Discovery ESD Carpet Tile is a static dissipative modular tile built to drain electrostatic charge out of a room instead of letting it build up in the people walking through it. A continuous conductive monofilament runs through the yarn, tying the whole floor to a ground path. It's a 24 by 24 inch tufted tile that meets ANSI/ESD S20.20 and reads as ordinary commercial carpet.
What ESD Carpet Tile Does Before a Charge Reaches Your Equipment
Walking generates static. Every footstep separates and rejoins two surfaces, and ordinary carpet is good at holding the charge that comes off that. The person carrying it usually feels nothing at all. The charge is simply there, riding along, waiting for the first grounded thing they touch.
In a room full of sensitive electronics, that first grounded thing is often a circuit board, a connector, or a rack. Static dissipative flooring interrupts the sequence earlier. Conductive fiber gives the charge a controlled path to ground continuously as the person walks, so it drains away instead of accumulating to the point where it can jump.
The numbers here are measured, not estimated. Tested to ESD STM 97.2 with conductive footwear, this floor holds body voltage under 20 volts. Tested to AATCC 134-06 without conductive footwear, it stays under 0.4 kV. That gap between the two is worth sitting with, because it tells you the flooring is half of a system.
What makes electrostatic damage expensive is that it's usually invisible. A component takes a hit, keeps working, and fails weeks later in the field. This tile meets the recommended guidelines in DoD HDBK 236A, Section 40.1.2 for Class 1 sensitive devices, which is the category where that latent failure risk is highest.
Why Conductive Monofilament Construction, and Why This Tile
There are two ways to make carpet dissipative. One is a topical antistatic treatment sprayed onto finished carpet, which works until it wears off or gets cleaned away. The other is building conductive material into the fiber itself. This tile does the second — a continuous conductive monofilament runs through the yarn as a permanent structural element.
Permanent is the operative word. There's no treatment to reapply, no performance curve that decays over the maintenance cycle, and no moment three years in where the floor quietly stops doing its job while everyone assumes it still is.
Electrical resistance measures 1.0 x 10⁶ to 1.0 x 10⁹ ohms under ANSI/ESD S7.1. Under ANSI/ESD S20.20-2014, the flooring and footwear system together stays inside the required limits of under 1 x 10⁹ ohms and under 100 volts peak when used with approved footwear.
Underneath the static story is a genuinely heavy-duty commercial carpet tile. It's tufted in a textured loop at 1/10 gauge, 10 stitches per inch, with a density of 7,642 and 24 oz. per square yard of tufted yarn weight. Average pile height is 0.114 inch. Its TARR texture and appearance retention rating is above 3.0, which is the heavy-duty classification.
The fiber is premium branded solution-dyed nylon, meaning color is locked into the polymer rather than applied to the surface, and it carries a mill-applied soil protection treatment. Recycled content runs 61%. The primary backing is non-woven synthetic; the secondary backing is 100% PVC-free, phthalate-free, recyclable, and made from recycled material.
Certifications stack up in a way that matters on institutional specs. Flammability passes ASTM E-648 Flooring Radiant Panel at Class 1, smoke density passes ASTM E-662 NBS at less than 450, indoor air quality carries Green Label Plus certification, and the tile is Cradle to Cradle Certified at the Silver level.
Where It Belongs, and Where It Doesn't
The environments this tile was built for are specific: E911 dispatch centers, air traffic control facilities, electronics manufacturing, test and R&D labs, and broadcast studios and recording suites. What those share is around-the-clock staffing, sensitive equipment, and a compliance requirement someone has to sign off on.
The compliance list follows from that. It's FAA-STD-019f compliant for aviation facilities, Motorola R56 compliant for communications sites, and ATIS-0600321.2010 compliant for telecom. If your spec cites any of those by name, this tile answers it directly. It sits with the rest of our commercial carpet tiles, though it solves a problem none of the others touch.
It installs over standard subfloors or over access flooring, which matters because so many of these rooms are built on raised floor systems. Both installation methods are documented, and the access flooring approach is different enough that you want the right instructions in hand before the crew starts.
