Norwalk, Conn. -- Under the combined direction of Harlan Stone, Group CEO, and Rochelle Routman, chief sustainability officer, Aspecta is is engaging in collaborative partnerships that result in healthy, high-performing and biophilically-designed products as well as educating, motivating, and encouraging individuals to invest in a restorative ecosystem. Routman leads the Product Authority Team, which oversees all aspects of the product channel through a sustainability lens, including product and social transparency, customer service, testing and compliance, innovation, quality, and performance.

The company has committed to transparency in the resilient flooring industry and is the very first to issue a Declare label for its rigid core flooring, Aspecta Ten, a multi-layer flooring product that features the company’s proprietary ISOCORE Technology.

“We are excited that we can offer such a valuable label that meets this intense need in the marketplace, as many designers and architects are becoming acquainted with this new category of rugged yet beautiful flooring,” said Routman.

This new label adds to Aspecta’s existing portfolio of Declare labels for the Aspecta commercial range – over 200 patterns in total across the three collections – Aspecta One, Five and Ten. All Aspecta Declare labels have been published in a total of six languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Dutch).

Innovation in sustainability also fueled the development of ISOCORE: The plasticizer-free and phthalate-free cellular vinyl core is produced from 100% recyclable, first-generation vinyl. The decision was made to forgo the use of recycled content to avoid potential contamination from predecessor phthalates.

The company has also issued Health Product Declarations (HPDs) for its full line of Aspecta products. HPDs are comprehensive transparency documents that provide health-related information for product ingredients. Declare labels and HPDs are recognized by the USGBC for credit under LEED v4.1 and can also contribute towards credits under the WELL Building Standard. Aspecta is also a sponsor and participant of mindful MATERIALS, a program aimed at providing designers, architects, and others with the tools needed to consider human health and environmental impacts of products in the built environment.

Mindful MATERIALS accomplishes this goal via a two-pronged approach: an online library that evolved from a downloadable Microsoft Excel file into a fully searchable database hosted on ORIGIN, and a labeling system for products physically represented in resource libraries. By participating in the mindful MATERIALS program (via both their online library on ORIGIN and their labeling system), Aspecta can provide comprehensive transparency, safety, and sustainability declarations and certifications to its commercial customers. The same information is also available to the public and can be found on the main ORIGIN website and on the company’s website.

Safety is just as important as sustainability and transparency, and Aspecta employs a rigorous testing program to ensure the safety of its products. Testing is conducted at the ISO 9001 and 14001-certified factories in which the products are made, at the company’s satellite offices throughout Asia, and at accredited, third-party laboratories around the world. Product certification is just as extensive; Aspecta holds a platinum NSF/ANSI 332 certification for its Aspecta Five products, as well as Gold certification for Aspecta Ten and Aspecta One.

Aspecta has published its first product-specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) across the entire product range. By continually exploring the environmental impacts of products, Aspecta can make additional improvements to reduce its environmental footprint. There are always new goals to achieve in transparency and sustainability, especially as new tools are developed and additional environmental data is gathered. Such aspirations will allow Aspecta to maintain its position as a leader in the resilient flooring industry.

For more information, visit www.aspectaflooring.com.