Marietta,
Ga., June 5, 2012-UL, a global safety science company, announced today that it has
awarded Green
Squared_ certification
to three leading tile product manufacturers as part of a new
collaboration with the
Tile Council of North America (TCNA).
“The addition of the Green
Squared certification offering to our growing portfolio of sustainability
solutions is a testament
to our commitment to helping manufacturers achieve their environmental
goals,” says Sara
Greenstein, president of UL Environment, a business unit of UL. “Sustainability
requirements for building
materials are constantly evolving, and manufacturers need a partner they
can trust to guide them
through it.”
Green Squared is a multi-attribute
sustainability certification program for ceramic tile, glass tile, and
tile installation
materials. Developed by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) with
participation
from organizations such as
UL, Green Squared certification helps manufacturers to demonstrate
industry leadership and
provides them with a competitive advantage.
Early pursuers of Green
Squared certification through UL include the largest U.S.-based tile
manufacturer Dal-Tile
Corporation, Mexican-based ceramic tile manufacturer Porcelanite-Lamosa,
and, Florida Tile, the
U.S.-based division of global tile manufacturer Panariagroup.
“In any given project,
architects and designers have to make hundreds of product choices, but by
looking for the Green
Squared service mark, they can be confident they are choosing a truly
sustainable tile or
installation material product," says Robert Hurt, director of
environmental health
and safety at Dal-Tile
Corporation. "At Dal-Tile, we have fully incorporated the Green Squared
initiative by requiring
our tile manufacturing plants to be evaluated by UL Environment. All products
made at our U.S.
manufacturing plants and our Monterrey, Mexico, operations were included in the
UL Environment audit
process with the end result being over 300 individual products achieving Green
Squared Certification. So,
our customers can be confident that they have a wide selection of
American Olean and Daltile
manufactured products to choose from, all of which meet the ceramic tile
industry’s toughest green
standards."
“Our company has a long
history, dating back more than 120 years, and our commitment to the
highest quality standards
is strong. We are proud that our commitment has grown to include
sustainability,” says Luis
Basurto, energy resources manager of Porcelanite-Lamosa. “Working with
UL helped provide the
assurance and recognition we sought to prove our ceramic tiles met the Green
Squared certification – a
very high environmental standard in our industry.”
“Florida Tile has been on
the forefront of sustainable manufacturing for decades, but didn’t have a
good way to prove it to
people. We were very active in developing the Green Squared standard and
were delighted that we
finally had a certification that went beyond the product and looked at the
manufacturing facility and
company, as well,” says Dan Marvin, director of quality assurance and
technical services at
Florida Tile. “Florida Tile appreciates the professional third-party approach
that
UL brought to the
certification process. This is proof we can feel confident about sharing with
our
customers."
The Green Squared
certification is based on ANSI standard A138.1, which evaluates everything from
a tile’s manufacture and
raw material extraction to end-of-life management, progressive corporate
governance, and
innovation. To be certified, a tile product must meet all prerequisites and a
certain
number of elective
requirements, which vary by product type. Green Squared is one of a growing
number of certification
programs, including level® and NSF, that manufacturers working with UL can
take advantage of.
For more information on Green Squared
certification through UL, visit www.ul.com/environment.
UL Now Serving as Official Green Squared Certifier, Awards
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