How can commercial carpet tiles improve comfort & wellbeing?

Over the years, we’re getting more conscious of the need to invest in the comfort of the users of a commercial space, whether it be in the work, educational or hospitality sector. This growing interest in comfort is directly related to the demands for the improvement of physical and mental wellbeing. Investing in ergonomic, visual and acoustic comfort for instance has a proven positive effect on people’s productivity, health and wellness.

Evidently your choice of flooring will have a profound influence on your environment, so how can carpet tiles improve user comfort and wellbeing?

Physical comfort & comfortBack

A physically uncomfortable environment leads to an increased risk of health complications and ultimately a higher absenteeism rate. In order to tackle this problem, we’ve developed a shock-absorbing backing called comfortBack. Just as comfy as walking on sneakers all day, comfortBack ensures cushioning and reduces muscle fatigue. Thanks to its structure, it absorbs and recovers from footfall while also minimising noise. Furthermore, the 90% recycled content and lack of chemicals contribute to an eco-friendly environment, boosting health and wellbeing.

Want to improve comfort within your workspace?

Take me to the comfortBack brochure.

Acoustic comfort & dBack

Noise is a well-known disruptor of concentration and productivity. In the office, for example, distractions are most likely to be caused by ambient noise such as chatty co-workers, loud aircons and ringtones, which causes stress and has a major impact on employee wellbeing.

As a textile, carpet already is a natural sound absorber and works to improve impact noise, but the specially developed dBack acoustic backing helps to reduce it even more. Thanks to the recycled polyester felt, dBack provides a minimum improvement of 50% in sound absorption and an average improvement of 15% in impact noise compared to the standard bitumen backing (back2back).

Indoor air quality

Indoor air quality is another element that needs to be addressed. Not only can poor air quality result in loss of concentration, but it can also cause respiratory problems. A good ventilation system is of great importance, but also building materials and furnishings can affect the quality of the indoor environment. The air quality is determined primarily by the concentration and size of dust particles such as PM2.5. These fine dust particles penetrate deep into our lungs and cause the most damage to the respiratory and cardiovascular system. The modulyss In-groove and Pure Air100 carpet tiles are developed to trap dust and purge the indoor air. They are up to 6 times better in capturing and retaining fine dust than hard floors.

Visual comfort & LRV

The visual comfort of a space is linked to the presence of natural light and the overall uniformity of light as changes in illumination cause eye discomfort. An important tool that can help you measure the light in a room is LRV. LRV or Light Reflectance Value basically is the amount of light that is reflected from a surface when illuminated by a light source. The higher the LRV, the more light the surface reflects, resulting in higher light intensity. The lower the LRV, the more light it absorbs.

Next to the ceiling and the walls, the flooring is a big surface and a key element in light reflection. For carpets, high LRV means that the carpet tile will reflect more light, which reduces the need for artificial lighting, thus improving energy efficiency. Moreover, it also improves alertness, productivity and eye comfort because the light will be more uniform.

The LRV datasheets of our products can be found on every collection page.

CPD: Introduction to wellbeing

Our UK colleagues offer a CPD that aims to introduce the topic of wellbeing in the workplace.
Interested? Click here to get your RIBA credited CPD presentation (UK only).

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The CPD was informative on the subject of wellbeing and its future use in office design. We found the acoustic and comfort requirements elements of the CPD of particular interest.