Ironrock is pleased to announce the expansion of the Green Squared certification to all of its quarry tile and thin brick products, including Metropolitan Ceramics® Quarry Tile, Metrobrick® Thin Brick, and Royal Thin Brick®. Green Squared is a rigorous, multi-attribute sustainability certification administered by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) that looks closely at both the products and the company producing them. Ironrock was among the first companies to receive the certification when it was made available in 2012 and has now undergone two full renewal audits as well as yearly maintenance audits. The latest renewal expands the certification from a handful of specific products to all of the products produced.
“We were early adopters of Green Squared,” says Guy Renkert, President of the company and the fifth generation of Renkerts at the helm. “Over the years, we have seen the certification used more, but we were limited by the number of products we had certified. Customers had to pick carefully to get their project credits.
Now they can pick any of our tiles, or even our thin brick products, and be confident that the product selected is eligible.”
“The Green Squared logo is the primary way we tell our sustainability story at a glance,” adds Dan Marvin, Senior VP of Operations for Ironrock and Chairman of TCNA’s Green Initiative Committee. “When combined with industry average Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and the upcoming Ingredient Guide being prepared by the tile industry, our customers can quickly see what the ingredients and environmental impacts are for our products compared to other floor and wall coverings. They also know that we operate our company with sustainability as a primary driver. Together these tools make it easy to comply with the requirements of programs like LEED, Green Globes, and government procurement mandates that favor products with multi-attribute certifications.”
Ironrock’s Green Squared certification is based on using a minimum of 12% recycled material, efficient use of natural gas and electricity, negligible emissions to the environment, and 40 other documented requirements of the program. In addition to the products and the facility, Green Squared looks at community involvement, philanthropy, and employee relations to ensure a ‘big picture’ approach to sustainability. The certification was achieved under the watchful eye of SCS Global Services, a California-based certifier of Green Squared and other programs.
For information about the Green Squared certification and other sustainability topics, visit Ironrock’s website, http://www.ironrock.com/environment.