light wood colored flooring with a rectangular area rug. Benches with bright colored pillows go around the wall with a large table a the center

Breathe EASY Project

PRESS RELEASE | SUSTAINABILITY

Tarkett North America Donates More Than 20,000 Square Feet of asthma & allergy friendly® Certified Flooring Through Partnership with Breathe EASY Project

SOLON, OH, DECEMBER 10, 2020 — Following its Learn.Give.Breathe. series of free webinars in celebration of National Indoor Air Quality Month, Tarkett capped the month with a donation of 24,520 square feet of asthma & allergy friendly^® certified flooring to Yachad-DC, which will use the flooring to help families in the Washington, D.C. area improve the quality of the air in their homes as part of that organization’s Healthy Homes Project. The donation represents 35 square feet of flooring for each attendee who participated in the webinar series. The company further extended its contribution by donating 35 square feet of flooring for each person who attended one of its virtual presentations during Greenbuild Expo.

“The Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America has helped identify asthma and allergy friendly® certified products for the Healthy Homes & Asthma Home Visiting program operated by Yachad-DC, a local non-profit housing remediation organization,” said Janet A. Phoenix, MD, MPH, Assistant Research Professor, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. “During the last four months, since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have conducted virtual asthma home visits for more than 50 families, providing them with supplies to help them reduce asthma triggers in their home environments. AAFA’s help and the help of the companies who have generously donated their products, have helped us keep children with asthma out of the emergency room and out of the hospital.”

“The mixture of craft, science and purpose is a process we’ve practiced for years. Taken together, we call it Tarkett Human-Conscious Design™ and it drives everything we do,” said Sarah Robinson, Tarkett North America, LEED AP, product sustainability manager. “Designing healthy spaces aligns with our purpose, and when we were presented the opportunity to help families improve their living spaces and reduce asthmatic triggers, we jumped at the opportunity.”

Tarkett remains the only flooring manufacturer to offer both residential and commercial flooring solutions that have been certified asthma & allergy friendly® by Allergy Standards Ltd. in collaboration with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. The certification program helps people make informed purchases for healthier homes, schools and workplaces. Only those products that pass stringent tests are awarded the designation. For flooring to be certified asthma & allergy friendly, Allergy Standards’s independent third-party testing must show that the floor is easily cleaned and has a low capacity for retaining allergens, as well as having low VOC emissions. The certification process involves testing not only the product itself, but also the installation method and recommended cleaning process as a complete system to ensure no harmful materials are introduced while installing or cleaning the floor.

Yachad-DC is receiving Tarkett’s iD Inspiration 70 luxury vinyl tile and CustomPro vinyl sheet flooring. More details and high-resolution photography for Tarkett’s asthma & allergy friendly certified products are available upon request.

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About Breathe DC

Breathe DC is the first District of Columbia non-profit community health organization created to fight all forms of lung disease, especially in communities with health disparities. It is dedicated to making healthy breathing and clean air the norm for everyone who lives, works and raises their families in greater Washington, DC. Through evidence-based community health programs, health education, community partnerships and public policy advocacy, Breathe DC engages local residents and leaders to form a united front against asthma, smoking, lung cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and air pollution.

About Allergy Standards, Ltd.

Allergy Standards Ltd (ASL) uses Design Thinking Principles to operate the world’s most recognised certification program for the allergy aware consumer. As an international certification and health data analytics company, ASL develops international standards for innovation and testing of a wide range of consumer products and services. ASL works with researchers, manufacturers and retailers throughout the supply chain, using design thinking and innovation to create a healthier indoor environment.

About Tarkett

With a history of 140 years, Tarkett is a worldwide leader in innovative flooring and sports surface solutions, with net sales of €3 billion in 2019. Offering a wide range of products including vinyl, linoleum, rubber, carpet, wood, laminate, artificial turf and athletics tracks, the Group serves customers in over 100 countries across the globe. Tarkett has 12,500 employees and 33 industrial sites, and sells 1.3 million square meters of flooring every day, for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, stores and sports fields. Committed to change the game with circular economy, the Group has implemented an eco-innovation strategy based on Cradle to Cradle® principles, with the ultimate goal of contributing to people’s health and wellbeing, and preserving natural capital. Tarkett is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment B, ISIN: FR0004188670, ticker: TKTT) and is included in the following indices: SBF 120 and CAC Mid 60. www.tarkett.com.