Making Sustainability Beautiful and Durable
A Q&A with Heidi Vassalotti, LEED AP ID+C, Director of Strategic Accounts, Crossville
Why is porcelain a particularly sustainable material?
Heidi Vassalotti: Porcelain tile is made from naturally occurring minerals. While these aren’t necessarily rapidly renewable, they’re abundant, covering up to 60 percent of the earth’s crust. Porcelain is fired on average at 2200 degrees F, creating an inert end product. Therefore, it doesn’t off-gas — so it causes no harm to human health.
Certified porcelain tile withstands extremely high traffic with minimal wear. It has an average life-span of more than 50 years. Unlike other hard surfaces, porcelain tile doesn’t require sealing, waxes or
harmful chemicals for cleaning. Porcelain tile is easy to maintain.
What are the benefits for the operator in using sustainable materials?
HV: Porcelain tile is the perfect intersection between design and durability. The aesthetics allow operators to achieve any design they dream of. The sizes and finishes allow for proper slip resistance. It withstands climate conditions and won’t be damaged by furniture.
Crossville was among the first manufacturers to receive Green Squared® certification from the Tile Council of North America. What does that mean, and what’s in it for the end user?
HV: Green Squared® certification sets the standard in the tile industry for sustainable products. It considers a myriad of factors to determine product sustainability. This Green Squared designation eliminates guesswork and helps end users specify confidently.
Talk a little about Crossville’s Tile Take-Back® program.
HV: Crossville invented a method for recycling fired porcelain tile — a true revolution for our industry. This capability allowed us to launch Tile Take-Back and keep literally hundreds of thousands of pounds of tile from being landfilled.
We “take back” our own scrap and others’ previously installed tile and recycle it to make new products. In 2011, we expanded the program through a partnership with sanitary ware manufacturer TOTO USA® to recycle their pre-consumer porcelain toilets and other castoffs that would’ve been landfilled.
Today, every piece of tile we make has recycled content, and we are the first-ever net consumer of tile waste — meaning we recycle more than we produce.
Crossville’s Reformation tile stylishly brings the look of concrete indoors.
How can Crossville’s new products help operations be sustainable?
HV: Being sustainable includes a product’s impact on the environment and human health, as well as its ability to
perform long term. At Crossville, we innovate new collections that embody these attributes. Our latest product introductions are great examples. Astral Plane is a large-format collection in four rich colors; Reformation has a nuanced “concrete” look in plank sizes.
Crossville also has some new technological advances that are sustainable.
HV: A great example of technological tile innovation is Crossville’s gauged porcelain tile panel collections. The lines come in 1mx3m outer dimensions with thicknesses of 3+mm or 5.6mm and offer superior sustainable attributes. Commonly used for tile-over-tile-renovations, our panel products can eliminate the need for demolition — meaning no old tile goes to landfills.