Here's what it is not. It isn't a padded or cushion-backed tile — there's no foam, felt, or underlay, and it isn't built for impact absorption or plush underfoot softness. It also isn't a loose-lay or peel-and-stick product. It requires conductive adhesive and a proper ground connection, because a dissipative floor with nowhere to send the charge is just carpet.
And it isn't the right answer if you only want general antistatic comfort in an ordinary office — somewhere to stop the doorknob shock. This is engineered compliance flooring with the documentation and installation requirements that come with that. For a standard office floor, a conventional commercial tile costs less to install and does everything you actually need.
Three Things to Check Before You Spec It
First, confirm whether your requirement is antistatic or true ESD. Those are different performance classes and people use the words interchangeably, which causes real problems at inspection. Find the standard your specification actually cites. If it names ANSI/ESD S20.20, FAA-STD-019f, Motorola R56, or ATIS-0600321, you need dissipative flooring with documentation, not an antistatic treatment.
Second, plan the grounding before you plan the floor. This system needs one ground connection per 1,000 square feet, installed with conductive adhesive and tied in with a ground strip or connector kit. That's an electrical scope item as much as a flooring one. Get it into the drawings early rather than discovering it the week of installation.
Third, budget for footwear. The flooring and the footwear are one system, and the test data says so plainly — under 20 volts with conductive footwear, under 400 volts without. Both numbers are good, but only the first meets the tightest requirements. If your facility can't enforce a footwear protocol, know that going in so nobody is surprised by a field measurement later.
Why Mats Inc.
We've been specifying commercial flooring since 1964, and ESD work is where the difference between a distributor and a specifier actually shows. This tile arrives with a full submittal package — product specifications, separate installation instructions for standard and access flooring, and maintenance documentation — because the people buying it have to hand that to an inspector. It's available with no order minimums, so a single control room is as workable as a full facility. We'll walk the grounding plan with you before anything ships.
| Product Type |
Static dissipative modular carpet tile |
| Standard Size |
24 in. x 24 in. (60.9 cm x 60.9 cm) |
| Packaging |
12 tiles per carton / 5.33 sq. yd. |
| Construction |
Tufted, textured loop |
| Gauge / Stitches per Inch |
1/10 gauge / 10.0 stitches per inch |
| Density |
7,642 |
| Tufted Yarn Weight |
24 oz. per sq. yd. (813.74 g/m²) |
| Average Pile Height |
0.114 inch (2.9 mm) |
| Fiber |
Premium branded ECO solution nylon, 100% solution dyed |
| Conductive Technology |
Continuous conductive monofilament |
| Electrical Resistance |
1.0 x 10⁶ – 1.0 x 10⁹ ohms (ANSI/ESD S7.1) |
| Electrostatic Propensity |
Less than 20 V with conductive footwear (ESD STM 97.2); less than 0.4 kV without (AATCC 134-06) |
| System Compliance |
ANSI/ESD S20.20-2014, with approved footwear: under 1 x 10⁹ ohms and under 100 V peak |
| Additional Compliance |
DoD HDBK 236A Sec. 40.1.2 (Class 1), FAA-STD-019f, Motorola R56, ATIS-0600321.2010 |
| Primary Backing |
Non-woven synthetic |
| Secondary Backing |
100% PVC-free, phthalate-free, recyclable, made from recycled material |
| Recycled Content |
61% |
| Flammability / Smoke |
ASTM E-648 Class 1 / ASTM E-662 NBS less than 450 |
| TARR Rating |
Heavy Duty: greater than 3.0 |
| Certifications |
Green Label Plus, Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver |
| Grounding |
Ground strip or connector kit, 1 per 1,000 sq. ft. |
| Adhesive |
Conductive adhesive required |
| Standard Colors |
Seven standard colorways |
| Availability |
No minimums |
| Warranty |
1-year limited (Mats Inc.) |
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this carpet static dissipative, and will it wear off?
