Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124TECH TALK –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Plank tile tends to “crown” – or be higher in the center than it is on its edges. You should look for tile that is as flat as possible, but some crowning is almost inevitable. If the subfloor is not flat, it will accentuate the tile’s unevenness. Prior to a plank tile installation, TEC® Fast-Set Deep Patch allows you to address voids up to 1-1/2” deep in a single application, and then begin setting tile in as little as 60 minutes. If a floor has more wide-scale irregularities, con- sider using TEC Level Set 300 Self-Leveling Underlayment, which provides a flat, extreme- ly smooth surface that’s walk- able in two to three hours. www.tecspecialty.com type, plus how much they con- tribute to smog formation, ozone depletion, abiotic resource deple- tion, acidification, and eutrophica- tion – the environmental impact categories of greatest interest and concern in green construction. Making informed choices Together, the three EPDs provide an unprecedented amount of infor- mation about the environmental impact of a full tile installation, not just one component, when North American products are selected. “This is a level of transparency not possible with other materials or with products not made in North America,” said Griese. “It’s exactly what green building is all about – making informed choices.” Like the North American ceramic tile EPD, the mortar and grout EPDs are based principally on lifecycle assessments (LCAs) that address myriad aspects – from extraction of raw materials through end of life – to quantify environmental impacts in accordance with international standards and North America’s most commonly referenced green building requirements. The analysis was performed by Thinkstep, Inc., a leader in the field of sustainability, as is UL. The grout and mortar EPDs rep- resent more than 2.25 billion kg of products produced annually in North America by the major North American manufacturers of tile mortars and tile grouts that provided 64 TileLetter | December 2016