"We removed all the carpet for a greener exhibition, and visitors lost their way"… Exceptions to flooring reduction and the decoupling of functions at the Frankfurt Book Fair

As ESG management and carbon neutrality become central concerns in the MICE industry, large exhibitions are increasingly seeking to reduce aisle carpeting that is used for only a few days and then discarded. Germany’s Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), the world’s largest book fair, has also steadily reduced aisle carpeting since 2021 and put environmentally conscious flooring practices into effect at its 77th edition in 2025, including the introduction of approximately 8,000 m² of reusable carpet tiles.

From the perspective of a working event planner, however, the simple approach of saying, "We will remove 100% of the exhibition hall’s floor carpet for the environment," causes serious problems on site. As the space and circulation guidelines in the "Case Article Review" file also show, exhibition flooring is not merely decorative finishing material but essential infrastructure supporting visitors’ wayfinding and walking safety. Careful functional decoupling lies behind the Frankfurt Book Fair’s decision to retain halls 4.0 and 6.0 as safety exceptions and leave red carpet runners along principal routes.

1. Decoupling functions: decorative area and wayfinding and safety infrastructure are different

If carpet is removed indiscriminately, the floors of exhibition halls covering many tens of thousands of pyeong turn into a gray concrete maze.

• Retaining wayfinding runners: Instead of keeping carpet over the entire aisle, the Frankfurt Book Fair retained conspicuous red carpet strips along main and perimeter aisles. Floor color thus helps visitors intuitively distinguish principal routes from entrances to stands. Planners should not erase the visual guidance function of the floor along with carpeting simply to reduce budgets or waste.
• Identifying safety exceptions in advance: Certain halls, such as 4.0 and 6.0, include areas where flooring must remain depending on the floor material, load, slip risk, or equipment transport routes. Before pursuing a blanket zero-carpet approach, planners should work with the facilities management team to identify and protect on the floor plan the areas where flooring must remain for safety.

2. Decoupling the numbers: reusable products and actual reuse results

Buying environmentally friendly materials does not automatically make an event environmentally friendly.

• Verifying back-end reverse logistics: The approximately 8,000 m² of reusable carpet tiles reported by the Frankfurt Book Fair represents the product specification; it does not mean the tiles were actually stored and laid again the following year in any particular quantity. If an installation contractor damages the tiles with adhesive or tape during removal, or the tiles become contaminated in storage, their reuse rate falls to 0%. At the procurement stage, the planning team should separately aggregate the area of certified reusable products introduced and the area recovered intact after the event and placed in storage, including the loss rate, so it can substantiate real ESG results.

3. Level changes at transitions and safety controls for people with mobility difficulties

The boundary where a carpeted area meets an exposed floor is the most dangerous accident-prone zone.

• Cross-checking trip hazards: Small level changes of a few millimeters caused by carpet thickness and taped finishes can catch an ordinary visitor’s foot and stop the wheels of wheelchairs, strollers, and logistics carts. After changing the plan, the planner and installation lead should conduct an on-foot technical run during rehearsal at doorways, stand boundaries, and aisle intersections, checking that the carpet edges are taped down firmly without lifting and that ramp molding is perfectly finished.

4. A four-step protocol for reducing and reusing exhibition flooring

When planning flooring reduction to cut waste at an exhibition or convention, the practical team should follow these four steps.

Planner’s note: true sustainability puts preventing injuries before preventing waste

Removing disposable exhibition carpet spread throughout a hall is a valuable step toward reducing carbon emissions and creating a sustainable planet.

Yet no environmental slogan can take precedence over visitors’ safety and a comfortable route through the exhibition. Instead of removing carpet indiscriminately, a planner’s care is visible in leaving clear guidance strips along visitors’ routes and precisely finishing edges where people may trip. The cool-headed back-end design of functions that protects the environment while also safeguarding visitors’ steps is the mature ESG practice a professional planner can demonstrate.