TCAA Tile Talk Monthly

October 2024

Innovation and Sustainability

At Schluter^®-Systems, we're all about blending innovation with sustainability. We started by rethinking the built environment, making sure every product we offer is a durable solution that contributes to long-standing installations. Our sustainability journey is always evolving, keeping up with what our customers and communities need. Plus, we're constantly checking in on our progress to keep getting better.

• Pioneering Products: We've been leading the charge in redefining standards right from the start.

• Streamlined Tile Installation: Our focus isn't just on products— we're all about making tile installation easier and greener.

• Evolving Sustainability Roadmap: We're flexible and responsive, tweaking our sustainability strategy to meet changing needs.

• Regular Progress Check-ins: We're committed to constant improvement, checking in regularly on our sustainability efforts. Our commitment to corporate sustainability goes beyond a mere tagline—it's ingrained in our DNA. From responsible sourcing practices to ongoing global business practices audits, we're setting the gold standard.

This commitment is not just a formality, it's integrated into the training for every new member joining the Schluter family. Sustainability is the cornerstone of our corporate culture, influencing every aspect of our operations and reflecting our dedication to environmental stewardship.

Sitting on over 14 acres of land, our Reno office is LEED Gold certified, featuring sensible and sustainable technologies that maximize energy efficiency.

What We’re Doing

We're not just about products – we're all about providing tile setters with durable, responsibly-produced solutions. Sustainability isn't just a goal for us, it's a standard we proudly uphold. Whether we're minimizing our carbon footprint or teaming up with like-minded partners, our commitment goes beyond products. We give our employees a key role in shaping our company and making a positive impact in communities worldwide.

The Schluter-Systems reception area in Reno, Nevada, showcases a vibrant living with a two-story waterfall, enhancing air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and adding humidity.

Beyond Products

At Schluter^®-Systems, we're committed to delivering sustainable and durable solutions that go beyond the ordinary. Our focus on transparency ensures responsibly produced products, meeting evolving customer and community needs. Emphasizing the importance of sustainable materials in green builds, our products contribute to eco-conscious construction practices. With durability at the forefront, we reduce the need for frequent replacements, promoting long-term sustainability in every project.

• Health Product Declarations (HPDs): We provide transparency through HPDs, disclosing health impacts of ingredients. Currently available for mortars, primers, uncoupling, and sheet membranes with ongoing additions planned.

• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs): EPDs assess environmental impacts, including embodied carbon. We contribute to Industry Average EPD for Cement Mortar and offer specific EPDs for our products, expanding the collection in the future.

• VOC Testing: SDS discloses total VOC content, with third-party emissions testing ensuring compliance with California's SCAQMD program.

• Red List Free: Following the Living Building Challenge's Red List, products are formulated to be Red List Free. This designation will be highlighted on our website and marketing materials, with a continued expansion of Red List Free products.

Schluter^®-Systems is proud to partner with Ecomedes, a key player in sustainable product procurement. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to transparency and environmental responsibility. We list our products on Ecomedes so architects and designers can easily find sustainable solutions. Together, we're shaping a more sustainable future in the construction industry.

Schluter-Systems Canadian Headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Certified Gold Leed Building

Reducing our carbon footprint with tile: Part 5

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and how they report Global Warming Potential (GWP)

by Scott Conwell, FAIA, FCSI, LEED AP, Director of Industry Development International Masonry Institute 

When considering the impact building products have on environmental and human health, it is important for manufacturers to quantify and report this data in a way that allow designers to comparatively predict these impacts during the product selection stage. The most common method for reporting this complex data is the use of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). EPDs allow material manufacturers to report Global Warming Potential (GWP) and other health impacts across all stages of a building’s life. TCAA contractors should have a basic understanding of EPDs and how they help position tile as a low carbon material so they can communicate the sustainable benefits of tile to their customers, clients, and stakeholders.

Click here for a short video clip talking about the basics of EPDs.

Tile’s industry-wide EPDs

Many individual tile and setting material companies in North America offer single-company, single-product EPDs, and these documents are helpful when the exact product to be used is known. But for a broad overview of these materials, it is convenient to refer to the industry-wide EPDs produced by TCNA and their manufacturer partners, which present the industry average GWP values for domestically produced tile, mortar, and grout based on values reported by the major manufacturers of these materials.

The key output of any EPD is the material’s Global Warming Potential measured in kg of CO₂ per m² of building area, making it easy to compare GWP of different flooring materials.

Design professionals are encouraged to download the industry-wide EPDs for tile, mortar, and grout from the TCNA’s website and closely examine the health and environmental benefits of tile and stone relative to other floor finishes. While these materials may not have the cheapest initial cost, they use safe ingredients, and when installed with qualified labor they will last the life of the building and reduce its carbon footprint.

Click here for a short video clip showing the industry-wide EPD for ceramic tile, and how it reports Global Warming Potential (GWP).

EPD Product Category Rules (PCRs)

EPDs are useful for comparing impacts of different building materials because they present information in a standardized format. The validity of any EPD assumes that it was prepared in accordance with its associated Product Category Rules (PCRs) developed by an unbiased Program Operator.

PCRs are developed with input by material manufacturers and trade associations under the umbrella of a Program Operator, an independent agency that conducts, administers, and supervises EPD development according to ISO standards. PCRs set the basis for measuring the environmental attributes of product in a certain group - flooring for example. The PCR will inform the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), and in turn the LCA and the PCR together inform the EPD. Lots of alphabet soup, but this is important and it’s the direction the industry is going.

The Product Category Rules for flooring were developed jointly by many flooring companies and organizations coming from the resilient, carpet, tile, wood, and laminate flooring industries. UL Environment is the program operator for all flooring EPDs.

According to the PCRs for flooring EPDs, a 75-year building service life must be considered, along with the number of replacements or refurbishments of the flooring within the service life. Put another way, the PCRs for flooring require a cradle-to-grave evaluation, therefore they must consider extraction, production, construction, use, and end-of-life stages for the flooring material. Since the Reference Service Life (RSL) of the tile assembly is also 75 years, routine maintenance is considered in its projected GWP, but replacement of the flooring is not. Therefore, this cradle-to-grave analysis favors tile, stone, and other hard flooring materials since their service life is 75 years. Unlike vinyl, wood, carpet, and laminate, no tile replacement need be considered for the purposes of the EPD.

Click here for a short video clip showing the role of PCRs in the development of EPDs for flooring, and how tile benefits from the cradle-to-grave reporting rule.

Flooring GWP Comparison

To accurately compare the environmental impacts of competing flooring materials, it is important to have consistent and reliable EPDs that conform to their industry’s Product Category Rules when reporting Global Warming Potential. EPDs should not be biased toward one material or another.

If a flooring manufacturer were to substitute a “cradle-to-gate” Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for the PCR-required “cradle-to-grave” LCA, the results would be unfairly skewed to an artificially low GWP. For example, not declaring GWP during the product use stage of a building’s 75-year service life, especially if it’s a product that will need replacing at least once in those 75 years, is misleading at best and deceptive at worst.

The purpose of the Flooring PCR’s standard requirements for cradle-to-grave LCAs is to ensure consistent and reliable EPDs from which designers can make informed material selections. Thankfully, most manufacturers of soft flooring goods are forthcoming with their products’ shorter service life and publish EPDs that are accurate and useful. But because a few take liberties with the Product Category Rules, specifiers are advised to take a close look at the EPDs of the materials they’re considering, particularly in the Product Use stage of the LCA.

Click here for a short video clip summarizing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of tile compared to other floor finishes.