Ceramic Tiles of Italy Green Forum

Ceramic Tiles of Italy encourages green building and sustainability

The environmental commitment has long been a European standard, even before the eco-revolution took hold of the US market. The Italians were the first to begin with reducing their carbon footprint through state-of-the-art facilities, sustainable production and certifications including the prestigious European Eco-label (the European Union label certifying environmental safeguards), EMAS and ISO 14001.

In 2004, the Italian industry launched its progressive “S-Tiles, Italian tiles Towards Sustainability” book and corresponding website (www.s-tiles.it) to raise awareness of the tile industry’s strategic approach to sustainable design, taking into account environmental, social and economic developments. Since that time, the book has been distributed at the trade shows and seminars across the globe. The second edition of the book will provide information on the most interesting projects and the constructive role that Italian tiles play in green building and design.

Ceramic Tiles of Italy is also a founding member of the Green Building Council Italia. This new organization has been created for the purpose of introducing building innovation processes to the Italian market through the adoption of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Buildings will be evaluated for certification for their environmental, social and economic sustainability for their design construction and ongoing management.

In addition, the Italian tile industry is promoting the use of the material as an energy-saving product suitable for use as a heat sink or ventilated wall façade, which contributes to Energy Performance and Innovation in Design, ID Credit 1.1 – 1.4. To emphasize its sustainable attributes, the industry has sponsored countless seminars on this topic. Also tiles do not emit any VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), therefore can also help contribute points towards indoor air quality EQ 4.2.

To further prove our commitment to environmentally friendly design, a new advertising campaign, focused on the sustainable attributes of Italian tile, has been launched in October 2008.

Ceramic Tiles of Italy is actively addressing this global issue and doing its part to help lower its environmental impact.

Click here to read about new sustainable products and technological innovations from Cersaie 2009

Ceramic Tiles of Italy has produced its “Green Card” - a quick guide which details the top 10 reasons when Italian ceramic tile is sustainable. Click here to download Ceramic Tiles of Italy Green Card.

Click here to read about Italian tile manufactures' LEED-compliant products