The reasons people continue to put carpet on their floors are almost as varied as the choices of colors, patterns and textures of the carpet itself. But make no mistake — carpet is often the floorcovering of choice for a variety of reasons. Aside from the obvious fact that carpet underfoot just feels better, there are numerous positive contributions that carpet provides our indoor environments. With people spending more time than ever before indoors, the indoor environment has become a popular catch phrase in the national media. Building and home designers are constantly on the lookout for ways to ensure that indoor building materials they select do all that they can to enhance the indoor air quality (IAQ) for occupants.

Until recently, the great debate regarding carpet and the indoor air environment has pretty much centered on outdated data that has created an urban legend of sorts. The myth is based on data that measures amounts of allergens and other such irritants within the carpet itself.

It has long been agreed that the intrinsic nature of carpet allows it to hold and trap settled materials such as dust particles and other allergens. However, the industry has also long considered this to be a good thing: If it is in the carpet, it’s certainly not being inhaled where it can aggravate allergies and asthma. Once in the carpet, studies have shown it takes more activity to re-suspend materials into the air than from smooth surfaces.

The American Lung Association recognizes this benefit and has chosen to carpet their National Demonstration Healthy Home model.

The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) tests and rates the vacuum cleaners that are best suited to removing materials from carpet with the Green Label Program, and strongly suggests regular vacuuming with one of the Green Label certified models.

Carpet is also the lone floorcovering that tests its volatile organic chemical (VOC) output, and has proven to be the lowest emitter of all floorcoverings.

Another big word in the building industry these days is mold. One of the biggest benefits of carpet in this arena is that it is among the hardest of all building materials for mold to grow. In fact, mold cannot grow on clean and dry carpet.

Today, the majority of people still purchase carpet for the obvious reasons — it feels good. Anyone who stands for prolonged periods on floors can appreciate the cushioning effect carpet provides. One study even showed that carpeted floors were 82 percent less stressful than smooth floors. With back and leg fatigue being critical issues to professionals such as teachers and those who walk the floors in retail all day, the benefit is also one of a performance issue. Once again, studies have shown pleasing surroundings play a very intricate role in performance, and, at the educational level, performance equates to a better learning environment for children and the teachers.

Carpet also “sounds better,” another benefit that enhances learning environments. Not only does carpet reduce and help control noise levels, it has also been shown to make the spoken word more audible. The State of California’s School Facilities and Transportation Division — one of the leaders in educational trends — researched and concluded that without carpet, effective sound control in open space classrooms is virtually impossible to achieve.

Unfortunately, accidents are going to happen. People fall and people drop things. The stats show that more deaths occur from injuries sustained in falls than any other source indoors. The slip-and-fall benefit of carpet is one of our favorites to tout because of such statistics. A report generated from a hospital environment shows that a significantly lesser chance of injury occurs on carpet compared to other floor surfaces, and we also know that the severity of those injuries is significantly less as well. Ever dropped a dish or glass before? Chances are you probably spent the next few minutes cleaning up broken dish and glass if it wasn’t on carpet.

This brings me to carpet maintenance. It is a grave misperception to think it is more costly to maintain carpet than smooth floorings. On the contrary, on an annual basis, documented research has shown hard surface floors require two-and-a-half-times more cleaning time than carpet, and cleaning supplies may be up to nearly seven times more expensive.

It’s also an untruth to characterize carpet as being harder to clean and sanitize. Today’s carpet, when specified correctly, is built to last, and the ability to keep it clean and sanitary has never been easier. The CRI’s Seal of Approval testing program also provides a way to ensure that the cleaning products being used on carpet are effective.

The carpet industry is a very responsible one, and it gives me great pride to be associated with it. There are a lot of architects and designers these days that will only specify certain green products, and we are happy to say our carpet makes that grade as well. Every day the CRI’s members are working hard to make sure the footprint the industry leaves is minimal, at best, on the environment. The fact that you can visit the headquarters for Greenpeace in Washington, D.C., and feel the comfort of carpet underfoot inside their building tells me that our efforts to be sustainable and green are working.

Carpet is comfortable, appealing aesthetically, warm to the foot, and quiet. It certainly does live up to its reputation of just feeling better. And with so many other additional benefits, it’s rather easy to see why it is often the floorcovering choice.