Cost-Saving Sustainable Carpet Tiles
Floor Coverings Containing Increased Recycled Content Also Cut Waste
Oct 21, 2009
Carpet tiles, also called carpet squares, are an environmentally-sustainable floor covering whose ecological characteristics are steadily being improved. They are used in residential, commercial and public buildings such as offices, healthcare clinics, schools and places of worship
The tiles offer purchasers advantages over broadloom:
- Lower cost of purchase; there is much less wastage.
- Lower cost of installation; tiles are easier and quicker to lay.
- Lower cost of ownership; repairs and replacements are easier.
Sustainability of Carpet Tiles
Carpet tiles are inherently better than broadloom for the environment:
- Tiles better fit irregular shapes of floor. Broadloom is cut to fit non-rectangular rooms but tiles can purchased in quantities that more closely match shapes. Wastage in carpet tile installation is less than 4% compared to 13.1% for broadloom, according to InterfaceFLOR.
- In premises with high-traffic areas, worn tiles can be replaced by new tiles or tiles swapped from low-traffic areas. In a church, for example, tiles in aisles can be replaced with tiles from under pews, where there is less wear and replaced worn tiles will be less visible.
The cost savings and sustainability of carpet tiles are being continually enhanced.
InterfaceFLOR developed its Entropy brand tiles in the early 2000s based on 'bio-mimicry,' which is the copying of phenomena in nature. The carpet designers noticed that fallen leaves in a forest make a consistent whole, even though they are all different and scatter randomly. The designers produced tile patterns that similarly give a consistent appearance despite variations.This has two main benefits:
- Each tile can be laid in any direction. Variations in shade or color are not apparent.
- Carpet tends to vary in shade from one batch or dye lot to the next. To match broadloom from different rolls, the rolls have to be from one dye lot, either to carpet areas too large for one roll or to patch worn or damaged areas. Bio-mimicry tiles from different dye lots can be laid side by side with no apparent difference.
Recycled Materials
Manufacture of both tiles and broadloom now includes more recycled and recyclable content than before and uses less energy than before.
The Shaw Contract Group’s EcoWorx tiles were the first with 100% sustainable non-PVC tile backing, which won the company a Presidential Green Chemistry Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The manufacturer collects EcoWorx products worldwide for recycling. This is at no cost to the carpeting owners, saving them the cost of carpet disposal. Its Eco Solution Q nylon contains a minimum of 25% of recycled material.
Shaw reclaims and recycles more than 90 million pounds of carpet annually and recycles. It claims its Evergreen nylon recycling facility alone represents one-third of the industry’s entire carpet recycling capabilities.
Bio-based and recycled materials in InterfaceFLOR’s carpeting has risen from 0.7% in 1996 to 23.7% in 2008. In the same period, total energy use per unit of production fell by 44% and the percentage of energy from renewable resources rose from 1.5 to 28.3%. Consumption of water in production of tiles is down 74% and in production of broadloom by 38%.
InterfaceFLOR can now reclaim and recycle vinyl backing and nylon fiber from its own or any other maker’s carpet. It can recycle not only nylon 6 that has always been recyclable but the nylon 6,6 that stands up to wear better but could not previously be reprocessed.
New Sustainable Carpet Products
Both these manufacturers showed new products at the recent ARIDO IIDEX/NeoCom exhibit in Toronto, Canada. They demonstrated that their esthetically-designed tiles not only reduce environmental footprint. They can save money as well.
Further environmental reading: Energy Conservation in a Commercial Building
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