The Air Baffle by Kirei is an innovative acoustic ceiling baffle created in collaboration with Nike Grind and inspired by the clean, modern lines of the Nike Air Max. Made from recycled shoes and water bottles, the Air Baffle combines the acoustic performance of recycled PET felt and recycled textile fluff for a highly effective acoustic solution while extending the life cycle of these products and materials.

Nike Grind is an innovative sustainability program by Nike that turns manufacturing scrap, unused manufacturing materials, and end-of-life footwear into new products. Although recycled rubber was a popular material for reuse, the company struggled to find a fit for its recycled textile fluff from the shoes' upper leather and textile. Renowned product designer Michael DiTullo had the answer — to use this textile fluff for acoustic products.

DiTullo spent nearly a decade contributing to footwear design, packaging direction, ad campaign direction, and brand positioning for Nike while designing iconic products for over 20 years for brands such as Google, Honda, and Converse. Designing products for Kirei since 2019, DiTullo's expertise in acoustic and sneaker design provided the perfect backdrop for the distinctive collection with Nike Grind. The result was the Air Baffle, the first external use of fluff in a Nike Grind product, setting a precedent for applications of Nike Grind fluff in future commercial products.

The Air Baffle is innovative in both performance and makeup. The new product thoughtfully combines the high acoustic performance of recycled PET felt with the soft recycled fluff from Nike Grind. This fluff is a mix of recycled materials ground up from the leftover scraps of the upper part of shoes and is soft, open, and nonlinear. When sound waves hit the fluff, they break into smaller, less powerful waves that travel in different directions and cancel themselves out. Combined with the exterior PET felt's acoustic properties, the Air Baffle brings a new wave of acoustic performance to interior spaces.

The Air Baffle's outer shell is made from over 60% recycled PET, and the window of the baffle is made of GREENGUARD-certified acrylic. With a commitment to make as small of an environmental impact as possible, each Air Baffle recycles over 100 plastic water bottles with its exterior EchoPanel® PET felt and about 100 shoes with its Nike Grind fluff used for the interior. It is available in 33 colors and four different lengths to fit a variety of aesthetics. The optional window can be specified as long or short. To allow for easier and faster installations, the ceiling baffles are shipped ready to install using suspension cables and mounting hardware.

Assuming a project installation of Air Baffles may include approximately 20 baffles, each project where the Air Baffle is installed will save over 2,000 shoes and over 2,350 plastic water bottles from going into landfills. As a result, offices, classrooms, lobbies, restaurants, and other interior spaces will have superior sound quality while boasting unparalleled sustainability by giving shoes and plastic a second life.

The United States alone throws away up to 11.3 million tons of textile waste annually and only 13% of what is manufactured gets recycled (the other 87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or sent to a landfill). Textile waste is a growing problem as climate change accelerates and "fast fashion" dominates trends. Combined with the ever-growing threat of plastic pollution in our waterways and landfills (in 2018, 275 million tons of plastic were thrown into landfills globally), the interior design industry needs to take action, and renowned industrial designer Michael DiTullo alongside Kirei, have answered the call.

DiTullo, with decades of experience designing products for companies such as Nike, Converse, Hasbro, Google, and Honda, was searching for a way to make his latest concepts for Kirei, a sustainability-focused acoustic solutions company, even more sustainable. Drawing upon his time working with Nike, DiTullo and Kirei partnered with Nike Grind, a program from the sportswear company that takes manufacturing scrap and old sneakers and recycles them into new products. With this, the Air Baffle was born.

The Air Baffle combines the high acoustic performance of Kirei's recycled PET felt, EchoPanel, with a soft filling from Nike Grind. The result is a circular product giving new life to old shoes and plastic waste. This partnership with the architectural acoustics industry is the first of its kind for Nike Grind since its inception in 1992.

This innovative acoustic ceiling baffle was inspired by the clean, modern lines of the Nike Air Max shoe and is made from recycled plastic and shoes/footwear. DiTullo designed the Air Baffle with a long, oval cut into the shell to resemble the air bubble found in the Air Max. DiTullo points out how the shoe was inspired by the Centre Pompidou in Paris and says how "it's ironic to have a shoe, the Air Max One, inspired by a building and now this building material, the Air Baffle, inspired by a shoe."

