Mohawk Group’s Light Lab Design Center Receives Petal Certification from International Living Future Institute

DALTON, Ga., December 19, 2016 /3BL Media/ — Mohawk Group, a leading commercial flooring company known for cutting-edge and innovative flooring solutions, recently announced that Light Lab, the company’s newly renovated design studio, has received Petal Certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Living Building Challenge™ 2.1.

The ILFI’s Living Building Challenge is a building certification program, advocacy tool and philosophy that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today. The Challenge is comprised of seven performance categories called Petals: place, water, energy, health & happiness, materials, equity and beauty. Petal Recognition is given to projects that satisfy the requirements in three categories of the Living Building Challenge, when at least one is water, energy or materials.

"We are incredibly excited to be the first Living Building Challenge Petal Certified project in Georgia, the first Living Building Challenge Petal Certified restoration project in the United States, and the first building product manufacturer to receive the prestigious Petal Certification from the ILFI,” said Jackie Dettmar, vice president commercial design and product development for Mohawk Group. “For quite some time, Mohawk has used Declare, ILFI’s nutrition label program for products, as a way to report and disclose information about the ingredients in the products that we make. Now we’ve set an even higher bar in sustainability as we have extended ILFI’s rigorous sustainability standards to our newly renovated design center by achieving certification through the Living Building Challenge.”

Located in Dalton, GA, the 33000 square foot Light Lab is a mid-century modern building that features 360 degree views of landscape and natural vistas. Built in the early 1960s as the headquarters for World Carpet, the building has been used most recently as a showroom space for Mohawk Flooring residential products. The conceptual design of the interior renovation for Light Lab was provided by students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and the building is now home to all of the product design teams in the Mohawk organization. Light Lab has satisfied the Living Building Challenge requirements for the site, health, materials, equity and beauty Petals.

“Mohawk’s Petal Certification further demonstrates the company’s progressive attitude and unwavering commitment to both sustainability and ILFI’s transformational programs, including the Living Building Challenge, Declare, and the Living Product Challenge,” said Amanda Sturgeon, chief executive officer of the International Living Future Institute. “ILFI is proud to call Mohawk our partner and we are excited about future efforts to work together on our vision of a world that is socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative."

Please visit the Light Lab website at lightlab.mohawkgroup.com

About The International Living Future Institute
The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. Composed of leading green building experts and thought-leaders, the Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute runs the Living Building Challenge, Living Community Challenge, Living Product Challenge, Net Zero Energy Certification, the Cascadia Green Building Council, Ecotone Publishing, Declare, JUST and other leading-edge programs. A global network of more than 400 volunteers across nearly 30 countries drive the local adoption of restorative principles in their communities.

About Mohawk Group
Mohawk Group, the world’s leading producer and distributor of quality commercial flooring, delivers industry-leading style, cutting-edge innovation, unmatched service and superior sustainability. As the commercial division of Mohawk Industries, Mohawk Group has a heritage of craftsmanship that spans more than 130 years. The company’s enduring family of brands—Mohawk, Karastan, and Durkan—are widely regarded as the most trusted names in the commercial flooring business. Together, these brands function beautifully, delivering the perfect flooring solution for all markets and price points. Rounding out its esteemed product offering, the Mohawk Group also offers a full spectrum of hard surface flooring products and installation accessories that exceed the most rigorous performance standards. For additional information about its proven design solutions, and to learn more about what is next from Mohawk, visit www.mohawkgroup.com or call (800) 554-6637.