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Minimum Resistance

Glossary Term

The ANSI/ESD S20.20 static control standards does not offer a minimum resistance reading. Strictly in terms of grounding static charges, any floor with a resistance <1 x 10E9 meets ANSI/ESD S20.20 and is considered acceptable.

While S20.20 does not specify a lowest acceptable resistance, for best practices the flooring industry has historically set the minimum resistance at no less than 2.5 x 10E4, or 25,000 ohms. This number was based on a defunct NFPA test method, requiring a resistance test with 500 volts of DC current applied to the surface of the flooring material. Current standard test methods apply much lower voltage and yield higher readings.

A floor measuring 25,000 ohms using the NFPA test method would yield a far lower resistance reading with less applied voltage.

ANSI/ESD standards do not offer a minimum resistance requirement because the built-in resistor in the ESD footwear required in manufacturing and handling spaces protects the wearer from potential electric shocks. In data centers, call centers, FAA flight towers, 9-1-1 dispatch centers, and other spaces where ESD-protective footwear is not required, materials with electrical resistance below 2.5 x 10E4 are considered a potential safety hazard.

For this reason, telecom and Federal Aviation Administration standards prohibit the use of flooring materials with resistance below 1 x 10E6 in spaces where energized equipment is used.

Learn more about ESD standards and test methods

Walking Body Voltage

The static charge, in volts, generated by a person walking across the floor. Static charges that accumulate on the body discharge to the first object the person touches, potentially damaging or disrupting sensitive electronics. Learn about how ESD flooring works

Voltage Suppression

Voltage suppression occurs when an ESD-protective material, such as a static-dissipative table covering, suppresses static charges rather than dissipating charges to ground. For instance, an ESD laminate with a buried conductive layer will suppress the electrostatic field from a charged object, but is incapable of discharging static even when the charged object touches its surface.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Gases emitted from certain solids or liquids, including a variety of chemicals, which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations are consistently higher indoors than outdoors: often up to ten times higher. Flooring should always be tested for VOC content by independent certification organizations like FloorScore and GreenGuard.

Triboelectric Series

A list of common materials, such as leather, nylon, wool, and paper, showing whether a material tends to give up or take on electrons when in frictional contact with other materials on the list. Those that give up electrons become positively charged, and materials that accept electrons become negatively charged. In the ESD industry, the

Triboelectric Charging

Whenever two objects with different electrical characteristics make contact and separate, the molecules in the two materials interact, forming an electrical bond. Separating the materials creates friction. This frictional force draws electrons away from one material and deposits an excess of electrons on the other, leaving a positive or negative electrical charge on both materials.

Total Cost of Ownership

The real cost of a product, encompassing the cost of the material, along with installation, maintenance, anticipated repairs and necessary monitoring. These hidden costs are often overlooked or ignored in the initial cost analysis, but they add up and over time can outpace the expense of owning a floor with a higher material cost. For

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