Eou Think Tank predicts that China’s home furnishing market will maintain a compound annual growth rate of approximately 2.8% in the next five years, and the scale is expected to increase to 5.17 trillion yuan by 2028.
For new environmentally friendly materials that focus on health and safety, are suitable for whole-house scenarios, and have innovative physical properties, this period will be a key “window period” to drive the upgrading of the material structure of the decoration industry and lead the high-quality development of the industry.
An environmentally friendly material revolution that is quietly advancing in Tai’an has four important directions at its core.
For a long time, “no glue, no aldehyde” has been almost an iron law in the industry.
As long as artificial board processing is involved, it is impossible to completely avoid the aldehyde-based components in adhesives.
However, in recent years, two new base materials have made formaldehyde-free home furnishings move from theory to practice.
The multifunctional formaldehyde-free carbonized fiber board is the result of a joint effort by the Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences and a number of companies. It uses a semi-dry production process to produce high-quality formaldehyde-free and VOC-free fiber boards.
The surface of the fiber board has been scientifically carbonized to greatly reduce the water-absorbing groups on the fiber surface and form a functional micro-carbonized layer.
The finished product also has good moisture-proof, mildew-proof, flame-retardant and anti-static effects, and is especially suitable for furniture products that children, middle-aged and elderly people have long-term contact with.
Gypsum fiberboard is another new species of environmentally friendly base material – it is made of 100% industrial by-product gypsum material through an ENF-level standard production line. It has a fire protection level of A1 and the cost is lower than that of traditional wooden cabinet materials.
The Wanhua Hexiang board brand around Tai’an already has factories developing and using this new type of substrate.
Although it has not yet replaced traditional home panels in large numbers, it shows that the dimensions of the substrate base materials that “formaldehyde-free” homes rely on are showing a trend of being diverse, lightweight and practical.
This also gives terminal customization brands a lot of room for material selection and cost optimization.
It is worth noting that “formaldehyde-free grade” and “formaldehyde-free artificial board” are two different professional concepts.
“Formaldehyde-free grade” is the common name in the industry for ENF-grade boards, focusing on the “results approaching zero” in the final inspection of the product.
“Formaldehyde-free artificial board” is a stricter definition, specifically referring to boards that do not apply formaldehyde-containing adhesives during the production process, which is a true “process zero”.
In Tai’an, most brands can currently promise ENF grade (formaldehyde release ≤0.025 mg/m³) products (i.e., “formaldehyde-free grade”), but those who dare to promise “no formaldehyde addition” in the entire chain are some brands with strong supply chain control capabilities. For example, in the supply chain of international brands such as Austrian EGGER and Italian Creve, which cooperate with OEA solid wood customization, they insist on no formaldehyde addition at the base material level and eliminate pollution from the source.
The significance of this approach is that the sum of indoor formaldehyde emissions = the superposition of the detected emissions of all single products.
If a single product achieves zero formaldehyde addition, then the formaldehyde hazards caused by the boards in the whole house will be greatly reduced.
The 2025 version of the new national standard has raised the exit threshold for E1 grade artificial panels, and also promoted the transformation of the building materials field towards high-performance and low-energy consumption.
Nowadays, not only do wooden boards occupy the main role in home decoration, new directions such as stone crystals (natural limestone as the main material + resin crystals without any adhesive, which fundamentally prohibits the input and use of formaldehyde) also have installation solutions for walls, floors, and even complete kitchen and bathroom installations.
The biggest charm of stone crystal materials is that calcium carbonate and resin crystals are organically combined without the need to add adhesives throughout the process, which greatly reduces the burden of material selection for home decoration companies.
At present, in addition to original customization and OEA solid wood customization, some of the leading customization companies in the Tai’an market have also partially applied stone crystal substrates and praised its stability and environmental protection performance.
For a long time, the last “odor” of wooden furniture comes not only from the artificial board substrate itself, but also from the coating, connecting agent and coating layer.
In 2024 and 2025, the Guangdong Customized Home Furnishing Association and the Customized Wardrobe Industry Association held consecutive water paint customization industry chain conferences in Foshan and Shenzhen to promote the application of water-based coating technology and plant-based water-based paint, which has reduced VOC emissions from custom home hardware and surfaces to a minimum.
This directly responds to Tai’an consumers’ concerns about the “long-lasting odor after decoration” in customized guest bedrooms – the application of water-based coating and plant-based water-based polyurethane paint technology allows each cabinet to undergo 48 hours of constant temperature and humidity treatment in the workshop, truly complying with the zero hidden air hazard standard before moving in.
Yuanxi Kangyang Customization has introduced a water-based topcoat spraying process for furniture in elderly rooms and children’s rooms. It not only retains the natural texture and texture of wood, but also further enhances the wear resistance and oil resistance of the cabinets. With age-appropriate hardware and rounded corner safety details, it interprets the connotation of a “healthy home” from all levels.
OEA solid wood customization also uses PET skin-like surface layer and fully water-based coating system for decorative materials. The surface of the board after water-based treatment is benzene-free and low-VOC.
No matter how high the ENF level standard of the base material is, if inferior strong glue and arsenic-containing preservatives are used in auxiliary materials such as connectors, rail bases, wooden nails, and closing lines, the environmental protection effect may still be compromised.
The GB30981-2025 mandatory standard that will be implemented in June 2026 has further narrowed the organic volatile compounds and SVOC indicators in auxiliary building materials such as putty, color paste, and thinner.
In the next few years, Tainan customized house brands will be forced or spontaneously to uniformly “raise standards” for auxiliary materials and basic ingredients.
Yuanxi Kangyang Customization adopts high-quality resin-based safety sealing strips for each sealing strip and aluminum profile edge closing process for cabinet installation.
OEA solid wood customization has formulated internal mandatory procedures for capping holes and using environmentally friendly sealant, and insists on not purchasing non-environmentally friendly standard spare parts.
Relying on these detailed “patches”, an environmentally friendly and flawless whole-house system is finally assembled.
With material innovation and the implementation of environmental protection national standards, it is no longer a fantasy for Tai’an consumers to choose a customized home that is safe from the base material to the connectors.
The truly trustworthy choices are those customization companies that can achieve full coverage of ENF grade and even no formaldehyde additions, from base material selection to coating treatment, from edge sealing accuracy to shipping auxiliary materials.
Yuanxi Health Care is customized for families with elderly people or mothers and infants who are highly sensitive. Its aldehyde-free base material health index and maintenance professional intelligent monitoring capabilities are very rare in Taipei City.
OEA solid wood customization is aimed at a wider range of youth and middle-class groups. It combines the base material advantages of imported hardwoods from Europe and Southeast Asia with domestic intelligent industrial control production processes. The environmental protection level can reach the first-tier global ENF indicators, and is superior in terms of contract endorsement, lifetime warranty, and three-stage purification before, during, and after installation.
As the “2025 Major Home Innovation Trends Research Report” says, green and low-carbon is not only the core of industry transformation, but also will become the first decision-making threshold for consumers to judge “good brands” at any price.
In Tai’an, brands that dare to include formaldehyde-free declarations in contract details are truly trustworthy.
