By Louis Iannaco
According to Kermit the Frog, “it’s not easy being green.” Nowadays, no matter if it’s easy or not, consumers want to be it— green, that is. And, with the focus on eco friendly products growing each day, buyers are educating themselves on what is available—applying the same focus on flooring as on cars or appliances.

But how do dealers emphasize tile’s green attributes to today’s shoppers? Patti Fasan, tile expert and consultant to Tile of Spain, advises educating the consumer “by letting her know that selecting a durable material, such as ceramic [or porcelain] tile, will last the life of the home, and that it greatly reduces the demand for virgin materials as well as the amount of waste we send to landfills when we replace non-durable materials. Clay, which ceramic tile is made from, when harvested in a responsible and sustainable manner is considered an eco-friendly material right off the bat.”

She says explaining the product’s eco friendliness is key for salespeople. “Tile has a useable life of more than 40 years. Alternative flooring choices will be replaced four, six or eight times in that same period. To determine environmental impact, you must multiply embodied energy, raw material extraction and landfill burden by at least four.”

Christine Abbate, spokesperson for Ceramic Tiles of Italy, said in order to get their green selling story across to consumers, retailers need to focus on exactly what ceramic tile is, with a similar focus on porcelain tile. “Ceramic tile is made from clay, a mixture of clay, and other ceramic material. Like all ceramic materials, tiles are hard, strong, hygienic, easy to clean and fire resistant.”

Abbatte noted porcelain is a type of ceramic with specific properties. “The national standard specifications for ceramic tile (ANSI A137.1) defines porcelain as dense, smooth and impervious—with water absorption of .5% or less.”

She urges dealers to emphasize ceramic tile’s natural properties, including its availability and benefits. “Both ceramic and porcelain are glazed or unglazed fired clays. The raw materials used in the manufacturing of these tiles are available in abundant supply. Both are low maintenance, long lasting and do not off-gas.”

Main talking point

Like Abbate and Fasan, industry consultant Donato Grosser believes ceramic tile’s natural origins should serve as the retailer’s main point when discussing the product with consumers. “Ceramic tile is basically all clay, along with some other components, which makes the product stronger and harder. Everything comes from the soil. There are no plastics or solvents. Everything is organic—things you’d find in nature such as clay, soil or feldspar. All the components are quarried.”

Jerry Joyce, commercial sales manager, Marazzi USA—which along with sister company Ragno USA, offers several products with recycled content contributing to LEED points—said consumers should look for a “sustainability statement from the manufacturer as well as what measures the company has undertaken to improve its environmental performance. The best place to find this is usually on the companies’ Web sites.

“Marazzi and Ragno have great Web sites,” he explained, “and on them you will find our Elements brochure and LEED 2009 Credit Category Analysis and Commercial Product Contribution Matrix. Marazzi is a member of USGBC and it was the first ceramic tile factory to receive the EMAS certification. This EU certification is awarded to companies, which have adopted highly environmentally efficient manufacturing systems. We also have several products that have obtained the Ecolabel mark, an environmental quality seal from the European Union.”

Lori Kirk-Rolley, senior marketing director for Mohawk’s Dal-Tile division, said what determines a tile to be eco-friendly depends largely on which certification is trying to be earned and how that organization’s respective guidelines define what’s green and what’s not.

For example, she noted the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications for commercial and residential projects, each with slightly different criteria, while the National Association of Home Builders has its own Model Green Home Building Guidelines for residential construction, with different criteria than USGBC’s program.

Green indicator

“For the most part,” she explained, “the percentage of recycled material content used in production is a common indicator of a product’s greenness. More than 97% of Dal-Tile’s manufactured products have some level of recycled material content.”

In most green building rating systems, Kirk-Rolley noted, criteria like the distance the material has to travel from the manufacturing plant to the jobsite, resulting in energy savings and lowered transit emissions, also plays a role.

With the Internet playing such an increasingly growing role in the education of the consumer, she believes dealers need to inform end users on how they can find specific information on the products they carry.