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Tavares Group Blog

Green Squared Standard Hits the Marketplace

By: Sandra Tavares, Principal, Tavares Group Consulting Inc.
July 2012

Released only this spring, the new Green Squared standard is North America’s first sustainable product program for tile and tile installation materials. Developed by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), this initiative provides a single standard with which architects, designers, specifiers, and end-users can confidently assess the sustainable attributes of their potential tile product purchases.

This standard takes a multi-attribute approach towards sustainability. This allows both environmental and social criteria to be addressed. The established criteria take into account the entire life cycle of the product and are in accordance with the North American green building industry’s practices and expectations. The criteria are grouped into five categories: product characteristics, environmental product manufacturing, end of life product management, progressive corporate governance, and innovation. Furthermore, LEED is currently piloting a credit under which the use of certified products, such as Green Squared, will contribute points towards the LEED certification of the building.

This standard is voluntary, but products which have been verified by one of the TCNA approves certification bodies may display the Green Squared Certification mark on their product or packaging as an obvious signal to consumers. There are three currently approved certification bodies:

  • NSF International
  • Underwriter Laboratories (UL) Environment
  • Scientific Certification Systems (SCS)

And this is not just for ceramic tiles. Green Squared encompasses ceramic tiles, glass tiles, setting materials, grouts, backer boards and membranes. This is the first sustainable building material standard to encompass a full range of products within an industry. Tile giants like Daltile and Florida Tile were among the first to certify products this year.

Tavares Group Consulting Inc specifically helps companies implement procedures and management systems that address aspects of this new standard. Should your company like to pursue this certification or address parts of the standard, we would like to help.