Dalton—Mohawk Group’s Light Lab, the company’s recently 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 in the state of Georgia, as well as the first building product manufacturer, to receive the prestigious Living Building Challenge Petal Certification from the ILFI,” said Rochelle Routman, vice president of sustainability, Mohawk Flooring. “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.”
The 33,000-square-foot Light Lab is a mid-century modern building here that features 365-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 North America residential products. The conceptual design of the interior renovation for Light Lab was provided by students from the Savannah College of Art and Design 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 ILFI.