sponsored by GREEN TIP The Green Squared® certifica- tion program of the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), along with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for North American-made ceramic tile, mortar and grout, are garnering more attention from architects and designers, specifiers, and purchas- ers. The upswing is due in large part to two major milestones in green building: the U.S. Green Building Council’s move late last year to require all new projects to follow LEED v4, reinvigorating green building conversations; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s formal recommendation, as of December 2016, for all federal purchasers to use Green Squared to assist in the identifi- cation and procurement of envi- ronmentally sustainable tiles and related installation materials, put- ting increased focus on that stan- dard. Tile is especially relevant to LEED v4 in two major ways. With LEED MR (Materials and Resource) Credits heavily focused on product transparency and the availability of environmental data, the industry- wide EPDs avail- able for North American-made tile, grout and mortar help projects seek- ing LEED points meet transpar- ency require- ments when tile is used. Also, the new LEED Pilot Credit, “Certified Multi-Attribute Products and M a t e r i a l s , ” awards a point if a certain per- centage of build- ing products is certified to meet their relevant industry sustainability standards. With Green Squared listed in LEED as the appropriate standard/certifi- cation program for the tile industry, use of Green Squared Certified® tile and installation materials can contribute toward this point. The U.S. EPA’s recommendation to federal agencies to use Green Squared when specifying tile is important because tile and related Tile goes from strength to strength with continued emphasis of LEED v4 Bill Griese Eric Astrachan 26 TileLetter | August 2017