Fireclay Tile recently announced “the most sustainable glazed brick ever produced” with a new Glazed Thin Brick for interior and exterior applications. The brick is available in nine colors and made in the USA with a skinny brick sourced from McNear Brick and Block near San Jose, California. Glazed Thin Brick has anywhere from 30-90% post-consumer recycled content and a lead- and VOC-free glaze.
Italy-based Benetti Stone Philosophy makes a beautiful mosaic surface called Ivory Dream, which is made from vegetable ivory. In this case, the vegetable ivory — which was used to make buttons before plastic became popular — comes from the seed of an Amazon palm tree called Tagua. The seed is hand-harvested without causing any damage and is then cut and supplied for use as a floor, covering, or other surface mosaic.
We’re in a $17 billion market for new green homes, so it makes sense that the USGBC and Home Depot would team up to make green building products more accessible. Today, the USGBC and Home Depot announced a new database – available through LEEDHomeDepot.com – currently listing more than 2,500 products that contribute towards LEED for Homes certification.
You’ve probably seen bamboo tile, but have you seen some of the handcrafted wood tile from Colorado-based Everitt & Schilling Company. They offer a Trail Mix series (pictured above) that is made from the scraps — alder, poplar, oak, walnut, hickory – of cabinet and door makers. E&S also has a few country-luxe lines made with reclaimed barnwood and finished with water based, low VOC finishes. Re-Claimed Barnwood tiles come in 2×2, 4×4, 2×8, and 4×8 with various configurations. Pricing varies and can be provided upon request, though I understand it starts at around $24 per square foot.
North Carolina-based Meld USA, maker of several materials we’ve mentioned including ecoX, Micro, and Plus Plus, introduced a new material in the last year called Luxe. Luxe is made in Raleigh with up to 74% pre-consumer recycled-content material and can be used with various products, including countertops, tiles, and wall paneling. Meld offers six standard colors – Natural, Cement, Graphite, Saddleback, Caper and Southern Mud — and basically infinite custom colors.
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