BOSTON—Those involved in flooring already know the industry as a whole has been at the forefront of environmentally friendly innovation long before there was a green movement. But for those outside the industry, last month’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo gave them a first-hand look at just how far advanced flooring products and companies are when it comes everything surrounding environmentalism.

And, when it comes to the green movement, not even an economy that officially has been in a recession since last December could slow the green avalanche that has started, especially with regard to the building industry. In fact, various forecasts predict this segment to grow in the high single digits next year.

While the down economy did take a toll on the overall size of individual exhibit spaces and the amount of glitz and glamour within the booths, the flooring industry was out in full force showing the more than 28,000 people who flooded the three-day event why it is a leader in this area.

“This is a great show for us—we’ve been swamped,” remarked Fred Williamson, vice president of operations for Starnet. “It’s an opportunity to talk about our members and how they can help attendees meet their reclamation and other environmental needs.”

Hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Greenbuild attracts an expansive audience—architects, designers, facilities managers, property managers, along with high ranking executives and officials from end use companies and organizations such as universities, public school districts, municipalities and so on.

“All walks of people are coming in,” noted Harry Brownett, vice president of sales for LG Floors. “The green market transcends every segment area in which we sell our products—from healthcare to education to retail, you name it.”

Milliken’s Bill Gregory, director of sustainability, added beyond the “typical crowd, we’re seeing more general contractors and builders—both commercial and residential. And we’re starting to see more people from the hospitality industry as they realize they have to do more than not wash your sheets and towels every day.”

Residential movement

Now in its eighth year, Greenbuild has, historically, been a market geared more to the commercial building industry. The whole green movement originally focused on this area because USGBC estimates buildings consume about 40% of the world’s energy and contribute roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, up until last year, the organization’s benchmarking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems were developed only for commercial projects.

With last year’s passing of LEED for Homes as well as other organizations such as the National Home Builders Association formulating their own green rating systems for residential dwellings, there was a broader attendee list than past Greenbuilds.

To help promote the residential side of the green market, USGBC held Green Homebuilder’s Day—the first-ever residentially focused program at Greenbuild. Among the activities, the program featured a special panel discussing the changing housing market and what will need to change over the next 50 years to ensure homes are sustainable and healthy for those who live in them; an educational session track targeted specifically at the residential market, and a closing reception/awards ceremony in which seven outstanding projects and builders were honored.

Kent Clauson, Armstrong’s general manager of marketing, noted the growth in residential attendance, “We’re starting to get more residential inquiries. This area is just starting to take off and it’s reflective in the people stopping in.”

Armstrong kicked off its 100th anniversary celebration of making linoleum at Greenbuild. “On the residential side there is still a great deal of education as many still call linoleum and vinyl the same,” he explained, “but overall this show attracts a very sophisticated audience.”

Mark Clayton, vice president of marketing for J&J/Invision, added when it comes to carpet the general knowledge of attendees “is very good,” noting how most have “moved beyond” the hot button issues of previous years such as off-gassing. “Now they are interested in talking about our reclamation program or other environmental programs and initiatives we have, such as utilizing Dow’s Lomax technology to extract methane gas from the local landfill and use it for power.”

Rick Ramirez, Shaw’s vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs, agreed with Clayton, and added the interest and sophistication level goes beyond carpet. “They are wanting to know about the sustainability attributes of products from every category,” which is why the company’s exhibit featured displays explaining the environmental qualities of Shaw’s hardwood and laminate products.

“Last year,” he continued, “it was more about ‘tell me what you are doing.’ Now, they are focusing on specific products or areas. They is still some education to be done, but we’ve been very pleased with how much more knowledgeable the attendees have been.”

Beyond recycling

As the attendance base becomes more educated on what constitutes green the discussion has broadened to a more holistic approach.

“People are connecting more to what you as a company are doing socially,” explained Catherine Minervini, vice president of marketing for Interface’s Bentley Prince Street division. “They already understand our products and now they want to know how we interact in our communities as well as greater social causes.”

To help those already in the green community and others interested in getting involved, Bentley and Interface launched the Missionzero.org initiative. The Web-based program is described as “the Facebook for sustainability.” Open to anyone, Minervini said it is “about elevating what everyone is doing. We have 300 feeds to it from other eco-minded Web sites and it allows users to interact with each other on all areas of sustainability not just flooring.”

Jack Ganley, president of Mannington Commercial, added, “If there is one thing that is understood is there are a lot of difficult and different concepts when it comes to green. It’s no longer just about the environment; it now includes social responsibility.”

From Shaw promoting its corporate wide support of the United Way to Mohawk highlighting its contributions to fight breast cancer many of the booths at this year’s Greenbuild devoted space not to a company’s environmental products but its social initiatives.

Ganley pointed to a section of Mannington’s space designed solely to highlight some of the issues and causes the company promotes at the corporate level—from working with local school children to its Stand on a Better World program which promotes and rewards women who have made a positive impact on society through their good deeds.

LEED-ing the way

One of the reasons why the discussion has evolved beyond product has to do with the flooring industry being so far advanced in not only greening its manufacturing operations and products but educating customers and end users.

While everyone agrees there is still a great deal of education needed, many give credit to the industry as being a major contributor to helping the entire building sector better understand environmental issues.

For example, Brendan Owens, vice president of USGBC’s LEED technical development, noted, “when you look at the number of environmental issues undertaken by the flooring industry it’s pretty remarkable. There is a tremendous amount of momentum.”

He specifically pointed to the work done involving emissions and indoor air quality as well as advancing the understanding of life cycle analysis. “Some of the most significant contributions from flooring have been in these two areas. It’s hard to say who is taking the lead, but some of the most advanced work on emissions and life cycle analysis have come from the flooring side. There has been a great deal that other industries have learned from the work done—both the successes and failures—there are even parts of LEED that are reflective of that.”

One of the areas the flooring industry has also led the way in is promoting the sharing of information and cooperation among rivals to tackle an issue. Owens noted the carpet category’s work in getting a national standard developed to measure the sustainability of carpet— ANSI/NSF 140, as well as the Carpet & Rug Institute’s Green Label program, which first came into existence in 1992—a year before USGBC was born and eight years before the introduction of its LEED rating system.

Glen Hussmann, president and CEO of Tandus, said it is important for companies such as his to make sure the correct information is being disseminated properly to customers and potential clients. “The last thing we want to do is damage our reputation by greenwashing what we’ve accomplished as a company and industry. By truthfully showing what we are doing and where we are heading, we can help people better understand us as a company and our products.”