Designing with Independence: Sustainable Choices for a Better Future

By Carnegie Design Services

Beauty, function, and sustainability aren’t mutually exclusive – great design can occur without negatively impacting people and our planet. If you are a designer and are finding yourself short on time to dedicate to product research, you can lean on Carnegie’s complimentary Design Services team to do the legwork for you when it comes to choosing climate-positive material options that meet the needs of your commercial projects.

All materials we recommend are:

Organizations such as Greenpeace have long classified PVC as “one of the most toxic substances saturating our planet and its inhabitants.” PVC is extremely prevalent in our lives, present in everything from furniture to textiles, and has long been synonymous with performance at low cost. But the long term environmental, human, and ecosystem costs of vinyl chloride - the building block of PVC - are anything but low.

High-performance alternatives to PVC are widely available, and when you collaborate with Design Services, every option provided will be 100% free of PVC no matter which aesthetic you’re trying to create, or which market you’re working for.

Additional resources:

The PVC Pivot

PFAS are known as Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often referred to as Fluorotechnology or Forever Chemicals characterized by strong bonds between fluorine and carbon. Because of this strong bond, PFAs provide products with durability. However, it comes with a cost. 

Health Implications of PFAs

• Cancer
• Liver Damage
• Obesity
• Thyroid Disease
• Delays in Child Development

When products containing these chemicals end up in landfills, these pollutants seep into our soil, air, and drinking water. In January of 2023, Carnegie announced that we would no longer use finishes containing PFAS in any new products and have transitioned our current products that had a PFOA-free stain-resistant finish to have a PFAS-free stain-resistant finish. 

Learn more in our PFAS CEU

Red List Free means materials are free of harmful chemicals and compounds such as:

• Antimicrobials
• Antimony
• Bisphenol A (BPA)
• Chlorine
• DMF
• Formaldehyde
• Halogenated fire retardants
• Heavy metals
• Ozone-depleting chemicals
• PFAS
• Phthalates
• Plasticizers
• PVC
• Solvents

All of our products that are stocked without a stain-resistant finish are free of https://living-future.org/red-list/. 

To establish a more circular economy, we offset waste wherever we can. When samples are sent to designers, we try to reuse them and send a return label with reusable packaging. Our responsible return program accepts used Xorel for refuse or energy generation. We carry many products that are made with post-industrial recycled contents like recycled wool, PET, and Trevira polyester. Our proprietary textile, Biobased Xorel, is made from rapidly renewable sugarcane waste and is approved for a wide variety of applications which gives designers unlimited opportunities to integrate circular materials.

VOCs are Volatile Organic Compound emissions in the indoor air that cause a variety of health issues: 

• Eye, nose and throat irritation
• Headaches and loss of coordination
• Nausea
• Damage to the liver, kidneys or central nervous system

Our entire product line contains extremely low VOCs.

Designers rely on our team of product experts to help them determine what sustainable products fit within their project goals. For projects seeking LEED compliance, the fabrics we recommend all have a Health Product Declaration (HPD) for material transparency. For clients who request vinyls for wallcovering and upholstery, we rely on our library of PVC-free materials that provide the same level of high-performance without the harmful chemistry. Coated fabrics like Carnegie Siltech, our proprietary textile design system Xorel, or Vinyl Alternative Wallcoverings are just a few examples of extremely durable, bleach-cleanable, and wipeable alternatives to PVC for contract environments. 

About the author

Carnegie Design Services helps you find the right solutions for your project needs. From curated sample packages based on your specific project requirements, to professionally executed design layouts and renderings for our Acoustic Solutions products. Carnegie Design Services is always complimentary, providing you with 360º support and complete peace of mind while saving you precious billable hours