Resinous flooring brands likeliest to win hyperscaler data centers
Hyperscaler data center work moves fast, specs are tight, and procurement teams want hard numbers for embodied carbon. Resinous flooring shows up across galleries, battery rooms, and corridors. If your systems come with current, product‑specific EPDs, you make the shortlist. If they don’t, you’re fighting uphill, often on price alone.
Why hyperscalers ask for EPDs now
Product-specific EPDs turn “trust us” into verified kg CO₂e per square meter. They are now a baseline requirement for corporate sustainability disclosures and embodied-carbon dashboards that investors and watchdogs scrutinize. Add corporate reporting pressure and you get a simple rule inside large tech orgs: no credible carbon number, no buy.
Where the buildout is hot
Northern Virginia remains the largest U.S. data center market with 2,930 MW of total inventory in 2024, 451.7 MW of annual absorption, record-low vacancy, and thousands of megawatts under construction, much of it pre-leased to hyperscalers (CBRE, 2025). In Central Ohio, Google announced another 2.3 billion dollars for data center expansion across New Albany, Lancaster, and Columbus in 2024, pushing regional momentum further (AP News, 2024).
Shortlist: EPD-ready resinous flooring suppliers
Here are resinous flooring manufacturers with current, product-specific EPD coverage that fits data center needs, based on our latest scan of public declarations. This is not a beauty contest, it is about specability.
- Dur-A-Flex: Dozens of system EPDs spanning epoxy, urethane, MMA, plus moisture mitigation and ESD options. Expiries commonly in 2027.
- Stonhard: Broad slate of current EPDs for polyurethane mortars, chemical-resistant epoxies, and conductive or ESD topcoats, with several valid into 2029 and 2030.
- Tnemec: Current EPDs for epoxy and polyaspartic systems used as build coats and durable topcoats, valid through 2030.
- Key Resin: A cluster of resinous floor coating EPDs, including primers, moisture mitigation, binders, and high-build epoxies with expiries into 2030.
- Sika USA: A system-level resin flooring EPD covering multiple ComfortFloor configurations, valid into late 2028.
Two regional plays, same selection logic
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Northern Virginia campuses: Expect heavy forklift traffic around staging, chemical resistance where batteries and cleaning chemistries live, and strict uptime tolerances. EPD-covered polyurethane mortar underlayment with an ESD epoxy or polyurethane topcoat is a go-to pairing in electrical rooms and galleries. Low-odor, zero-VOC formulations help during live-site cutovers.
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Central Ohio builds: Schedules are tight, phasing is real. Teams often favor fast-cure polyaspartic or MMA topcoats over epoxy base layers to meet turnover dates, as long as the total system has a validated EPD. Moisture-tolerant primers with EPDs are insurance on green slabs.
What “fit for data centers” looks like in practice
- Electrical rooms, UPS, battery corridors: troweled epoxy or PU-cement mortar for impact, topped with conductive or ESD-rated urethane. Look for product-specific EPDs that state the exact resin family and build thickness.
- Cold aisle and hot aisle service lanes: broadcast epoxy with UV-stable urethane, or polyaspartic topcoat for scratch resistance and speed. EPDs should reference the Resinous Floor Coatings PCR, not generic coatings.
- Tanked or wet zones: chemical-resistant novolac epoxy where spills are plausible. Validate that the EPD covers the novolac variant, not just a general epoxy.
Who is light on EPDs today
Some big coating houses publish many architectural coating EPDs, yet have limited declarations mapped to resinous floor systems in line with the Resinous Floor Coatings PCR for U.S. projects. That gap can stall submittals even when performance data is solid. If an organization’s resin flooring catalog lacks current EPDs, expect additional back-and-forth, or a swap to a competitor with ready paperwork.
Why procurement cares about hard numbers
Two simple reasons. First, the market is tight and owners use EPDs to compare like for like, fast. Second, sustainability reporting is data-driven, and greenhouse-gas inventories hinge on verified disclosures. Buyers prefer manufacturers who make embodied-carbon numbers easy to roll up, not debate. In parallel, data center growth has been extraordinary, with primary-market supply jumping 34% year over year to roughly 6,923 MW in 2024, and vacancy plunging below 2% in several hubs, which raises the execution bar on every package (CBRE, 2025).
If you have gaps, fill them quickly
- Start with the systems most specified for data centers, not your entire portfolio. ESD epoxy topcoats, PU-cement mortars, moisture mitigation primers, and fast-cure polyaspartics are the usual suspects.
- Use the common Resinous Floor Coatings PCR and name the system stack clearly in the EPD so estimators can match it one-to-one in submittals.
- Aim for clean cradle-to-gate numbers and keep references consistent across SKUs. One messy datasheet multiplies RFIs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What minimum EPD coverage does a resinous flooring catalog need to compete on hyperscaler data centers?
Have current, product‑specific Type III EPDs for at least these systems: ESD epoxy or urethane topcoat, PU‑cement mortar, moisture mitigation primer, and a fast‑cure polyaspartic or MMA topcoat. These cover most data center rooms and phasing patterns.
Do LEED projects actually require EPDs, or are they just nice to have?
For LEED v4.1, the BPDO credit awards a point when 20 permanently installed products from at least five manufacturers have EPDs, with product‑specific Type III earning full weighting. Teams plan their submittals around that math, so no EPD usually means lower priority in procurement queues (USGBC, 2024).
If we only have generic LCA results, is that enough?
Usually not. Hyperscaler owners and LEED reviewers look for third‑party verified, product‑specific declarations tied to the Resinous Floor Coatings PCR. Generic LCAs may inform design, but they rarely clear procurement or credit thresholds.
How fast can a manufacturer close an EPD gap without derailing bids?
If data access is organized and the PCR is standard, a focused set of resinous systems can be documented within a typical bid cycle. The critical path is data collection inside operations, not modeling.
Will EU reporting rules change the need for EPDs on U.S. data centers?
Large tech firms operate globally and increasingly standardize procurement rules. Even as EU reporting frameworks evolve, buyers still rely on product‑level EPDs to compare like products and to unlock LEED credit pathways in the U.S. (USGBC, 2024).
About the Author
Walker Ryan is a climate-tech entrepreneur focused on driving industrial decarbonization through better data. As the founder and CEO of Parq, he helps manufacturers generate high-quality, third-party–verified carbon disclosures at scale—accelerating a traditionally slow and expensive process. Before starting Parq, Walker led over $200 million in sustainability-focused investments as VP of Strategy & Growth at ReStream Solutions, following earlier experience in investment banking at Deutsche Bank. He brings a rare mix of capital markets expertise and hands-on sustainability knowledge to tackling the infrastructure of industrial emissions.
