low costs to buildings, and reduce environmental impact.

Green Terrazzo: A Flooring Solution for a Better Tomorrow

Concord Terrazzo Company has researched and developed a new product line that offers healthier terrazzo materials to the architecture and construction industry. Green Terrazzo is an epoxy terrazzo system made from renewable ingredients that are not Red Listed.