Strength in sustainable flooring Armstrong

STRENGTH IN SUSTAINABLE FLOORING

Armstrong World Industries, Inc. is a global leader in the manufacture of ceiling systems and floor coverings for commercial and residential applications. Philip Yorke talked to Charles Irving-Swift the company’s CEO for floor products Europe, about its recent award-winning innovations and move into new, ‘sustainable product’ market sectors.

Armstrong World Industries, Inc., headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, is a global leader in the manufacture of ceiling systems and flooring products, with sales in 2011 of $2.9 billion, generated at 32 manufacturing plants in eight countries. The worldwide flooring products business, with sales of $1.5 billion, produces a wide range of resilient and textile floor coverings, including linoleum, vinyl, designer tiles and fibre-bonded floorings for commercial and domestic applications. The European operations trace their origins back to 1882, when they were founded in Bremen in Germany. Today Armstrong Europe specialises in modern flooring solutions for healthcare, education and retail environments as well as for office buildings. Armstrong has been actively investing in improving the sustainability of its products and works closely with the relevant certification bodies in the industry to provide guaranteed sustainability ratings for all its DLW floor coverings.

Armstrong works closely with architects and designers to produce products that reflect the latest trends, styles and specifications that are shaping the future of the industry. The company’s resilient range of floorings is factory finished with the ‘PUR Eco-System’, a surface coating technology that guarantees quick and easy cleaning, in addition to offering low maintenance costs and a reduced environmental impact. This advanced system also makes

floorings more durable, as well as abrasion resistant and less susceptible to marks, scuffs and scratches.

Outstanding products offer a sustainable future

For the last two decades, the flooring industry has been meeting the challenges posed by escalating manufacturing costs and lifecycle ratings. In response, for many years Armstrong has been working intensively with all the relevant certification issuers and is therefore qualified to make reliable statements concerning the sustainability ratings of all its DLW floor coverings. This in turn is very helpful to architects and other specifiers, especially in the early planning phase.

DLW’s linoleum floor coverings meet high construction and ecological standards by the very fact that they are made from natural, sustainable raw materials. They are therefore the product of choice to meet the architecturally challenging buildings built to recognised ‘sustainable’ criteria.

Irving-Swift said, “Over 50 per cent of our portfolio of products is linoleum-based with the balance manufactured in vinyl. The linoleum range is completely recyclable, being made from materials such as linseed oil, jute, resin and woodchips which are all organic. We are committed to continuing to work towards improving our green credentials even further in both our linoleum and vinyl ranges. We listen carefully to our customers who are mainly architects, designers and distributors and support them at the many trade shows that we attend. We also offer training sessions to our installers, which not only improves their professional efficiency, but also brings us

closer to them and introduces them to other new Armstrong products.

“Our main growth drivers today are our innovative materials, developed by our own in-house R&D department, and our increasing commitment to the development of sustainable, high-quality products. Our strategy for the future is to focus on our core strengths in R&D and in our manufacturing operations and to make our German plants Centres of Excellence in their respective fields, serving both Europe, North America and markets further afield. Our focus on growth is also about how we can leverage our cost base to greater advantage and build on the opportunities that present themselves in higher growth markets in eastern Europe and Russia, where we have recently opened a distribution centre. We are also expanding our sales team in the Middle East – we see great opportunities in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

Promoting ‘green dialogue’

At the beginning of 2011 Armstrong initiated a Europe-wide ‘Green Dialogue’ in order to distribute a wide variety of information on sustainability with special emphasis on sustainable flooring products. By doing so, Armstrong provides professional assistance

where it is needed most: at the fingertips of architects and planners worldwide. At www.armstrong.eu/sustainability there is a dedicated section where the relevant product certificates can be found, as well as references, information on environmental management and PVC recycling. The company has also published a new, comprehensive brochure on ‘sustainable construction’ which covers every aspect of the subject.

Furthermore, Armstrong is a member of ERFMI which represents the interests of manufacturers of elastic floor coverings. They have developed a tool which can create an environmental product declaration for a floor covering throughout its entire lifespan in just a few simple steps. This special EPD calculator is available as a free tool at www.erfmi.com

Award winning products

Two Armstrong flooring collections have recently been awarded the prestigious ‘IF Product design award’ in the public design/interior design category. The first is Lino Art, a collection that embodies the timeless beauty of precious metals. The company’s ‘Scala’ collection, with its fresh designs and exclusive embossed textures, has also been awarded this most coveted prize. This year’s ‘IF’ product design award winners were selected from 4322 submissions by 1605 participants from 48 countries worldwide. Among the international jury’s evaluation criteria were design quality, workmanship, choice of materials, degree of innovation and functionality. n