UTT News...
Green Carpet Backing Benefits Hospitality, Residential Markets
Eco-Friendly Carpet Backing
Three years after introducing BioCel®, the award-winning environmentally responsible carpet backing for high-traffic commercial applications, Universal Textile Technologies is once again making history with the introduction of EnviroCel™, the first high-performance, environmentally green polyurethane carpet backing system designed specifically for the various installation and performance requirements of hospitality and high-endresidential use.
Designed for use in hotel rooms, condominiums, corridors, and other mid-traffic environments, EnviroCel™ Laminate, EnviroCel™ Laminate Plus, EnviroCel™ Cushion, and EnviroCel™ Cushion Plus contain green materials at approximate levels ranging from 55-85% by weight. EnviroCel™ carpet backings are not adversely affected by water or temperature changes, and will withstand repeated wet cleanings. Universal’s polyurethane carpet backings are recognized for their ability to support heavy furniture and extend a carpet’s useful life, making replacement less frequent. In addition, the EnviroCel™ Laminate, EnviroCel™ Laminate Plus, and EnviroCel™ Cushion products feature a revolutionary, patent-pending extruded fiberization adhesion layer that provides increased flexibility
and delamination strength while significantly reducing product weight. Lighter and more flexible, these EnviroCel™ backings are easy to install and less expensive to manufacture and ship.
Easily identified by its signature black woven secondary backing, EnviroCel™ Laminate is suitable for stretch-in or direct glue applications. EnviroCel™ Laminate Plus is enhanced by an ultra-soft, green-colored, composite non-woven secondary backing that makes stretch-in over tack strip, double stick or direct glue an option for all installations.
Attached cushion backings provide ergonomic benefits, enhance appearance retention, and insulate against sound transfer and energy loss. They also help make installation and associated turn-around time a quick and efficient process. EnviroCel™ Cushion features a 16-ounce fiber pad made from post-consumer recycled PET. The ultimate hospitality backing, EnviroCel™ Cushion Plus carries a 30-ounce attached bio-based polyurethane cushion. Both cushion products are designed for direct glue installation.
EnviroCel™ technology replaces over 90% of the petroleum-based polymers in its polyurethane formula with bio-based polymers derived from domestically-grown soybeans. EnviroCel™ also contains Celceram™, a highly-refined material recovered from the process of coal combustion in an electric utility power plant that has the added benefit of increasing carpets’ dimensional stability. In addition, three of the four EnviroCel™ backings incorporate post-consumer recycled PET plastic from soft drink and water bottles.
Low VOC levels associated with EnviroCel™ backings and EnviroCel’s rapidly renewable and post-consumer recycled content contribute toward the total project credit for LEED certification. In addition, every yard of EnviroCel™ carpet installed means increased soybean production, which helps improve air quality by consuming CO2 from the atmosphere.
EnviroCel™ can be specified for virtually any carpet suited to the hospitality market. “EnviroCel™ backings complement our BioCel® products by offering a high-performance, sustainable polyurethane backing to a much broader range of potential end use scenarios,” says Universal vice-president of marketing, Doug Giles. “We’ve had tremendous support for all of our sustainable backings, and we expect demand will continue.”
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