Hicksville, N.Y.—For the longest time, when designers, architects or contractors worked a commercial job, their flooring choices were pretty limited as carpet and vinyl ruled the day. In recent years, however, much to the delight of industry professionals, additional and updated types of flooring, such as laminate, rubber and cork, have been made available to the trade with the amount of designs and patterns in each segment truly providing those working in the contract field more choices than they could have ever imagined. The following focuses on some of these alternatives.

While rubber flooring has been around for a long time, its applications are on the upswing. The number and variety of facilities that feature rubber floor coverings is growing as architects and designers respond to exciting new colors and patterns and as facility managers and building owners, with increasing frequency, explore opportunities to incorporate environmentally friendly products into their buildings. “I do see the use of alternative types of flooring increasing,” said Carol Fudge, marketing manager for Freudenberg Building Systems, manufacturer of Nora rubber flooring. “I believe rubber was always something people thought should be used only in the backroom.

“But now,” she continued, “with the increases in patterns and colors, such as in the Nora line in which we have more than 200 colors in our standard range, along with marbleized and terrazzo looks, it’s opened a lot of peoples’ eyes as to what you can do with rubber. “The green aspect of it, along with the life cycle benefits [are attracting people] to it,” she added. “You just need to use a wet mop and a gentle cleanser to maintain the look. And you’re not spending all this money on chemicals to clean your floor.” “The category of recycled rubber surface flooring is fairly young and still growing in popularity,” said Kathleen Keller, director of marketing for Dodge-Regupol, parent company of ECOsurfaces Commercial Flooring, producer of ECO-rocks, a collection made of recycled rubber.

“Many don’t even know what it is. I believe, especially green products, such as ours, are going to grow in popularity not just because of its recycled content, but its other attributes as well. “While the category is still very new,” she explained, “sales have been very strong. There is a lot of interest in the product. In terms of whether or not it is going to replace other flooring types, recycled rubber is really a specialty flooring. We see it more as a complement to other flooring types. It is very popular in retail applications right now because it is so durable.”

Laminate flooring, while continuing to grow in popularity residentially, has caught on in the commercial side as well. “We certainly believe laminate is growing there,” said Mark Kieckhafer, marketing director for Alloc Flooring. “Laminate flooring is at 4-1/2%, on its way to being 5% of the overall floor covering market, with the lion’s share being residential, more specifically, residential replacement remodeling. Where the growth is going to be in the future will be on the contract side as more and more architects and designers try it, commercially, and have success with it. That’s where I think an explosion could potentially happen.

“We see successes quite readily in the health care side of things,” he explained, “more specifically in assisted living centers and nursing homes where they are trying to create a more home-like atmosphere for their patients. On the education side, we have even seen some recent successes with dormitories and colleges using the product as well. Sales typically wind up being in higher education as they have more money to spend than the public school systems.” “There is now a strong interest in all products considered ‘green,’” said Diane Martel, vice president of marketing for Tarkett Commercial, “and we are noticing that more and more designers and architects are choosing to specify environmentally friendly products.”

Cork is another type of flooring product growing in popularity as people learn more about it. Barbara Napolitano of Ceres, a cork flooring manufacturer, recently commented that 2003 was “a great year for cork as it is becoming recognized ( FCNews, Dec. 8/15). Specifiers are becoming more comfortable with it. That’s an important part of its growing popularity.” Kieckhafer noted the switch from glue-together to mechanical locking systems has only helped those working in the commercial side to specify laminate. “If you shut down a retail store, you’re not making any money. When laminate flooring shifted from glue-together products to mechanical locking products, it made even that much more sense for retail applications because they readily go in and renovate a retail space or any commercial setting in the fraction of the amount of time that it would take to install traditional flooring products. “And, it’s not just glue-together laminate products but even glue-down vinyl products,” he explained. “It takes more time to prepare the surface and glue it down. So, the shift to glueless has helped tremendously. Also, architects and designers, who typically don’t like faux products, now that visual improvements have been made, are being offered something that does look more like the real thing.”

Product News Martel commented on Tarkett Specialty’s Linosom Linoleum, which is now available in a 20-in. tile format and 14 colors. “Linoleum tile is one of Tarkett’s most environmentally friendly floors, as it is comprised almost entirely of renewable raw materials. The natural reaction between the resin and linseed oil used in its production creates inherent anti-bacterial properties in Tarkett linoleum tile. “Linosom Linoleum is a very resilient product. In fact, it hardens over time,” she explained, “making it more resilient the longer it’s installed. Also, the time and cost of maintenance for linoleum is much less than that of other flooring categories. “We’ve had many requests for Linosom in tile format from architects, designers and end users,” she added.

“The complementary colors and sizes in the tile and rolls provide greater design options for linoleum installations.” New from Nora is Norament 925 Strada, the first in a series of new commercial rubber floor coverings the company will unveil to U.S. audiences in June at NeoCon 2004. Norament is the culmination of a comprehensive product development program that had produced four new products lines, each combinable with other Nora lines, noted Philipp Leferenz, president of Freudenberg Building Systems. “The design of Norament Strada is inspired by cubist art and offers a unique combination of appearance and performance in resilient flooring,” he said. “Its unusual cubic surface and tone-in-tone granule design create a distinctive look and ensure slip resistance in compliance with ADA guidelines.

“Designers can select from among 16 standard colors and combine their selections with other Norament products to create a coordinated design throughout a facility,” he added. “Norament Strada is the ideal solution for extra heavy traffic areas requiring a striking visual appearance and long-lasting wear. “As we evaluated our entire product offering,” he explained, “we enlisted the services of Pentagram, an international design firm to guide us in developing our new color range. We believe the new range and new lines will meet and exceed the needs of designers, building owners and users.” ECOrocks, the newest product from ECOsurfaces, features the look of terrazzo and is designed for places like foyers, hallways and lobbies, “without the mainten ance woes of hard surface,” said Keller.

“Made of recycled rubber, like all ECOsurfaces products, ECOrocks is green, low maintenance, durable, highly slip-resistant and cost-effective.” ECOrocks comes in large or small granule patterns and five color blends that coordinate with other ECOsurfaces product lines. It is available in 4-ft. wide rolls or 18-in. and 3-in. tiles. “We conducted informal market research with ECOrocks prototypes for a year before actually launching,” said Keller. “We wanted to understand if the product was viable, if it filled a need, and the results were overwhelming. Architects and interior designers love it. “It’s a very sophisticated look, without all of the problems and concerns of terrazzo, or other hard surface materials,” she explained. “But the aesthetic is there. One source even indicated that ECOrocks, ‘takes ECOsurfaces to a whole new level,’ which was great news. Now we’re in full scale production and our entire channel is excited and ready to serve the market.”

“Architects, designers and specifiers want products that are constructed of natural materials, have minimal cleaning requirements, stand up to wear and tear and are up-to-date in terms of fashion and design,” said Martel. “Even if a floor performs optimally under all of a designer’s criteria, if it looks outdated, he/she will specify another product. “We predict linoleum sales to grow steadily over the next couple of years,” she concluded. “The use of the LEED rating system from the U.S. Green Building Council, which sets a benchmark for designing green buildings, undoubtedly will be the catalyst for this growth, as designers and architects are becoming increasingly aware of this type of flooring system.”