Shaw Hospitality Group to Sponsor College Design Flooring Contest

Shaw Hospitality Group is teaming with the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York to find unique hospitality carpet designs from some of the school’s brightest, up and coming design students. The winners of the inaugural “The Language of Design Challenge” will be awarded cash prizes, as well as the opportunity to have their winning carpet design displayed at hospitality industry trade shows.

“At Shaw Hospitality Group we focus on an ongoing infusion of fresh, creative thinking and unique perspectives in flooring design,” said Desiree Worsley, Shaw Hospitality Group vice president of marketing. “This design contest with such a well respected school is a unique opportunity to discover talented new artists and to raise awareness of the potential careers in pattern design for the floor covering industry.”

The students were given six 2009 color forecasts from LA Colors From Amsterdam and asked to design a signature rug, three broadloom designs, and an optional border design, based on one of these color pallets. The designs must be original works suitable for the hospitality market for public spaces, such as ballrooms, guest corridors, and meeting rooms. Students are also required to complete a brief design concept explaining their inspiration for their submission.

Competition judges include: Hospitality Design Magazine editor-in-chief Michael Adams; Catherine Stein of The Color Council; Teresa Viserious, principal of Viserious Design; Thom Filicia, renowned interior designer and design expert on the hit television show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy; and Deborah Hernandez, adjunct professor at FIT.

The competition, which began in April, allows students to research trade shows, hotels, Web sites, and retail stores throughout the spring and summer to spot design and color trends. Entries will be submitted and judged in December. Judging will be based on creativity, color, pattern, and scale related to floor covering in the hospitality industry.

Shaw Industries Named as CARE’s Large Recycler of the Year

Shaw Industries was named Large Recycler of the Year by the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), a joint industry-government initiative to promote carpet recycling, reuse, and waste reduction of post consumer carpet. Shaw leads the carpet industry with its cradle-to-cradle recycling program that has recycled 100 million pounds of post consumer carpet to date through its Evergreen Nylon Recycling Facility.

Shaw president Randy Merritt believes that the company’s commercial and residential carpet products embody the carpet-to-carpet design as a means to reduce landfill waste and virgin raw material usage. The company’s efforts have lead to increased amounts of recycled content available for the production of new Shaw products in the future. “Shaw has come a long way in implementing its cradle-to-cradle products,” says Merritt. “Beyond the ability to design a product for reclamation and recycling through Evergreen, we had to organize and facilitate a nationwide collections network to service our customer’s recycling needs. It is a great honor for Shaw to be recognized by CARE for its recycling successes.”

Shaw’s nationwide collection network collaborates with entrepreneurs and businesses across the U.S. in establishing recycling centers for post consumer carpet. In conjunction with these businesses, Shaw has collected 165 million pounds of carpet, keeping it from landfill.

Shaw’s nylon brands, Eco Solution Q® and Anso® nylon, service the commercial and residential markets, respectively, and are nylon 6 fibers. Any carpet made with nylon 6 fiber can be processed at the Evergreen facility, the only operating facility of its kind in the world. The Evergreen process yields caprolactam monomer, the building block for new nylon, which gives Shaw the ability to increase the amount of recycled content in its products with the addition of post consumer recycled content.

The Shaw carpet recycling network operates collection points across the United States and in most major markets. Russ Delozier, the post consumer carpet collection manager, was named the CARE Person of the Year for 2007. “Russ and his committed team have played a major role in the implementation of our collection network,” says Rick Ramirez, vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs. “I am pleased that CARE recognized him for the leadership role that he is playing in bringing carpet recycling options to our customers and communities at large.”

Shaw commercial brands The New Patcraft & Designweave, Shaw Contract Group, and Shaw Hospitality Group manufacture carpet products with Eco Solution Q nylon, a Cradle to Cradle Certified product by MBDC. This certification contributes to Innovation in Design points through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. Additionally, Shaw commercial brands feature EcoWorx backing technology for tile and broadloom carpet. Shaw guarantees that it will collect and recycle all EcoWorx carpet products into more EcoWorx at no charge to the customer.