Product Opens the Way for Wide Use of Direct Pressure Laminate Flooring in the Commercial Market PARIS, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) has introduced the first non-woven glass tissue reinforcement for Direct Pressure Laminate Flooring (DPL), which raises fire resistance and impact performance to levels that meet commercial standards. While DPL has long been popular in the residential market, manufacturers will now be able to broaden their DPL product offerings to architects and specifiers for commercial applications such as hotels, restaurants, shops and stores. Developed by Owens Corning in partnership with Hans Schmid KG, Gronau, Germany, Europe's leading independent impregnation company, and by replacing traditional resonated Kraft paper, the new DPL with resin impregnated glass tissue meets European Norm standard EN13501-1, achieving fire class B(fl). This is complemented by small ball and large ball impact testing according to EN438, which raises impact performance designation to IC3. Moreover, with the new reinforcement system it is possible for usage classification to be raised to a higher level -- from 32 to 33 -- for commercial applications.
