The Green Squared certification program of the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), along with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for North American-made ceramic tile, mortar, and grout, are garnering more attention from A&D, specifiers, and purchasers. The upswing is due in large part to two major milestones in green building: the US Green Building Council’s move late last year to require all new projects to follow LEED v4, reinvigorating green building conversations; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s formal recommendation, as of December 2016, for all federal purchasers to use Green Squared to assist in the identification and procurement of environmentally sustainable tiles and related installation materials, putting increased focus on that standard.
Tile is especially relevant to LEED v4 in two major ways. With LEED Materials and Resource (MR) Credits heavily focused on product transparency and the availability of environmental data, the industry-wide EPDs available for North American-made tile, grout, and mortar help projects seeking LEED points meet transparency requirements when tile is used. Also, the new LEED Pilot Credit, “Certified Multi-Attribute Products and Materials,” awards a point if a certain percentage of building products are certified to meet their relevant industry sustainability standards. With Green Squared listed in LEED as the appropriate standard/certification program for the tile industry, use of Green Squared Certified tile and installation materials can contribute toward this point.