Flooring Sustainability Summit: This year’s event highlights the industry’s unified push toward greener practices - Aug/Sept 2025
By Kemp Harr
The second annual Flooring Sustainability Summit brought together more than 200 industry professionals in Washington, D.C. this July for a two-day event centered on aligning the flooring industry’s approach to sustainability, transparency and innovation.
Held at the Mayflower Hotel and the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, the summit brought together manufacturers, designers, trade associations and policymakers to identify shared goals and drive measurable progress.
Organized in part by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), this year’s summit expanded its reach with the addition of the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) and the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI). The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) and the Natural Stone Institute also joined again this year.
“Our goal is to foster cross-industry conversation about sustainability and green buildings among leaders in this highly competitive flooring business,” said Bill Griese, deputy director of TCNA and chairman of the summit, in his opening remarks. “We want to optimize solutions for designers and architects to make their choices easier.”
Industry momentum despite political headwinds
Peter Templeton, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, addressed the four-year political cycle that the U.S. government operates under, with each new presidential leader stepping in with his own agenda. He assured the audience that “sustainability is not on hold,” addressing the fact head-on that while it’s not a focus for the federal government under President Trump’s leadership, there is ongoing activity at the state and local level. He complimented the flooring industry for hosting events like this one and keeping the conversation alive.
Templeton also highlighted the April launch of LEED v5, the first major update to the green building certification program in over a decade (LEED v4 was introduced 12 years ago). Today, there are LEED projects in more than 180 countries. LEED v5 shifts the focus toward achieving near-zero carbon emissions and prioritizing the health and wellness of building occupants.
According to Templeton, today’s LEED activity is increasingly focused on renovations rather than new construction and is seeing an increase in activity in Asian countries. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Health Product Declarations (HPDs) continue to serve as critical documentation in achieving certification.
He specifically applauded Portobello’s showroom in Brazil, which was the first LEED v5-certified project globally.
A new language for materials and circularity
A major milestone discussed was the industry-wide alignment on the Common Materials Framework, a collaboration among the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the International Well Building Institute (IWBI), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Mindful Materials (MM). The framework defines five pillars of material sustainability: Human Health, Climate Health, Ecosystem Economy, Social Equity and Circular Economy.
Mike Johnson of ILFI emphasized that this shared language marks a turning point for transparency and cohesion across the building products sector. Circularity also emerged as a key theme, with nine states implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, though only California and New York currently include flooring materials.
Several tools that specifiers use to evaluate materials were highlighted:
• EC3, which extracts carbon data from product EPDs
• Kaleidoscope, which allows visual embodied carbon comparisons
• Ecomedes, a comprehensive sustainability data platform
Supply chain panelists stressed the need for common terminology to compare products and convey performance data clearly-an increasingly critical factor for winning specifications.
What designers want: Clarity, data and a good story
On day two, architecture leaders from firms such as Gensler, HOK, Perkins&Will, SmithGroup and TVS shared candid insights into how flooring products are selected for projects. The overwhelming message: sustainability matters, but storytelling and clarity are just as important.
“We are artists, not scientists,” said one panelist.
“Tell us the story that we can relay to our client about what makes this product right for a project,” another added.
Designers seek transparency on embodied carbon, durability, fire ratings and material content. Tools like Kaleidoscope and Ecomedes are part of the daily workflow at firms like Gensler and SmithGroup. At the same time, traditional lunch-and-learn interactions remain a valuable source of information, particularly for junior designers who make most of the product selections.
Take-back programs and product lifecycle data were also cited as influential in the specification process.
Design trends from wellness to neuro-inclusivity
Elizabeth Von Lehe, board chair of the American Society of Interior Designers and a senior design leader at CannonDesign, emphasized the critical role of flooring as a design driver that reinforces brand identity and guides behavior. “Flooring is often the main character in interior design,” she noted.
With more than 50 million square feet of flooring specified in her career, she shared that understanding the lifecycle of each building type-ranging from 44 years in K-12 schools to just three to five years in retail-is vital when choosing sustainable products.
She outlined emerging trends:
Design
• With soft surfaces, acoustics and comfort are making a comeback.
• Flooring is being used to delineate the space.
• Color, texture and even mixed materials are being used in wayfinding.
• Designers must operate across disciplines as boundaries fade between home, school, work and leisure.
Circularity
• Biobased or renewable materials
• Recycled content
• Cradle to cradle components
Neuro-inclusivity and wellness
• Sensory friendly layouts
• Flexible furniture
• Calming yet stimulating color palettes
Call to action: Don't just comply-inspire
In the final keynote, Eric Corey Freed, director of sustainability at CannonDesign, urged attendees to push past bureaucratic resistance to innovation. He encouraged designers to challenge phrases like “We’ve tried that before” or “Let’s form a committee.”
“We are not here to ruin the budget-we are here to make the project better,” he said. “To win, designers must seek remarkable design.”
As the summit concluded, one thing was clear: aligning around shared goals, transparent metrics and storytelling is essential for making sustainability both actionable and aspirational in the flooring industry.