Shaw is The First Flooring Solutions Provider to Obtain Works with WELLTM Mark through EcoWorx® and EcoWorx S™ Products
Licensing program verifies that the carpet tiles align with WELL Building Standard features, simplifying customers’ ability to meet health & wellbeing design requirements.
Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) has earned license to the Works with WELLTM mark for its EcoWorx® and EcoWorx S™ carpet tile products available from Shaw Contract globally. Through a licensing program offered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the new mark demonstrates that the company’s EcoWorx and EcoWorx S align with health strategies within the WELL Building Standard (WELLTM), making it easier for product specifiers and purchase decision makers to select products that contribute to achieving certain WELL Certification requirements.
Shaw is the first flooring company to receive the Works with WELL product license, and as an early adopter, has the first carpet products in the world to receive the mark. Developed in the late 1990s, EcoWorx was the first PVC-free carpet tile. The product, which is fully recyclable, went on to become the first flooring product to be Cradle to Cradle Certified®, verifying it as safe, circular and responsibly made. The new WELL Mark also includes EcoWorx S the UK made; closed loop carpet tile solution launched at Clerkenwell Design Week in May.
Obtaining the Works with WELL mark is a further testament to the company’s commitment to creating products that support the health & wellbeing of the planet and its people. In addition to use of the mark, brand teams can use a QR code that will direct users to the product page on IWBI’s website for further information about WELL feature alignments.
WELL is the world’s leading standard that focuses on advancing people’s health and well-being with a library of holistic, evidence-based strategies applicable across buildings, organizations and communities. Developed over 10 years and backed by the latest scientific research, WELL outlines key building-level interventions and organizational strategies across 10 concept areas: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community.
EcoWorx and EcowWorx S’ alignments in the Materials Concept mean the products can contribute to the achievement of the following WELL Building Certification features:
1. X05.2 – avoidance of select material ingredients
2. X06.2 – low VOC emissions
3. X07.1 – ingredient disclosure
4. X08.1 – materials with enhanced chemical restrictions
5. X08.2 – optimized products
“By validating that EcoWorx and EcowWorx S align with material health features within WELL, the Works with WELL mark makes it even easier for customers focused on health & wellbeing to make confident purchasing decisions.”
Kellie Ballew, vice president of global sustainability and innovation at Shaw
IWBI granted the license to use the Works with WELL trademark after Shaw submitted an application to IWBI and underwent a third-party document review to confirm that the following specific products and features meet the requirements for the license required by IWBI.
This designation is the latest example of Shaw’s commitment to material health and providing market-driven solutions for its customers. Other examples of the company’s leadership and commitment include:
Almost 90 percent of the products the company manufactures are Cradle to Cradle Certified®- evaluated form material health, clean air and climate protection, product circularity, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness. The company is one of the first 30 companies in the world to pursue the WELL Equity Rating. Pursuit of the rating of Shaw facilities is currently underway. Shaw executives serve on the WELL Home Advisory and the WELL Materials Advisory, providing industry insight on healthy homes and the evolution of the WELL Materials concept. Shaw is an IWBI keystone member, a network of global brands supporting the WELL movement by sharing expertise and solutions that advance people’s health and well-being.
“Shaw’s continued innovation and validation of its efforts against rigorous third-party standards are critical to creating people-first places. We commend Shaw for its long-term commitment to designing products created to be a force for good for people and planet.”
Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of IWBI
More About Works with WELL Launched in 2022, the Works with WELL trademark licensing program recognizes products and solutions that contribute to the achieving of specific features in the WELL Standard. The Works with WELL trademark indicates specific alignment between an eligible product and at least one WELL feature or threshold, thereby informing the market of solutions available to support organizations advancing people-first places. Eligibility to use this trademark does not suggest products with this distinction guarantee the achievement of WELL Certification, a WELL rating or any standalone WELL feature.
About Shaw Contract Shaw Contract designs and manufactures carpet and resilient products that give foundation to spaces and support to the people within them. With showrooms and offices in London, Paris, Oosterhout, Dubai and around the world, Shaw Contract is headquartered in Georgia, USA. With its manufacturing facility in Sanquhar, Scotland, Shaw Contract is ideally positioned to meet the needs of customers through direct sales and an approved service provider network across the UK and EMEA region. A pioneer of the Cradle-to-Cradle approach, Shaw is a business member of Chemsec, the International Chemical Secretariat, and on the Materials Advisory group for the International Well Building Institute (IWBI). It is also a member of the UKGBC and Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK), and is working with South of Scotland Enterprise to support the move to a circular economy and net zero approach.