In December of 2002, Mannington, a residential and commercial flooring manufacturer, asked us to create their new environmental brochure. True to our values, we asked why.
That conversation sparked collaboration to not only create environmental communications for Mannington, but to codify environmental values and take a more active role in the environmental community in the building industry.
Mannington’s commitment has been astounding. The CEO, division president, vice president of sales and the director of marketing gathered with PencilBox to undergo one of our Strategic Blueprint sessions. From that session arose a plan to integrate the environment and environmental concerns in the company’s marketing, product and operations strategy.
Since that session, we have developed Mannington’s environmental story through an internal environmental values book, the corporate web site, and their presence at EnvironDesign, NeoCon and GreenBuild. This has also lead to a greater involvement on the part on Mannington in the USGBC, from sponsorship opportunities to speaking opportunities. Currently we are working with Mannington to expand their Learn to LEED program, an educational tool about the role of flooring in LEED points.
Since collaborating with PencilBox, Mannington has become one of the more clear and credible voices in the flooring world about green building. In December, Floor Focus Magazine surveyed 500 facility managers, asking which companies were the most trust worthy when it came to the environment. Mannington was voted as the fourth-most credible flooring company. Not bad for a privately held, quiet company operating in the same world as Shaw and Ray Anderson’s Interface.