Design Trends – Sharing Real Wood’s Story at the United Nations
Earlier this year, PID Floors was honored to be both participants and sponsors of a profoundly meaningful design event and luncheon which took place at the United Nations (UN) in New York City. The purpose was to foster innovation to address design world challenges and celebrate the intersection of creativity, sustainability, and forward-thinking design.
This event brought together UN delegates, global mission representatives, students, and top design industry leaders to celebrate the role of interior design in shaping sustainable and inclusive communities. Susan Kaplan and Currie Gardner from HLW, Emma Bernstein from Project Horizon, and Elisabeth Perreault from Cannon Design, join as PID Floors’ special guests and presenters.
Our family company has always been about more than just hardwood flooring—it is about crafting extraordinary design experiences and sharing our knowledge with others. Three generations and 36 years later, we aspire to continuously inspire, excite, and educate the next generations of the design industry while making sure to focus on sustainability as a tandem goal.
Much of PID Floors’ presentation that day focused on the work and impact of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA). We discussed how Health Product Declarations (HPDs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are helping us to be transparent in the hardwood flooring industry. We spoke about the importance of education, for consumers and for the next generation of the design industry.
People might be initially drawn to a synthetic product due to its seemingly lower price tag—but via the path of education, it can be taught that real wood floors will always be a better, more long term, and more sustainable option for everyone that will actually cost way less over time. Part of this education process is explaining all the reasons how and why wood flooring is environmentally friendly and a sustainable design product.
We explained how real wood flooring a renewable resource, has a low carbon footprint, and is durable. This will lead to less waste and reduced resource consumption. Trees sequester carbon dioxide during their growth and, when harvested sustainably, can be replaced, making wood a carbon-neutral material. Additionally, wood requires less energy and water to produce than other flooring options like carpet or tile. No energy is used to produce the raw materials – the trees grow just from energy provided by the sun, making wood flooring the only flooring product that is renewable, and the only carbon footprint is the manufacturing process after extraction. Other products are either manmade using energy intensive means and/or synthetic materials based on fossil fuels. Wood flooring production is a zero-waste operation. The sawdust and other waste/byproducts of milling lumber into flooring planks gets used as pellets for heating and powering the production facility. We also talked about pairing with the NWFA to teach these concepts via educational courses at design schools and universities, something we are so passionate and excited about continuing to do.
Hans Galutera of HG Design Works spearheaded our participation in this event, along with NY11+. He stated, “As educational outreach director for PID Floors and as NY11+ VP, it was incredibly moving to see our students present at the United Nations—demonstrating how sustainability, design, and storytelling intersect. Their exploration of sustainable materials reflected both creative excellence and ethical awareness. The event was a proud moment for education, design, and the future of our industry.”
We are always deeply inspired by the next generation of the design industry. But we are especially encouraged by the next generation of the A&D community’s interest and commitment to using only natural and sustainable resources. To spend the day at the United Nations, speaking about wood flooring, sustainability, and education—topics are all very close to our hearts and in alignment with our ethos as a company, was truly beyond our wildest dreams. It was a day that we will never forget.
Steven Skutelsky is managing partner at PID Floors in New York City, New York. He serves on the NWFA’s board of directors and is an NWFA Certified Sales Advisor. To learn more about PID Floors: pidfloors.com