Recyclable materials, green products and sustainable floors have become the watchwords for most commercial interiors. With the U.S. Green Building Council and its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification paving the way -- and with manufacturers making green products more readily available and cost effective -- commercial design firms are champing at the bit to incorporate environmentally friendly floors in their interior designs and, by extension, bring them into their clients' workplaces.
For the second time in five years, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is bravely wading into the controversy surrounding vinyl. At the request of certain parties in the Green community, USGBC is trying to determine whether vinyl (from PVC pipes to vinyl flooring and surfacing) should be considered a hazard to the environment and, in turn, whether the use of vinyl should be discouraged by eco-conscious architects and designers through the USGBC's signature LEED rating system for Green buildings.
Slip-fall litigation is on the rise across the nation. The statistics may surprise you. According to the National Safety Council, slip-falls rank second only to motor vehicle accidents for workers' compensation claims.
As I mentioned in my last article (NFT, February 2004), the execution of the retail business plan often is more challenging than one would expect and one learns quickly that change is the rule rather than the exception. My personal experience confirms the unexpected challenges, hidden issues and ongoing problems that a flooring retailer faces.
Imports continue to garner an ever-increasing share of the wood floor products being sold to consumers, according to the just-completed 2004 Hardwood Flooring Market Study conducted by National Floor Trends magazine in conjunction with the market research division of BNP Media. And, our respondents have more quality issues from domestic materials (65 percent) compared to imported materials, 35 percent.
The Coverings 2004 tile, stone and flooring expo will take place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., March 23 - 26. This year's show will feature an expanded educational lineup, and will be held in the newly completed North/South Complex of the Orange County Convention Center. To discuss how these and other changes will affect the 2004 edition of Coverings, National Floor Trends turned for answers to Tamara Christian, president of National Trade Productions (NTP), which will be producing the show for the first time this year.
Throughout most of my working life in this industry, I never truly understood who the Tile Council of America (TCA) was nor how their documents came about. Although over the course of the many commercial tile jobs I performed earlier in my career, I certainly got beat up a time or two for not following their technical guidelines.
Despite the absence of some major industry players -- such as Shaw, Mohawk, Armstrong and Congoleum -- the Surfaces 2004 show in Las Vegas included a broad range of companies spotlighting ceramic products, exotic woods, bamboos and other hard-surface options. Traffic was down from previous editions of the show with 925 companies exhibiting and total attendance exceeding 36,000, according to Surfaces organizer Hanley-Wood.
The sales trend in distressed wood floors is nothing short of phenomenal. Demand for this texture and classical look has prompted many producers to handcraft distressed flooring products in their business locations. The resulting products are then marketed under the brand names chosen by these producers.
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