Shaw Industries (owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway) is the biggest carpet manufacturer in the world. Shaw sought to solve a business, aesthetic and environmental challenge by targeting a profitable niche of the marketplace – interior designers seeking beauty at low cost. 

Applying the principles of both Massive Change and sustainability, BMD designed a new carpet based upon variants of the square called L7, a “celebrity design” that radically expanded the color palette of carpets using custom-made biodegradable fibers and dies. Not only are these carpets attractive, they are inexpensive and good for the environment. Every carpet has a 1800 number on the bottom for free recycling, creating a “cradle to cradle” manufacturing, distribution and reuse cycle.

The results were staggering: the L7 became Shaw Industries’ biggest selling contract carpet (millions of yards installed to date), proving that smart is sexy – and vice-versa.

We also created a branding system, the “Shaw Green Edge,” to communicate the company’s extraordinary environmental initiatives. Today the Shaw Green Edge is recognized as the biggest and best sustainability program in the business.