As Glumac's new Shanghai office space is the first to apply for Living Building Challenge project certification in Asia, the fit-out is completely energy, water and carbon neutral, and has composting toilets and an indoor air monitoring system. Gensler Shanghai is the architecture firm behind the Glumac office.

The Living Building Challenge is a building certification program, advocacy tool and philosophy that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today.

Advance Flooring's GreenPad DuPont Sorona Carpet Tiles were chosen for the floors of the office, as its Mix-back backing meets the Living Building Challenge's stringent requirements for healthy building materials.

Sustainably produced plant fibres such as Maize make up 37 per cent of GreenPad Carpet Tiles' DuPont Sorona fibre, effectively combining sustainability and performance benefits.

Producing Sorona uses 30 per cent less energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 63 per cent compared to producing an equal amount of nylon 6. When compared with an equal amount of nylon 6.6, the production of Sorona uses 40 per cent less energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 56 per cent, while no additional chemical treatments are used for stain resistance.

The unique structure of Sorona makes carpet incredibly durable as the Sorona fibres are crush resistant and retain their shape and texture. The fibres are stain-resistant and will protect against mustard, tomato sauce, coffee and red wine, and are also bleach and UV resistant, reducing fading.

The backing of GreenPad carpet tiles are Mix-Bac – an innovative backing that uses recycled PET bottles – 48 bottles per 1m². In addition to achieving a high eco-content in this backing system, it has the added advantage of noise reduction, a softer underfoot feeling and assists with heating and cooling insulation properties.

Sorona will help designers, architects and building owners achieve environmental credits with every project, and is perfect for commercial spaces.

With an increasing range of styles and patterns Advance Flooring are excited to be part of yet another innovative commercial flooring solution, and combined with their experience of supplying flooring across New Zealand since 1976, have the ability to help deliver a world class project.