It won't, and that's the main thing to understand about it. There are two approaches to dissipative carpet. One sprays an antistatic treatment onto finished carpet, which is inexpensive and degrades — it wears with traffic and washes out with cleaning. The other builds conductive material directly into the yarn as a permanent part of the structure. This tile takes the second approach, using a continuous conductive monofilament running through the fiber.
Because the conductivity is structural rather than applied, the electrical performance you measure on day one is what you measure years later. Resistance sits between 1.0 x 10⁶ and 1.0 x 10⁹ ohms under ANSI/ESD S7.1. There's nothing to reapply and no maintenance step that quietly undoes it. — Dustin Thompson, Owner & CEO, Mats Inc.
Is it durable enough for a facility running around the clock?
Yes, and the specification numbers say so independently of the static performance. The TARR texture and appearance retention rating is above 3.0, which is the heavy-duty classification. Density measures 7,642 with 24 oz. per square yard of tufted yarn weight in a textured loop at 1/10 gauge, so there's real fiber in the pile resisting crush under continuous occupancy.
Flammability passes ASTM E-648 Flooring Radiant Panel at Class 1 and smoke density passes ASTM E-662 NBS at under 450 — both of which get asked about in facilities that run continuously. And because it's a modular tile, a damaged square in a rack aisle lifts and gets replaced without taking the room out of service, which in a 24-hour facility is often the deciding factor. — Dustin Thompson, Owner & CEO, Mats Inc.
What does installation involve, and can it go over access flooring?
It can, and that's common in these rooms. Documented installation methods exist for both standard subfloors and raised access flooring, and the two are different enough that the crew needs the correct instructions in hand before starting rather than improvising at the panel seams.
The part people underestimate is grounding. This installs with conductive adhesive, not loose-lay and not peel-and-stick, and it needs one ground connection per 1,000 square feet tied in with a ground strip or connector kit. That's an electrical scope item. Get it into the drawings during design, because a dissipative floor with no path to ground doesn't perform, and that gets discovered at commissioning when it's expensive to fix. — Dustin Thompson, Owner & CEO, Mats Inc.
What size are the tiles, and how much does a carton cover?
Tiles are 24 by 24 inches — the standard commercial module, which makes takeoffs simple since each tile covers exactly four square feet. Cartons hold 12 tiles at 5.33 square yards, so one carton covers about 48 square feet.
To estimate, measure each room's length and width in feet, multiply, add your rooms together, then add roughly ten percent for cuts around cabinets, racks, and floor penetrations plus attic stock for later replacement. Divide by 48 and round up for cartons. One thing worth knowing: there are no order minimums, so a single dispatch room or test bench area is a perfectly normal order. Send us the dimensions and we'll run it with you. — Jinna Hopson, Vice President of Marketing, Mats Inc.
What does it look like, and what colors are available?
It's a tweed textural solid — a fine multi-tone flecked loop that reads as sophisticated commercial carpet rather than as technical equipment. Seven standard colorways span cool blues, warm neutrals, and greys, from a saturated blue through mid-tone blends to deep browns and a soft grey.
The fiber is 100% solution dyed, which matters more than it sounds. Color is locked into the polymer before the fiber is formed rather than applied to the outside, so it holds up under both intense lighting and the aggressive cleaning schedules these facilities usually run. The floor in year five still matches the sample you approved. — Jinna Hopson, Vice President of Marketing, Mats Inc.
Does specifying ESD flooring mean the space has to look industrial?
Not even slightly, and this is the thing worth pushing back on when someone assumes compliance means ugly. A lot of ESD flooring historically did look like equipment. This doesn't. The tweed texture and the seven-colorway palette put it comfortably in the same visual conversation as any premium commercial carpet tile.
That matters more than it used to, because these rooms aren't hidden anymore. Broadcast studios appear on camera. Dispatch centers host tours and press. Manufacturing floors get walked by customers and auditors. You can meet ANSI/ESD S20.20 and still have a space that looks considered — and if you're coordinating to a brand palette or an existing interior scheme, send it over and we'll talk through which colorway sits best. — Jinna Hopson, Vice President of Marketing, Mats Inc.
Written by Dustin Thompson, Owner & CEO, Mats Inc.
