UW-Madison News Release--Professor advances 'green' textiles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2/27/08

CONTACT: Majid Sarmadi, (608) 262-7492, (608) 262-2651, majidsar@wisc.edu

TEXTILES PROFESSOR EMBRACES COMMUNITY SERVICE, COLLABORATION

MADISON - Larry Eisenberg was in the middle of a remodeling and expansion project, and he needed some new carpeting - $85 million worth of it, in fact.

Eisenberg, the facilities manager of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), was given leadership over the school district's $2.2 billion, 40-building expansion and full renovation, which is currently in its building phase.

Working with the charge to make the new buildings as environmentally friendly as possible, he didn't hesitate to call in some help from University of Wisconsin-Madison textile chemist and design studies Professor Majid Sarmadi.

The two men have had a professional relationship for more than 20 years, beginning shortly after Sarmadi was hired at the university in 1986. At the time, Eisenberg was the director of procurement for the Wisconsin's Department of Administration, which entailed, among other things, buying carpeting for the state "year in and year out" as wear and tear took its toll on the floors, he says.

Not satisfied with continually buying new carpet, Eisenberg went to UW-Madison to see if any faculty members could lend some insight on what makes carpeting durable. He was then directed to new faculty member Sarmadi.

"We started talking, and I told him what I needed, and asked if he could help me work on the specifications for a carpet that would last," Eisenberg says. "Of course, I learned he was an incredible expert at how carpet is constructed and the chemistry and the physics and all that kind of thing, and maintenance issues. He's like the world's expert on carpeting, and it was just amazing he was in our backyard there."

Eisenberg, a West Coast native, soon left Wisconsin for Oregon, but he didn't leave Sarmadi behind - the two quickly met again when Sarmadi helped Eisenberg develop standards for three types of carpeting for Washington County, which is home to part of Portland. When Eisenberg moved back to his home state of California and faced the biggest job of his career, consulting Sarmadi again was no question.

Sarmadi was particularly eager to take on this project. One of his primary interests in the field of textiles is making them environmentally friendly, he says, and carpeting is one of the worst offenders in the field. Between boiling the carpeting in dye, rinsing and drying it, each square yard of carpeting uses more than 50 gallons of water and significant amounts of energy, he says.

Not only that, Sarmadi adds that carpeting is the No. 1 textile in landfills.

"I believe that we have borrowed this land from our children, we have not inherited, we have borrowed it, so we have to be good stewards of our resources," he says. "Sustainability is very important to me. What we do should be sustainable, environmentally friendly."

Sarmadi has researched several of the processes and materials involved in carpet-making and developed a rigorous set of standards for carpet manufacturers to follow. Though manufacturers are often reluctant to change due to the high costs, the $85 million price tag of the project attracted many of the major manufacturers to bid on the project, Eisenberg says, with the company Tandus winning the final bid.

"Our $85 million contract is the kind of thing that made their eyes light up and say, 'OK, we'll do it.' For that, that's worth it, but if someone comes to them and says, 'OK, I want to do my living room in sustainable carpet and they need to spend $50 million to change their factory,' no. They're not going to do that unless they really saw a market generally around the world for that kind of thing," he says.

In the standards, Sarmadi promoted using solution-dyed fibers, which use a powdered dye mixed in with the molten polymers before they are shaped into carpet fibers, instead of the boiling process.

"Assume that you are making noodles, and when you make your dough, you put food coloring and mix the dough, and then your dough is colored, rather than later on when you make your noodles, putting blue in the water, and then dying the whole thing and bringing it to boil and having two hours at boil," he says.

Another important element in green carpet-making, he adds, is eliminating many of the harmful chemicals, such as formaldehyde, that go into the product, and thus eliminating indoor air pollution from the carpet. Moreover, the standards for the LACCD require that the carpeting is 100 percent recyclable - meaning the polymers can be broken down and remade into more carpeting or other products - and made from 40 percent recycled materials, helping cut down on carpeting in landfills.

According to Eisenberg, the most surprising part of the project has been that the final product not only saves water and energy, but lasts longer and costs much less. Sarmadi's carpeting standards have a 30-year warranty, as opposed to the typical 10- to 15-year warranty, and have saved the LACCD the equivalent of $40 million.

"[Originally], I said, 'OK, it's worth it. We're going to pay more, but it's worth it. We're really doing something really good for the world by changing the carpet industry and by creating a product that's going to be healthy for our students and that kind of thing,'" Eisenberg says. "And then the bid opening happened, and it was like, 'Oh my God, not only is this a fabulous thing from an environmental standpoint, but the price was incredible.'"

As the carpeting begins to be laid down in California, Sarmadi's work has been extensively recognized, winning 14 local, regional and national awards from everyone from the mayor of Los Angeles to the United States Congress.

Sarmadi's standards may start to have an impact back in Madison, as well. As the School of Human Ecology, which houses the Department of Design Studies and Sarmadi's textile research, plans to renovate and expand its facilities in 2009, Dean Robin Douthitt says, and the school will aim to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Although it's too early to tell if Sarmadi's carpeting research will play a part in the renovation and expansion, he has been in touch with architects about incorporating the new carpeting if possible.

"We expect our new facility to reflect the programs and the kind of scholarly work that goes on here," Douthitt says. "So we will have a building that will do things like have LEED certification, that will be very concerned with creating workplace environments that are healthy … It's not just a good idea - it's core to our mission, it's what we're teaching our students, so we really want this to be reflected in the building."

As the school's renovation continues in the planning phase, Sarmadi is researching "smart fabrics," or textiles that kill bacteria without using liquid chemicals, for use in everything from hospital gowns and military uniforms, as well as working to improve the flame retardency of fabrics while eliminating harmful chemicals from them.

While working to stay on the cutting edge of textile research, Sarmadi also calls himself a "firm believer" in the Wisconsin Idea and has committed himself to helping Wisconsin industry. His work has included yearly presentations on state-of-the-art textiles to Lands' End facilities in Dodgeville and Reedsburg, and more than 20 presentations to the corporate headquarters of Kohl's Department Store in Menomonee Falls.

Sarmadi is also highly involved in Madison's civic life. Douthitt, who has known Sarmadi for 20 years, began working at the university around the same time as Sarmadi in the 1980s. Sarmadi says he drew her into Madison's Downtown Rotary, a civic organization devoted to promoting cultural understanding and community building. Sarmadi has participated in particular with the organization's scholarship program and with building religious understanding among Christians, Jews and Muslims. Sarmadi has also presented to Kiwanis and local schools, and has volunteered with the Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

It is this commitment to the environment and the city, Douthitt says, that defines Sarmadi's life and work. Despite his unusual position as the only physical scientist in the school, Douthitt says Sarmadi's work embodies what the School of Human Ecology tries to impart on its students - the value of community service and collaborative work.

"We're an eclectic group of people all coming together by improving the quality of human life, which is the mission of the school," she says. "That's something we highly value here, and it's something that makes us different, but also pulls everybody together."

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of a biweekly series focusing on The Wisconsin Idea in action. For more, visit: http://www.wisconsinidea.wisc.edu/
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- Kristin Czubkowski, czubkowski@wisc.edu



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