Five Manus. Announced Living Product Certifications at NeoCon

Chicago, IL, June 13, 2018-Five different manufacturers are celebrating ten Living Product certifications at NeoCon 2018, bringing the total number of Living Product certifications to 20.

The Living Product Challenge (LPC) was launched in 2014 by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) to inspire manufacturers to pursue ambitious goals to dematerialize and detoxify their products and ultimately go beyond doing ‘less bad’ to create positive health and environmental impacts.

The full list of Living Product Challenge certified products, as well as background on the program, can be found at the Living Future website.

ILFI has certified the following Living Products for Commercial Interiors:

Tarkett

In its first foray into the Living Product Challenge, Tarkett has undertaken LPC for two products that the company says were already on a path to optimization under Cradle to Cradle, demonstrating that the LPC builds upon other certifications programs when manufacturers want to push the envelope even further towards regenerative design and create positive impact.

Tandus Centiva Ethos Modular Carpet: IMPERATIVE Certified

Johnsonite Rubber Tile: IMPERATIVE Certified

This now requires Tarkett to achieve a Handprint greater than the three-year cradle-to-gate water footprint for the product by 2021. To do so, Tarkett is investing in EarthEnable, which develops sanitary earthen floors in homes in Rwanda -- reducing healthcare costs, curbing carbon emissions and strengthening rural economies.

Crossville

Crossville Tile earned Water Petal Certification for Retro Active 2.0 Tile, the first LPC ceramic tile product.

RetroActive 2.0 was certified Net Positive for water through the company’s EcoCycle Water Recovery and Recycling Process, which creates a water handprint that exceeds the footprint. The RetroActive 2.0 product also supports the local economy via the eight core suppliers who represent 95% of all the raw materials acquired by Crossville, and that share their passion for environment, good design, and minimization of impacts. All suppliers are located within 200 miles of Crossville’s manufacturing location in Crossville, Tennessee.

The product also uses more waste in its life cycle than it creates. For every pound of waste generated, Crossville actually reuses 42 pounds of recovered materials including waste from its extended producer responsibility program, Tile-Take-Back and a partnership with Toto to recycle porcelain toilets into Crossville Tile.

Shannon Specialty Floors/Metroflor

Metroflor and Shannon Specialty Floors have earned Materials Petal Certification with the first ever LPC Petal Certified resilient flooring product, TEKNOFLOR Naturescapes HPD

Teknoflor Naturescapes HPD is working to become Net Positive for carbon by replacing petroleum-based oil inputs with naturally grown castor oils with a much lower environmental footprint. The pursuit of Living Product Challenge also inspired the company to create positive impact with support of the Wildlife Trust of India’s human elephant conflict mitigation project in Assam, India, a region that produces significant volumes of the castor oil plant.

Mohawk Group

Mohawk is following up on its widely celebrated Living Product Petal Certification last year for the Lichen Collection of carpet tile with five new Petal Certifications for a mix of soft and hard surface products, all of which reflect the incorporation of biophilic design, a growing commitment that the company is making to bring the benefits of nature indoors:

Nutopia Collection: Nylon Modular Carpet on EcoFlex Matrix Backing (PETAL CERT: Water)

The Sunweave Collection: Woven Broadloom Carpet (PETAL CERT: Water, Energy)

The Sunweave Collection: Woven Broadloom Rug (PETAL CERT: Water, Energy)

The Nutopia Collection: Nylon Modular Carpet on EcoFlex NXT Backing (PETAL CERT: Water)

The Pivot Point Collection: Enhanced Resilient Tile (PETAL CERT: Energy)

Mohawk has been a pioneering force for the concept of Handprinting -- measuring the positive impacts that they make while they lower their carbon footprint.

This year, Mohawk donated 152 low-flow showerheads to Hampton University, and through a partnership with the 503(c)(3) non profit, Groundswell, Mohawk has also committed to the installation of 10 Solar Flowers (confirm) in 10 cities around the U.S.-starting in the company's headquarters in Eden, North Carolina.

Plant Solutions

The beautiful and biophilic MossWallArt Moss Wall Art from Plant Solutions has earned Petal certification for the Water Petal. CEO Joe Zazzera is a biophilic design consultant and well-known advocate and speaker for nature-inspired design. His moss walls range from a simple hanging piece to full walls which can be integrated into any project to infuse nature into the indoor environment. Even though Plant Solutions is a bio-based, handcrafted product, achieving LPC was not easy. The company had to switch out a number of materials to get the ingredient disclosure required, including swapping in two Declare materials and receiving FSC CoC certification for the facility.

Print the Article