The Parson’s School of Design exhibited CBC Flooring’s PVC-free WELS Sheet at the groundbreaking of its new Healthy Materials Lab.

Funded by the JPB Foundation and housed at Parson’s School of Design, the Healthy Materials Lab is intended to promote and showcase affordable but less-harmful building materials amongst architects, designers, builders, faculty and students. CBC Flooring’s PVC-WELS Sheet was chosen from amongst 100 competitive products vying for use in the Healthy Materials Lab’s first project: The Rose affordable housing project in Minneapolis.

“We had a team spend a year doing nothing but search for new, interesting products that are healthy for the environment and affordable,” said Simona Fischer, designer at Minneapolis-based MSR Design, which collaborated with Parson’s on the project. “The Rose and WELS are an exemplary example of improving access to healthier materials for everyone.” 

FloorScore certified, WELS Sheet is free of phthalates, plasticizers, chlorine and halogens. It also features a Health Product Declaration and a PVC-free, no wax, cross-linked polyurethane wear layer, according to the company.

“One of the ways we wish to foster reform is through transparency,” said Alison Mears, director of the Healthy Materials Lab. “Having a Health Product Declaration is important in showing how the product got there and how it’s going to perform throughout its entire life cycle.”

For more information, visit cbcflooring.com.