When we refer to “sports flooring,” we’re talking about a variety of sports and recreational area applications. Sports flooring can include school gyms, work-out rooms, fitness centers, club rooms, yoga studios, etc. Another good example would be flooring for a physical therapist’s office. Since every environment is different, you’ll obviously want to choose the right flooring tailored to your specific needs.

As you probably know by now, sustainability has become increasingly more important for businesses today. There is even a Furniture Sustainability Standard now to help with those initiatives. Regardless of your specific application, you may be wondering which options are eco-friendly that work best for you.

Here are our top eco-friendly recommendations for sports flooring:

1. Rubber

Rubber flooring is certainly a great choice. Rubber flooring can be natural rubber, which is renewable, or synthetic, which may be made from recycled materials like tires. In either case, it’s an eco-friendly and sustainable choice.

One of the big advantages of rubber is that it comes in so many flooring types. There are rubber tiles, sheet rubber, as well as enormous rubber mats.

Rubber is extremely durable, very slip resistant, and it’s also comfortable to walk on. It’s easy to clean, water and chemical resistant, and you can get it in different colors.

2. Linoleum

Linoleum is the very definition of renewable. It’s made from linseed oil which comes from flax. It comes in every color of the rainbow and in both sheets and tiles. It’s possible to design complex inlay patterns with linoleum.

While linoleum is not as soft as rubber, it’s still a relatively soft floor, which means it will have good traction. Good traction means a floor is safer for anyone walking on it.

Linoleum is easy to clean, it’s very durable, and if needed, you can always put down a some rubber mats in some areas on top of the linoleum. Linoleum is very trendy today.

3. Cork

Cork is another great eco-friendly choice that’s relatively soft and comfortable to walk on. It’s renewable and environmentally friendly. Cork is harvested from the bark of a specific species of oak tree, Quercus suber. Harvesting the bark does not hurt the tree.

It really depends on what type of sports facility you’re talking about. Cork might not be the best choice for a 10,000 square-foot gymnasium, but it would be perfect for a 500 square-foot office work-out room. Then you just add a few rubber mats in the area where the free weights are.

4. Carpet

There is such a thing as eco-friendly carpet. You just have to discuss this with your flooring professional. You can pick a carpet made of natural materials like wool or a carpet made of recycled plastic.

Carpet is great at cutting down noise—so are all soft flooring choices. It’s also one of the easiest and fastest floorings to install, which is a big deal for large businesses.

You will want to be sure to choose carpeting (and adhesive if used) that will not give off volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) or at least very low values.

And if you choose carpeting, you can still add some rubber mats for some specific areas.

The eco-friendliness of flooring is becoming more and more important to all businesses. Fortunately, there are many types of sports flooring that fit the bill.

If you’re seeking new floors for your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us! We’ve love to help other businesses, and we’ve been doing so for over 35 years.

We are experts at specifying the right product for your commercial flooring projects. @EagleMatFloors is family owned and operated, providing sales and installation of commercial flooring products to Property Managers and Commercial Building Owners in the Washington DC Metro area for over 35 years. Eagle Mat & Floor Products specializes in renovating facilities in the Corporate, Education, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, Multi-Family and Public Spaces.

For more information please contact us at (301) 762-2000 or sales@eaglemat.net