-By AnnMarie Marano

A Jolly Green Giant has come to town. Just three short years ago, Washington, D.C.-based EcoDomo was born out of a simple commitment to "do something good," says principal Christian Nadeau. "I used to work in development around the world and wanted to start a business that did something good and didn't rely on any government funding," he says. "We take green very seriously, buying carbon credits, using shrink wrap that is biodegradable, and trying to have no impact in general."

EcoDomo is an importer and distributor of green architectural details. What's its specialty? The leather tiles are made from scraps of leather from BMW car seat manufacturers and other tanneries that would otherwise go to landfills.

"Think of it as recycled paper," says Nadeau. "We take the scraps of pre-consumer leather (we cannot use post-consumer leather), make it into thin fibers, and then mix that together with natural rubber and tree bark, which acts as a binding agent. It comes out as a big paste that's about 4 in. thick. That paste goes through a process of extruding the water, making it slimmer and dry. It is then cut into sheets. Just like handmade paper it has a rough surface and edges." The leather is then milled to exact sizing and goes through a finishing process that makes it very wearable.

EcoDomo uses all water based finishes on its tiles. The recycled leather tiles come in nine colors and four textures. Laser engraving options are also available. The tiles themselves have received the Schadstoffgepruft (SG®) label for low-pollutant leather products from Germany and have been listed in the GreenSpec® directory at BuildingGreen.com.

"Working with leather usually scares people," Nadeau says with a laugh. "That's why we worked extensively on the resistance to staining and making it easy to maintain." According to Nadeau, the tiles are as resistant to abrasion as linoleum. For example, he notes that after approximately 80,000 pairs of feet crossed over them at a trade exhibition, the tiles were fine.

EcoDomo also offers the product at half the price of normal leather tiles. They are applicable for both wall and floor applications and have been installed in a number of hospitality projects, including the Carlyle Hotel in New York City.

And at this year's Coverings show from April 29 to May 2 in Orlando, Fla., the company will take the product one step further when it introduces leather mosaics for floors and walls, also made with recycled leather scraps.

Circle No. 215