Las Vegas—At a press conference during Surfaces 2012, the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) announced the establishment of Green Squared, the world’s first consensus-based sustainability standard and certification program developed exclusively for tiles and tile installation materials.
“With the recent approval of ANSI A138.1, the standard upon which the Green Squared certification program is based, our in-dustry now has a means by which to define and certify the environmental and social sustainability attributes of tiles and related in-stallation materials,” said Bill Griese, TCNA standards development/Green Initiative manager.
ANSI A138.1 is a multi-attribute sustainability standard which was written by an ANSI accredited standards committee, ASC A108, representing green building stakeholders, tile consumers, manufacturers, distributors, installers and other relevant interests. Encompassing ceramic and glass tiles, setting materials, grouts, backer boards and membranes, this standard allows the tile industry to offer installed systems of conforming sustainable products, he noted, the first offering of its kind by any building material industry.
TCNA developed the Green Squared program as a way for tiles and related installation materials to be certified as meeting ANSI A138.1. Products evaluated by an independent, third- party certification agency and verified to meet ANSI A138.1 will appear in the marketplace beginning in April, Griese noted. “These products will bear a single, easily recognizable Green Squared Certified mark that will give architects, specifiers and consumers confidence that these products are truly sustainable.”
He told FCNews the new certification enables architects, specifiers and consumers to choose products knowing their sustainability needs are being met. “If a tile or installation material is labeled with a single, easily recognizable Green Squared Certified mark, it means an independent third-party evaluation has been made and the product meets ANSI A138.1, the industry’s new standard for product sustainability.”
With the establishment of Green Squared, the North American tile industry now has a unified position and go-to strategy for evaluating and verifying product sustainability, Griese said. “It has taken its most significant step thus far in providing market clarity as to which products are truly sustainable. This is especially timely as committees that write green building standards and rating systems such as LEED and many others are beginning to turn to product industries for reference standards and certification programs.
For more on TCNA or Green Squared, call 864-646-8453.