FAQ: Are there any scientific studies about the performance of antistatic or conductive flooring for mission-critical environments or data centers?

In a mission-critical environment, random static discharge can cause lost or corrupted data, dropped calls, pc lockup, and blown headsets. Designers of 24/7/365 mission-critical spaces such as data centers, 911 call centers, command centers, server rooms, and flight-control towers routinely design their spaces to withstand external threats such as weather, power outages, earthquakes, and even biological threats.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD)—an invisible, sometimes overlooked threat—can wreak havoc inside any mission-critical space. Numerous studies have been done to determine the effectiveness of special static-control flooring on static-discharge mitigation. Consensus is that flooring is necessary and it must perform two independent static control functions:

  1. The floor must provide a verifiable path to ground.
  2. The floor must inhibit or prevent the generation of static on people wearing all types of footwear—regular street shoes as well as static-control footwear.
Illustration broken into four panels. The heading at the top reads: "Command Center With a Conductive Floor that Generates Static". The first panel (top left) shows a command center with people working at terminals. The text underneath reads: "Functioning command center, with a new conductive floor that does not prevent static generation". The second panel (top right) shows someone walking across the floor with static being generated as they walk. The text reads: "A person enters the room. Friction between the soles of her shoes and flooring material generates static. As she crosses the floor, a static charge builds on her body." The third panel (bottom left) shows the person standing at a desk with a headset in hand which the charge has been transferred to. The text reads: “The static electricity on her body discharges to the first person or object she touches—in this case, the headset.” The fourth panel (bottom right) shows the person and a colleague talking to a maintenance man. The text reads: “The sudden rush of electrical current through the headset damages the microcircuits inside the equipment, disrupting data and damaging or destroying components.”
Illustration broken into five panels. The heading at the top reads: "Command Center With a Low Charge-Generating ESD Floor". The first panel shows two workers installing an ESD floor. The text reads: “A low-charge generating ESD floor is installed in the command center.” The second panel (top middle) shows a command center with people working at terminals. The text underneath reads: “When perseonnel move in, the room is fully functional“. The third panel (top right) shows someone walking across the floor. The chair from her shoes is carried across the floor to ground. The text reads: “When a person walks across the floor, the friction generates minimal static, and the grounding material dissipates the charge safely to ground.” The fourth panel (bottom left) shows the person talking to a colleague, a headset in her hand. The text reads: “Because she has no static on her body, when she touches the headset—or a sensitive component—there is no damaging static event.” The fifth panel shows people working at their terminals with no disruption. The text reads: “The command center remains fully functional and people move and interact freely.”
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A completed installation of ShadowFX static-dissipative (ESD) carpet tile (Fields & Stone range) in a lobby
A completed installation of AmeriWorx conductive (ESD) vinyl tile flooring in an electronics manufacturing facility
Photo is a cropped shot of a laboratory facility with a completed ESD rubber floor installation.
An in progress installation of GroundWorx Ultra generation 3 ESD epoxy flooring in an electronics manufacturing and assembly facility.
Completed installation of GroundLock Extreme ESD interlocking tiles at a manufacturing facility

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StaticWorx high-performance static-control floors protect electronic components, explosives, and high-speed computers from damage caused by static electricity. ESD flooring is part of a system. Choices should always be based on objective, researched evidence. When you partner with us, we look at all possible items that may need to integrate with the floor, and, focusing on your goals and objectives, help you find the right floor for your application.