To reduce echoes and unwanted noise in any interior space, acoustic baffles hang from ceilings to help break down and absorb sound waves. The Air Baffle takes acoustics to the next level with Nike Grind's fluff. The fluff is soft, open, and nonlinear; it breaks sound waves into smaller and less powerful waves, which then hit each other and cancel themselves out. Combined with the exterior PET felt's acoustic properties, the Air Baffle brings a new wave of acoustic performance to every interior space.

The Air Baffle is not only a high-performing acoustic product; the baffle heightens the conversation around circular design in the architectural industry. With the introduction of this new Kirei product, Nike shoes and plastic waste have been given an unexpected new life created to improve the well-being of building occupants and increase productivity, reduce stress, and enhance sound quality in any space.

The Air Baffle's outer shell is made from EchoPanel, a registered trademark of Woven Image. EchoPanel is made from over 60% recycled PET, diverting hundreds of single-use plastic bottles from global landfills and waterways. Combined with the Nike Grind fluff interior, the Air Baffle is the most eco-friendly offering from Kirei and one of the most sustainable products within the $7 billion architectural acoustics paneling industry.

Each Air Baffle recycles over 100 plastic water bottles with its EchoPanel outer PET felt and about 100 shoes with its interior Nike Grind fluff. EchoPanel products have helped to recycle over 5,505 tons of plastic waste and saved over 6,500 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere since 1987. Similar in their mission to make a major impact on the environment, the Nike Grind program has recycled over 130 million pounds of textile waste since 1992, and Kirei will help Nike Grind close the wasteful loop of product design. Combining these two sustainable powerhouses, the Air Baffle is a unique solution for the architectural industry.

Although the Air Baffle has only recently entered the market, it will have a major impact within the acoustics and architectural industry. Assuming a single installation of the Air Baffles in a project might include around 20 baffles, each project will save over 2,000 shoes and over 2,300 plastic water bottles from going into landfills. Businesses will have superior sound quality in their offices, classrooms, lobbies, restaurants, or virtually any interior space while boasting unparalleled sustainability by giving shoes and plastic a second life.

The Air Baffle sets a precedent for what is possible for commercial acoustics. This is the first and only usage of Nike Grind and Nike Grind's fluff in the commercial and acoustics space, but this fluff can be used in many other applications, from furniture to wallcoverings. Kirei and its Air Baffle are now paving the way for more circular products to make their debut.

The outer hull of the Air Baffle is made of 12mm EchoPanel, a recycled PET felt which contains at least 60% post-consumer content sourced from single-use plastic bottles. The interior of the baffle is comprised of Nike Grind's fluff, a mix of post-industrial textile scraps collected from the manufacturing of footwear and apparel or post-consumer textile fluff recovered from end-of-life shoes.

The Air Baffle is available in four lengths: 40", 48", 72", and 96". It is available with no window, a short window (12"), or a long window (34", 42", 66", or 90" respective to the baffle's length). The optional window is made of 3mm thick matte PETG plastic containing 40% pre-consumer recycled content and lets end-users see the sustainability within each baffle and reminds them of the elegance and simplicity of the Air Max shoes. The baffle can be specified and cut in unique dimensions, and the windows can be specified in unique lengths.

The Air Baffle has an NRC rating of 0.50 Sabins per Air Baffle, an ASTM E84 Class A fire rating, and is CDPH (CA 01350) and Ecospecifier GreenTag compliant with its TVOC of 0.015 mg/m2/hr (ASTM D5116).

The Air Baffle is available in the following colors: Frost, Sunshine, Ochre, Cinnamon, Rouge, Wine, Orchid, Lavender, Mandarin, Viridian, Ivy, Jade, Vineyard, Navy, Lime Splice, Olive, Pebble, Grey, Smoke, Slate, Mushroom, Vanilla, Blush, White, Black, Onyx, Duck Egg, Magenta, Pistachio, Sage, Pacific, Coronet, and Cream.