A recent article in Floor Trends Magazine, ‘5 Innovations for More Sustainable Flooring‘ by Tanja Kern looked at five flooring companies making an impact for a better world. One of the companies is Tarkett, and the article features Tarkett’s CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly® flooring.
Tanja describes how we are living in times of urgent environmental and social change and flooring manufacturers are exploring ways to create a healthier, fairer and better future.
This is an excerpt from the article:
Tarkett teamed up with Dr. John McKeon, CEO of Allergy Standards Limited, to address the affect flooring has on indoor air quality. While respiratory illness is on the rise among all Americans, research shows it disproportionately affects vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. Since Americans typically spend 90% of their time indoors, good indoor air quality is a critical part of asthma and allergy management. But not everyone has equal or equitable access to healthy air. Some studies show up to 80% of health outcomes are determined by environment and people’s behaviors in that environment.
The Indoor Air Innovation and Research Academy, part of is teaching design thinking principles, journey mapping and patient-centered design to improve lives.
“We know that our environments impact our health,” said Dr. John McKeon, CEO of Allergy Standards Limited. “A person tasked with procurement is not a surgeon, a nurse, or a meditation coach, but when they choose what flooring or air conditioning unit to use, they have a big role in designing, constructing, operating and maintaining our built environments, which in turn has a big impact on our health outcomes. The impacts of their decisions reverberate down the entire chain. If we think about a B2B or employment setting, for example, the way we ventilate, clean, and maintain a safe work environment goes beyond facilities management. It’s also relevant for HR management.”