Tile Sourcing

The glass tile was being installed yesterday in the shower and it looks amazing. I am happy with how the tile looks but I have to say that this is one area we don't necessarily get green points. We tried to talk about the issue of sourcing when we were picking tiles back in December/January but I don't know how much we really followed through. If I have it right, the floor tiles in the downstairs bathroom are from Italy and the shower tiles were made in China. The installer said that he only knew of one company in BC that actually manufactured glass tile. I should really see if that statement can be backed up with a little google searching (a job for later).

In January, I did ask the tile supplier to give us some sourcing information. He provided me with website addresses for the manufacturers [www.castelvetro.it (porcelain) restauri porpora/ indaco www.ermes-ceramiche.it (porcelain) feng shui mu www.malbros.com (slate) natural product #24 africain #63 Khasa] but since I never checked the sites this is where we might not have followed through. The supplier did provide his own company information on the fact that the settling product used was "LEED Friendly."

When we talk about green, a lot of people mention the use recycled glass tile or bamboo as things that come to their minds first when thinking about the subject. We made a conscious decision not to use bamboo (for another blog entry) but I wouldn't give us a A+ on the tile front. It does look awesome though.....