Modern Block from Bentley Prince Street.
The NeoCon 2010 show, June 14-16 in Chicago, offered design professionals a great place to see new sustainable commercial products. The tone was upbeat and positive, and the show provided a glimpse of products ready for market. More than 41,000 industry personnel attended the 42nd annual event, a 10 percent increase from 2009.
CBC Flooring unveils its new Halo LVT.
Atlas Carpet Mills’ new Archéologique Collection offers carpet tile and broadloom companions in six patterns: Ancien, Tarquinia, Anatolia, Parissii, Tausert and Lascaux. The velvety cut pile styles are delicately chiseled with organic and linear loop textures. Available in 24 colorways, ranging from neutrals to bold color combinations, the new styles on EPP Antron yarn are NSF 140 certified, and manufactured with post consumer and post industrial recycled content.
Johnsonite’s Metallurgy collection includes rubber tile and wall base.
“Manufacturers who claim to be green without third-party certification must be held accountable,” said Anthony Minite, president. “NeoCon is an ideal stage to talk about what it means to truly be responsible about our industry’s environmental impact. I am extremely proud of what we have been doing at Bentley Prince Street, openly and voluntarily. We are not just making beautiful carpet; we are making it responsibly.”
Mannington Commercial’s Sylvan Collection.
“It’s time to rethink how the industry defines sustainability. Conventional wisdom within the commercial interiors industry has been that recycled content equals sustainability, but we think that’s only part of the story,” said Diane O’Sullivan, global marketing director of Invista’s commercial flooring segment. “We cannot look at single elements. We’re raising the bar with a holistic approach and making beautiful products that will exceed expectations. Customers can be reassured that they are getting it right by selecting products designed for longevity to avoid premature replacement.”
Mannington Commercial showcased its collaborative effort with Hendrick on The Sylvan Collection, featuring large, medium and small graphics. Additionally, the designs in the Monarch Collection move from linear to organic. The Earthly Elements hardwood line features planks and rectangles for unique and custom patterns.
As part of its Tx: Style Design Challenge, Mannington Commercial announced the two grand prize winners: Athena Abrol of WWCOT and Laurel Harrison of AECOM. “It has been wonderful to work with the seven talented young finalists over the past few months, as they have developed their concepts into patterns for the big vote,” said Natalie Jones, vp commercial brand development and creative product. “We are so proud of the creativity and clarity of design vision that each one brought to the table.”
Abrol and Harrison each won $7,500 in prize money and, over the course of the coming year, will work with Mannington’s design development team to create a full collection around their winning pattern – one in hard surface, and one in carpet.
Expanko’s newest offerings include expanded colors and XCR cork rubber flooring.
Shaw Commercial introduced 18X36, a rectangular carpet tile featuring five patterns on EcoWorx backing. 18X36 maximizes and accentuates the tile size, shifting the shape of design. “The patterns take advantage of the rectangular tile shape through fading and blurring, a technique that blends colors the way a vapor slowly disappears. Layers are used to incorporate geometric patterns, and hidden areas of color provide meaningful accents and gradual tone changes,” noted Reesie Duncan, Shaw Contract creative director.
CBC Flooring showed off its new Halo brand of luxury vinyl tile. Following the recent acquisition, CBC now has 36 wood designs, 42 colorways in stone, and 104 SKUs in its Something Different line. The company also unveiled four new additions to its EcoBox family of products: CBC 5100 Recycled Limestone and Homogeneous Tile Adhesive; CBC Premium Resilient Flooring Adhesive; CBC 5600 Hurry Up! Concrete Moisture Sealer; and CBC 5700 Cover Up! Cutback and Adhesive Residue Encapsulator.
All four EcoBox products contain zero calculated VOCs and contribute to LEED IEQ Credit 4.1 for low-emitting materials and are contained in recycled fiber packaging with a lightweight (.23 lb.) plastic liner. According to the company, the new packaging allows adhesive to be squeezed from the liner, reducing the adhesive residue left behind. The liner can also be tied off with unused adhesive that can be saved for future use.
Bamboo Hues is new from USFContract.
Johnsonite launched its Metallurgy Collection, a group of metallic designs in rubber tile and wall base in a palette of 12 colors in various shades of gold, bronze, silver and more. The collection is offered in 24” tiles with coordinating finishing borders.
The company invited show attendees to place a sample of its flooring tile on a “Collage of Possibilities,” and pledged to increase its product donation to Architecture for Humanity in Haiti for each tile that was placed. Due to excellent event attendance, Johnsonite will donate 3,000 sq. ft. of Harmonium xf Linoleum Flooring.
“We believe that our efforts to create positive change should extend beyond sustainable building products and practices and should reach into the communities those buildings serve,” said Diane Martel, vice president, environmental planning and strategy for Tarkett North America.
Roppe celebrated the one-year anniversary for its Impact rubber products recycling program. The products are recycled into a range of products, including municipal landscaping mulches, playground surfacing and rubber crumb for athletic fields, pavers and edgings.
One year after entering the contract market, USFContract returned to NeoCon 2010 with product debuts defined by color and sustainability. Bamboo Hues, Cork Décor and Cork Colors headlined USFContract’s introductions.
“Our NeoCon introductions represent our continued commitment to bring style and innovation to the sustainable flooring category,” said Mark Brunelle, USFContract’s national sales manager. “Our color options in our new lines are unmatched in the market. USFContract has developed a palette that ranges from traditional tones to vibrant and unexpected colors for both cork and bamboo.” Bamboo Basics, Bamboo Hues and Cork Décor recently received the GreenGuard Children & Schools rating.
Parterre Flooring Systems has partnered with Bentley Prince Street to design a comprehensive flooring solution that includes broadloom, modular carpet and vinyl tile products. The Astronomie Collection boasts 15 luxury vinyl tile and three sleek vinyl wood plank designs that directly coordinate with 18 carpet designs from Bentley Prince Street’s Satellite City and Saturnia lines. Astronomie carpet and vinyl tile coordinates can be used in a variety of spaces in a single project; including corporate, hospitality, educational, retail and public spaces.
Expanko showcased five new colors in its Viale homogeneous cork flooring line, featuring color through the entire product. Also shown was the XCR cork rubber flooring receiving recent FloorScore certification and compliance with LEED Credit EQ 4.3.
