With all of the hype that green building is receiving throughout the school facility-management industry, it's easy to overlook some elements that may not be right in front of a building manager's nose. It is helpful to examine the role floor covering plays in a green building project. Flooring is one of the most significant and important systems in an educational structure. However, regardless of the quality of the floor covering, the real worth of sustainable carpet, vinyl, linoleum, wood, ceramic or tile will be maximized and provide a return on investment if installed by a professional who understands the green building process. In fact, by specifying the qualifications of the floor-covering professional as well as the flooring products, a school facility manager can contribute to the accumulation of LEED points for both new construction and existing buildings via LEED's operations and maintenance categories. Did you know that products and installation materials contribute to LEED in seven of nine categories, and four of those seven areas encompass flooring? Flooring plays a LEED role in Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), Materials and Resources (MR), Innovation and Design Process (IDP), and Regional Priority. Flooring can help with LEED points in the categories of new construction, major renovation, existing buildings, commercial interiors, schools, retails, healthcare and homes. To shield a LEED project from unnecessary loss of points, facility managers should require that the flooring contractor use trained, certified crews. A flooring contractor needs to be competent and have well-trained installers before they begin the job.