carpet

Dematerializing Samples
Tricycle expands its alternative sampling program with Tryk.

By Mason Currey

In 2002 the Chattanooga-based sustainable-design-services company Tricycle launched an alternative sampling option for the interiors industry; manufacturers outsource the process to the company, which produces and delivers extremely realistic paper samples—called SIMs—to specifiers instead of actual carpet slabs. The idea quickly took off and has become widely implemented (and widely imitated) in the industry. Tricycle estimates that in four years its service has saved about 26,000 gallons of oil and kept more than 155,000 pounds of waste out of landfills.

At this year’s NeoCon World’s Trade Fair, Tricycle launched a significant expansion of the program, called Tryk. Previously the company could only cre­ate samples of tufted carpet, but Tryk works with woven carpet as well as wall-coverings and fabrics. It also allows for different scales and larger sizes—and the image quality is improved. “We continue to move toward a more photorealistic image,” says Michael Hendrix, Tricycle’s creative director and chief brand officer. “If you could see an image from three years ago, the tufts looked flatter. We’ve been able to improve the perception of volume in the overall look.”

The company is also launching a new Web platform, which will be fully functional by January. “It’s more robust,” Hendrix says. “It’s giving more features to the user, and it’s actually better integrated with the business practices of manufac­turers.” The end result is an even more efficient, easy-to-use, and realistic tool for designers to sample materials—without wasting them.

More at: http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=3005

7 Steps in the Lifecycle of a Green Product7 Steps in the Lifecycle of a Green Product

Despite claims to the contrary, products with zero environmental impact do not yet exist. But
these new approaches to green design point to a day when that might just be possible.

By Martin C. Pedersen

As we set out to create a green-products issue, we were confronted with a pair of dil­emmas. Amid all the hype and hot air some real progress was being made, but as Ray Ander­son told us in 2004, “No one should be claiming sustainable products. There is no such thing yet in terms of zero footprint. What you can do is demonstrate reduced footprint.” This remains true today—and yet the dizzying array of new efforts boggles the mind. There is no shortage of products claiming the green mantle. So how do we mark this vast but imperfect moment? Borrow­ing from the Okala Design Guide (www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/ecosection/okala.html), we’ve organized our stories around the life cycle of green products. Since there is still no perfect product, think of these as seven pieces of a Platonic whole, a set of best practices, and a possible road map for a new model of twenty-first-century manufacturing.

More at: http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2998

Widely promoted customizable carpeting company InterfaceFLOR can now earn builders up to two extra LEED points via Innovation in Design credits.The "Innovation in Design" credits are awarded for products that have net zero greenhouse gas impact under the LEED Green Building Rating System.

"The availability of this new credit provides further incentive for manufacturers to reduce the environmental footprint of their products," said David Hobbs, president of InterfaceFLOR.

"We have long taken ownership of the impact of our products across their entire life cycle, so we invest to offset the impacts from the rest of our supply chain. We are pleased that the USGBC has taken this step to ensure recognition for qualified, third-party analysis of products' environmental claims."

Interface has two different lines - one for commercial usage and another for homes. Though we aren't working to achieve LEED certification while building and designing our own homes, the USGBC's new design credit system will help drive companies big and small to continue to advance their sustainable processes and products.

[via ENN]

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Africa and the developing world are in many ways far ahead of the West when it comes to recycling, this reflection after visiting with a delegation from South Africa to the NEOCon trade show in Chicago. “Recycling is not a matter of policy for many in Africa but a matter of survival – which it is fast becoming for the rest of the world,” said Peter Simon, Managing Director of Albert Carpets in Cape Town. “Repurposing, as you call it, is a practical and essential way of life in cultures where nothing goes to waste, nothing technically is waste.” Albert Carpets is a top installation company for InterfaceFLOR, a world leader in sustainability, which has for many years provided chic, eco-friendly and socially responsible modular flooring to customers throughout Africa such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Standard Bank. “Our customers have recognized the environmental impact and value of our sustainable products for years,” said Lesley Fidrmuc, InterfaceFLOR’s General Manager for Africa. “For them, making the decision to go green is nothing new.”

On Tuesday, Building Green's Lisa Walker and Aron Buterbaugh caught up with one of the industry's leading green thinkers, flooring and fabric manufactuer Interface's founder Ray Anderson, at the NEOCon World Trade Show in Chicago.

When asked what he had up his sleeve for this year's design megashow, Mr. Anderson was pleased to announce another big step in the flooring and fabric company's climb up "Mount Sustainability" with the news of another first for subsidiary InterfaceFLOR: the ability to completely and economically recycle Nylon 6,6 in the manufacture of carpet tile and related products. Nylon 6,6 is a short glass/carbon fiber composite used to make many commercial carpet products and, up to now, has been an abundant source of waste for landfills.

"This means we can take carpet from anywhere, made by anybody, and recycle it for reuse. It means much less energy used in the production of product. It's all about energy efficiency," said Anderson.

At last year's NEOCon show, Anderson rallied his 5,000 worldwide employees behind the company launch of Mission Zero. "Mission Zero gives voice to the brand promise that Interface Inc. will be sustainable, leaving zero footprint, by the year 2020," explained CEO Dan Hendrix.

Click on "read more" to see Ray Anderson's Seven Faces of Mt. Sustainability