19 Aug 2024 By Mark Petter
Tiles are both practical and popular. They are typically known for being hard wearing, long lasting and easy to maintain. Tiles can withstand wear and tear from the likes of muddy wellies and dirty paw prints to everyday spills and stains, and with a wide variety of designs shapes and finishes on the market today, there is a tile to suit everybody’s needs.
The Green Side of Tile
For thousands of years, discerning builders have chosen tile for their projects due to its many benefits. When you begin to factor in how environmentally-friendly ceramic and porcelain tile products are, you’ll see that tile is the obvious choice when building green.
Tile and the Environment
Life Cycle – Ceramic and porcelain tile are some of the longest lasting flooring products on the market today. Unlike carpet, vinyl, or laminate flooring which have to be replaced periodically, properly installed tile will last a lifetime.
Indoor Air Quality – Indoor air quality is a hot topic and for good reason. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribute to a wide variety of health problems and are a significant cause of “sick building syndrome.” Since tile is fired in kilns to extremely high temperatures, there are no volatile organics in the finished product that can be released into the air we breathe; literally “zero.” In addition, there are adhesives and grouts available that contain zero, or very low VOCs. Some carpet, vinyl, and wood flooring contain low VOCs, but none can compare to zero.
Recycling – Tile factories today are “closed loop,” reusing water and materials. They send only negligible amounts of scrap to landfills and waste water to treatment facilities.
Regional availability – With tile manufacturers located in every region of the United States, tile and installation products made with local raw materials are widely available, unlike some other flooring choices whose manufacturers must ship their product thousands of miles to reach you. This regional availability reduces the amount of energy consumption and air emissions associated with shipping these products from the factory to your project site.
Hypoallergenic – Tile is inhospitable to dust mites, mold, germs, and bacteria and often used to replace carpet for people with allergies or asthma.
Low maintenance – Ceramic tile is easily cleaned, often only with warm water, eliminating the need for chemicals and cleaners needed to maintain other types of floors.