New Vinyl Products Win Medals at NeoCon Trade Fair
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2008 (VNS) – A vinyl "surfacing material" for walls by Lonseal and a new line of vinyl flooring by Mannington won silver-level Best of NeoCon awards at the NeoCon World's Trade Fair, the country's largest commercial interior design show and conference.
Lonseal, based in Carson, Calif., won its award for its LonElements Sahara line in the newer "surfacing materials" category. Kinjal Husges, marketing director for Lonseal Worldwide, explained that the product brings some characteristics of vinyl flooring to walls, though it is not a wallcover.
"Lonseal Sahara is 60 mil, far thicker than normal wallcovering, but thinner than vinyl sheet flooring, which is 180 mil," she said. Still, Lonseal Sahara is constructed like flooring, with three layers, "so it has more 'give' and resilience," she said. "It also creates a moisture barrier and has acoustic properties to help reduce noise."
Like flooring, it comes in six-foot-wide sheets, Husges said, "so it covers larger areas with fewer seams." LonElements, like all of Lonseal's multi-layered or heterogeneous sheet vinyl, contains more than 35 percent pre-consumer recycled content.
Mannington Commercial of Calhoun, Ga., with a facility in Salem, N.J., won its award in the resilient flooring category for its new line, The Create Collection, designed in collaboration with the HOK Chicago architectural firm.
"The tiles come in cut-out shapes, including a 10½-inch round, that neatly fits into the arc of its companion diamond link, along with a basic 24-inch square, a smaller 6-inch square, and a connector 12-x-24- inch rectangle," said Zack Zehner, Mannington's vice president of commercial hard surface. "The possible combinations and permutations are limitless and allow for truly individual flooring patterns never before possible in luxury vinyl tile."
Also, he explained that Mannington combines "the latest advances in imaging, texturing, and finishing to create richness, depth, and luster in The Create Collection."
A total of 352 products were entered in 39 product and furnishing categories in the competition. The Best of NeoCon jury is composed of 53 corporate, government, and institutional facilities management executives, interior designers, and architects who are responsible for selecting and buying furniture and furnishings for their specific organizations or clients.
Other vinyl products that debuted at Neocon featured a combination of striking aesthetics and recycled content. For example, Parterre Flooring Systems, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., introduced Metallon, a vinyl resilient flooring that contains both pre- and post-consumer recycled vinyl. The tiles offer the durability and comfort of vinyl with a look that combines metallics and textured stone.
LSI Wallcoverings of Louisville, Ky., introduced seven new vinyl wallcoverings, five of which include 20 percent recycled content from reclaimed vinyl wallcover. The new designs range from embossed and chisled textures to Japanese- and Chinese-inspired patterns.
For more information about vinyl in design and construction, please visit www.vinylindesign.com, and www.vinylinfo.org.
The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC vinyl in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC vinyl to society.
For more information, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
(703) 741-5669
jeff_palmer@plastics.org