While options like solid wood, waxed concrete or tile are undeniably ideal for some projects, hard flooring solutions, unlike carpet, generally lack variety in terms of styles, designs, textures. and types of construction. A quality carpet that is correctly chosen, installed and maintained will keep its appearance for many years. What is less known, on the other hand, is that carpet has several considerable advantages in terms of indoor climate, important safety aspects, acoustic advantages and increased energy efficiency.
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By choosing a high quality carpet, you can be sure that it will fully meet the following seven factors:
A matter of style
Today’s carpet manufacturers, whether for commercial or private use, offer a wide selection of styles and colors allowing you to choose precisely what you want or to custom order the colors and patterns you want. want for any project.
With carpet, your choices are limitless, from bright, expressive colors and large patterns to organic patterns in softer, more subdued and more neutral hues. What’s more, creating your custom carpet is now faster and cheaper due to high-speed dye injection technology, an advanced dyeing solution offered by custom carpet manufacturers.
Carpet in red and black colors at the Atelier Velor
Sustainability and respect for the environment
It is possible to reduce the environmental impact and improve the overall performance of every carpet life cycle by ensuring that high quality carpeting plays an important role in efforts to reduce the impact of your carpet. environmental project. If you or your customer are sensitive to environmental friendliness and environmental impact, be sure to choose a carpet manufacturer that has implemented sustainable processes, such as Cradle to Cradle™ certification and recycling systems . Also know that if you choose a high quality carpet, it will keep its appearance for longer and will need less re-treatment and replacement. You should of course also ensure that the carpet meets international performance standards. In Europe, carpets must be tested and certified in accordance with the European standard for the testing and classification of floor coverings, EN 1307, which assesses carpet in terms of its durability and long-term appearance retention. Check that the carpet manufacturer you are dealing with uses rigorous testing facilities for all of their product development activities.
A healthier indoor climate
Most of us spend a large majority of our time indoors, especially during the winter months. It is therefore crucial that the interiors in which we live and work ensure our general well-being, our health and our productivity, both at work and in our free time.
Emissions from building materials and equipment, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are the main contributors to indoor climate problems. Studies 1 have shown that carpets trap allergens much more effectively than hard surfaces, as the carpet fibers catch particles and allergens as they fall to the floor. Once these allergens are captured by the carpet, they can no longer circulate through the air. Vacuuming the carpet regularly will remove these particles and allergens from the carpet, ensuring a healthier environment.
Dust particles in indoor air can also cause many symptoms, such as eye and respiratory tract irritation, infections and headaches. Independent scientific studies 2 have shown that carpets can cut the amount of airborne dust in half compared to hard floor solutions and other smooth floor coverings, such as vinyl.
As with allergens, carpeting captures dust which can then be completely removed with regular vacuuming and periodic steam cleaning. As a result, carpet is a very good flooring choice for projects where indoor air quality is important, such as schools, offices and hotels.
Plain red carpet at the Atelier Toile
Lower sound levels
Although today open-plan office spaces are highly valued due to their ability to promote information sharing, collaboration and flexibility, there is a downside to them, namely noise that impairs concentration. A study by the Danish Institute of Occupational Health 3 indicates that more than half of employees working in open-plan office spaces are negatively impacted by noise to the point of having difficulty concentrating.
Carpets provide excellent acoustic benefits and reduce noise by absorbing sound rather than reflecting it like hard surfaces.
Thanks to the comfort of the backing and the softness of the fibres, carpets offer excellent acoustic benefits and reduce noise by absorbing sound rather than reflecting it as is the case with hard surfaces. This goes for all carpets, but of course some carpets are more attenuating than others. Since acoustics are one of the determining factors in the choice of flooring for architects and clients, some manufacturers even offer carpet backings with acoustic properties to further dampen noise.
No small electric shocks
Static electricity is often a problem, causing considerable discomfort in interiors. Choosing a carpet containing conductive fibers and permanently antistatic solves this problem, since the people who will move on the carpet will not receive small electric shocks when they touch an object connected to the earth. Instead, the person walking on the carpet stays below the limit of about 2kV (kilovolts), the threshold generally accepted as being antistatic.
Thermal comfort and energy efficiency
It is possible to significantly improve the thermal comfort of indoor environments by choosing carpeted flooring, which not only provides warmth, but also contributes measurably to overall heat retention.
A carpeted floor can generally reduce the temperature of the room by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius without making the room feel colder.
The fibers also act as natural thermal insulators due to their low thermal conduction. In other words, carpet does not draw heat away from the feet as quickly as smooth floor coverings. In addition, the pile of the carpet traps air and further increases thermal insulation. The thicker the carpet, the higher the degree of thermal insulation. A carpeted floor not only feels warm, it also provides good walking comfort. It also does not require the same heating requirements as a smooth surface.