Reducing our Carbon Footprint with Tile - Part 4: Building Material Transparency, Steps 3 & 4

The most basic measure in building sustainably is selecting natural and lasting materials like ceramic tile, stone, and masonry. My previous article examined the importance of transparency in reporting building material ingredients and how a high degree of transparency positions tile favorably among competing finish materials. We looked at the first two steps toward building material transparency: inventorying ingredients and assessing their impacts. This article, Part 4 in the series, will discuss the final two steps: disclosure and optimization. Together, these steps to transparency will aid designers in making informed decisions about material selection.

Step 3: Disclosure

Once the inventory and assessment stages are complete, manufacturers disclose their material ingredient information to design professionals. Ideally, those design professional will place a high priority on specifying safe and sustainable materials. The disclosure manufacturers make should be done using a standardized reporting format, for example a Health Product Declaration (HPD), a Manufacturer Inventory (MI), a Declare label, or another recognized vehicle for reporting. These reports present the GreenScreen® benchmark scores for each material ingredient in a clear and standardized way.

Click here for a short video clip showing how the material ingredients are disclosed in standardized formats, making it easy for designers to specify low carbon materials like tile.

Step 4: Optimization

If the first three steps toward transparency in construction materials are borne by the manufacturer, the final step, optimization, is the responsibility of the design professional. Optimization occurs when a design professional specifies materials with the most thorough level of material ingredient reporting and the least impact to environmental and human health.

LEED v4 sets forth a good example of optimization in their Material Ingredient Reporting credit. When a project uses 20 different permanently installed products from at least 5 manufacturers who report their ingredients via health product declaration (HPD) or manufacturer inventory (MI) disclosing ingredients to at least 1,000 ppm, it’s eligible for 1 point; and if at least 5 of those products from 3 manufacturers report ingredients to 100 ppm, an additional point may be achieved.

A project doesn’t necessarily need to seek certification with LEED or any other rating system to optimize materials. The most basic step to building sustainably is selecting natural and lasting materials like ceramic tile, stone, and masonry. Transparency in disclosing building ingredients keeps manufacturers accountable. Tools like the Material Ingredient Guide help unify and standardize the reporting process.

Click here for a short video clip showing how designers may optimize their material selection based on manufacturers’’ transparency in reporting material ingredients by taking advantage of the Material Ingredient Reporting credit in LEED v4.

Building owners, design professionals, contractors, and end users should have a basic understanding of material ingredient reporting and the importance of transparency so they can communicate the sustainable benefits of tile to their customers, clients, and stakeholders.