Commercial Architecture April 2017 - 28

PROJECT

flooring
conducted acoustic tests over all of the test products.
"You hit the granite tile, then you rolled over our resilient floor, then you hit the granite tile again, and then
you rolled over the acoustic test floor," said Hyde. "We
felt the products we were testing on that side, Ecore's
(Terrain rx) included, were truly making a sound difference, as people rolled on that side of the floor. The
carts rattled on the tile. Then you moved, and it would
be dead-the clicking, the rolling noises, and all that
stuff," said Hyde.
Those using the JHH testing corridor also noticed
when the Terrain rx was no longer there. "People commented when it left," said Hyde. "People were not happy. The (Metro) tunnel can be quite loud." Bennett
added, "People definitely noticed it felt better under
foot too." Other test areas Terrain rx performed well in
included durability, stain removal, and cleanability.
When analyzing the sheet goods, such as Terrain
rx, JHH placed the seam in the middle of each testing
site, using the manufacturer's recommended weld rod.
"We were a little concerned about the rx because of the

Administrators at The Johns Hopkins Hospital had a variety of flooring options tested in active healthcare environments.

compression factor," said Hyde. "We wondered if we
would see some failure at the heavy-traffic edge. We

green, recycled products and products made from al-

underground, the weather was a factor. You really did

ternative materials," said Andrea Hyde, AAHID, MD-

see the tracked in salt and moisture and things coming

CID, and planner/designer in the Architecture and

from people's feet and going across it (the surfaces)."

did not; it worked great actually."
With regard to cleaning, some products changed
color with the Oxi-Clean or Oxi-Seal. "The rx product

Planning Department at JHH. "We wanted to prove to

The result: "Some of the most sustainable products

never had an issue at all," said Bennett. "There were no

ourselves that we could try sustainable products and

failed really miserably," said Hyde. "They needed more

issues with cleaning at all on both sides (sealed and

see how they do."

care than we could give, or material collected soiling

unsealed). And the seam remained intact throughout
the test."

The fourth and fifth challenges for JHH were to

due to the inherent open-pore design." JHH only had

test and establish new standard cleaning procedures

two product failures, because the surfaces didn't wear

and protocols to comply with sustainable, low-VOC

well or changed color with the use of the Oxi-Seal. "It

surface's

guidelines and to also meet infection control and ag-

wasn't a dirt wear; the product got darker and darker as

(PUR) provides a low cost, polish-free maintenance re-

ing issues by eliminating the use of high-gloss surfaces,

we cleaned it," said Bennett.

gime for the lifetime of the product.

Another benefit of specifying Terrain rx was that the
cross-linked

polyurethane

reinforcement

prior to implementation-in other words, installing

One of the products that performed best was Ecore

As a result of Terrain rx's positive performance and

products that didn't require wax and that could be

Commercial Flooring's Terrain rx. Ecore International

because it fulfilled JHH's four criteria challenges, JHH

cleaned and maintained using Oxi-Clean and Oxi-

is located in Lancaster, PA. Available in 6-ft.-wide rolls,

specified and installed Forest rx for 56 inpatient rooms

Seal products.

the flooring features 5 mm of the company's perfor-

in the JHH Meyer Neuro & Rehab facility.

mance rubber fusion bonded to a contemporary, mod-

"It was because of the success of the Terrain rx

TESTS AND RESULTS

ern heterogeneous vinyl sheet surface. This results in a

product that we made the commitment to use Forest rx

The JHH test area that was chosen for the 20 surfaces

surface that reduces the risk of injury associated with

in our Meyer renovation," said Bennett. Forest rx is

was the corridor connecting JHH Main Campus and

falls and offers sound control and comfort underfoot.

Terrain rx's sister product and features all of Terrain

JHOPC, including the Metro subway entrance to JHH

"The entire side that we were testing acoustics on

rx's attributes and benefits with a different visual-

East Baltimore Campus. The area receives more than

was interesting," said Hyde. Using rolling carts, JHH

wood instead of stone. CA

20,000 estimated footfalls each day. Each of the 20
product test sites measured 6 ft. by 18 ft. with 4 ft. of
walking width. One direction/side of each product was
sealed and the other side was unsealed. Installing an
unsealed floor is not an uncommon practice at JHH,
since many times this procedure cannot occur until

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after rooms are occupied. "That really showed itself,"
said Hyde. "Some products became complete dirt

Circle 3 on the Reader Service Card.

magnets without sealer."

Learn more about Terrain rx and Forest rx flooring-commercialarchitecturemagazine.com/1704ecore01

"It was a true test," said Bennett. "It was between
November 2014 and February 2015, so it was right at
winter time." Hyde added, "Even though the Metro is
28

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