Healthcare professionals often spend hours on their feet, putting others’ comfort and needs above their own. Armstrong Flooring is focusing on caregivers’ needs, introducing a new vinyl sheet with a comfort base layer to help reduce foot and leg fatigue and joint impact with every step, Rejuvenations Restore. Rejuvenations Restore is designed to address comfort and sound–both primary concerns of patients and caregivers.
“Resilient sheet flooring has long been a popular choice in healthcare facilities because of its superior properties for infection control and long-lasting performance,” said Yon Hinkle, director of product design and innovation for Armstrong Flooring. “However, new advances allow us to offer more comfort not only for patients but also for healthcare staff who spend hours on their feet.”
Armstrong Flooring partnered with the Bioengineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh to understand the influence of flooring on fatigue and comfort when walking for long periods of time. The research lab measured muscle fatigue using electromyography (EMG), captured ground reaction forces (GRF) with force plates beneath the flooring, and administered questionnaires to gauge discomfort, fatigue and flooring preference. When compared to 2 mm vinyl sheet and 2 mm rubber flooring, Rejuvenations Restore: eases discomfort of joints and muscles; lessens potential for fatigue; and reduces overall tiredness and discomfort in feet.
Restore is also designed to help control impact sound transmission and surface-generated noise, to maintain privacy and create a calm, quiet environment. Restore has a Delta IIC of 21. The Delta IIC rating provides the flooring’s contribution to an assembly in terms of isolating impact noise, and can be used to compare the performance of different types of flooring. The higher the rating, the more effective the flooring is at controlling impact noise between floors. For comparison, 2 mm rubber achieves a Delta IIC of approximately 11. Restore has also been tested in accordance with ASTM E3133, a new standard introduced in 2018 measuring radiated sound in a room from impacts to floor coverings.
Restore is a low-maintenance heterogeneous flooring solution featuring Diamond 10 Technology coating, to help floors look newer, longer with category-leading scratch, stain and scuff resistance. The collection is available in a range of colors and pattern designs and comes with a 10-year Commercial Limited Warranty when installed in accordance with the recommended Armstrong Flooring adhesive and instructions. An additional 10 years of overall warranty coverage is available by using the Strong System collection of subfloor preparation products.
For more information, visit www.armstrongflooring.com.
