by aleida, on December 8th, 2009
Image courtesy of Coverings Etc
Kevin and I continued to learn about fascinating products as we sat down to chat with Jennifer Ryan, Director of Business Development for Coverings Etc. She walked us through their offerings and even gave us a sneak peek at a new product to be launched very soon (I will report on it as soon as I receive official details). We arrived at the company’s Greenbuild expo booth to find it mobbed with people, and it’s not surprising that so many individuals wanted more information about the materials on display.
Coverings Etc was founded in 1998 by designer Ofer Mizrahi whose original intent was to source unique natural stones for the architecture and design industry. Driven by his love for design and sustainability, Ofer has little by little moved his business into the sustainable products world. Currently, the company is headquartered in Miami, FL and has impressive reach for a company just twelve years old. With three showrooms on the East Coast and two logistics centers (one in New Jersey, the second in Italy), it has provided flooring, tile, and countertops to projects on both sides of the Atlantic. Plans are in place to expand worldwide, and their next showroom is slated for the U.S. West Coast.
Image courtesy of Coverings Etc
Without exception, every product in all of the collections is manufactured in northern Italy. So while none of them could be considered locally-sourced, they could contribute LEED points at various levels if a project is looking to be certified.
The company’s product lines with the most fascinating back-stories are also the newest introductions. Here are two of our favorites:
- Bio-Luminum Have you ever thought about what happens to old airplanes? Well, some of them get turned into furniture (see MotoArt), and now, some also become beautiful tile. Coverings Etc has started taking decommissioned U.S. military aircraft and turning them into sleek architectural materials. As the collection’s tag-line states, the planes go “From Flight to Fancy.” The fuselages get taken apart and are then melted and formed into a thick block from which quarry-style tiles are sliced. The 100% post-consumer recycled content end product was lunched just ten months ago, in February 2009, and has already earned Cradle to Cradle certification at the Silver level. (Yes, this too is manufactured in Italy: the planes are shipped there and the tiles are shipped back.)
- Bio-Glass This product is a little bit older, it was developed in 2006 and introduced in January, 2007. The thick slabs of fused large shards of glass are irresistible and pristine. They contain no resins, no epoxies, no additives of any kind, just 100% recycled glass. The shards come from wine, beer, and water bottles, as well as glassware. They are collected from European sources, and thermo-fused into slabs that can be used as countertops, flooring, and wall accents. The end product comes in only four colors, two dark and two light: the light slabs contain all pre-consumer recycled glass, while the dark contain only post-consumer recycled glass. Just as Bio-Luminum, this product also earned Silver level Cradle to Cradle certification.
Coverings Etc most definitely has other collections worth checking out, like Eco-Terr (pre-cast terrazzo slabs and tiles that contain up to 80% post-industrial and up to 10% post-consumer recycled content), Eco-Cem (cementitious slabs and tiles that contain up to 20% post-consumer and post-industrial recycled content such as wood pulp from discarded lumber, furniture, and newspapers), and Eco-Gres (a porcelain product that contains 36% post-industrial recycled content).
Image courtesy of Coverings Etc
An internal take-back program is in the works, but for now both Bio-Glass and Bio-Luminum are fully recyclable through any local recycling program.
We have used Eco-Gres in a couple of our past projects, so it was really nice to not only see all the product offerings in one place, but also learn about the new developments.
Thank you, Jennifer, for your time!
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