SOLON, OH, OCTOBER 7, 2024 — Why aren’t all educational buildings healthy? That’s the driving question behind the Healthy Building Summit, an annual two-day workshop hosted by Tarkett, a global leader in innovative and sustainable flooring solutions.
“We saw a gap in interdisciplinary collaboration around healthy buildings, especially in educational settings,” said Jonathan Stanley, Tarkett North America’s director of education and government strategy. “The global pandemic highlighted the urgent need for healthier buildings, revealing issues like poor indoor air quality and mental health concerns.”
The summit, Stanley explained, was designed to address these problems and drive positive change through deep collaboration. This year’s event, held in Austin, Texas, brought together more than 40 professionals within the education sector—including workplace strategists, institutional leaders, facility and construction experts, behavioral health design specialists, and architects—to discuss a myriad of topics around the theme “Spaces of Connection.” Through super sessions, panel discussions, small group work and storytelling, the group explored how the built environment impacts mental health, user engagement, behavior and a sense of belonging, aiming for a comprehensive understanding of health.
“Health encompasses both body and mind. As we journey through the many facets and principles of a healthy building, we must continue to be mindful of the impact the built environment has on the soaring crisis of mental health,” Stanley said. “As we still grapple with the mental health effects of the pandemic years later, the importance of human connection and its effect on performance is clearer than ever.”
Sessions at this year’s summit dove into topics like how the brain responds to environmental influences, intentional design as a form of advocacy, the culture of space, and how biophilic design enhances spaces of connection and belonging. The summit also welcomed a high school student’s perspective on priorities of well-being and engagement.
To learn more about the Healthy Building Summit and its takeaways over the years, as well as to read more about spaces of connection, visit commercial.tarkett.com/education-flooring.
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About Tarkett
With a 140-year history, Tarkett is a worldwide leader in innovative and durable flooring and sports surface solutions, generating net sales of 3.4 billion euros in 2023. The Group has around 12,000 employees, 23 R&D centres, 8 recycling centres, and 34 production sites. Tarkett designs and manufactures solutions for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, shops, and sports fields, serving customers in more than 100 countries. To build “The Way to Better Floors”, the Group is committed to the circular economy and sustainable development, in line with its Tarkett Human-Conscious Design® approach. Tarkett is listed on the Euronext-regulated market (compartment B, ISIN: FR0004188670, ticker: TKTT). www.tarkett-group.com
Every Step Matters
For years, Tarkett has raised the sustainability standards of the flooring industry. The company designs floors with transparency you can trust as it creates healthy impacts on indoor spaces and protects our air, water, soil, and every living thing. Tarkett’s ReStart® take-back and recycling program will either repurpose or recycle every type of flooring from any manufacturer. Its near-term science-based carbon emissions reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and are fully aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement objective to limit global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius. For more information, visit commercial.tarkett.com/sustainability.
Tarkett North America Media Contacts
Melissa Peterson
Miller Brooks
(317) 873-8100
melissa@millerbrooks.com
