Fireclay Tile is a made-to-order ceramic tile company that makes and designs beautiful and unique tiles that when arranged together, can look like vibrant art installations.
They are not only committed to offering a wide range of tile colors, materials, patterns, and shapes made from quality craftsmanship, Fireclay Tile is also committed to making all their tiles sustainably.
Healthy materials
Without compromising quality, Fireclay Tile uses only safe and healthy materials to make their tiles. They remove all harmful chemicals from their glazed tiles while sourcing high quality materials. Their tiles are also VOC free (volatile organic compounds are gases that emit into the air, contributing to indoor air pollution that can be harmful to one’s health according to the US EPA).
Sustainable production and manufacturing
Fireclay Tile work to keep their production local to North America in order to reduce their carbon emissions. They source tile materials locally, and manufacture 100% in the US by their team of experienced ceramicists based in Aromas, California.
Their tiles are also made-to-order to reduce waste. This way, low inventory levels can be kept to operate efficiently so that inventory is not on the shelf for a while, and not able to sell.
Day-to-day manufacturing operations also incorporate sustainable strategies such as product development efficiencies and waste diversion programs that include but not limited to:
– the collection of waste water to be filtered and reused in the factory
– 100% reuse of tile scraps
– the elimination of single-use plastic from production
– continual work to offset 100% of their carbon emissions from their entire operations
Factory and showroom efficiencies
Currently, Fireclay Tile procures 100% renewable energy both at their production facility and showroom from clean energy providers, and are currently working with a company called Mynt Systems to retrofit their factory with on-site solar energy.
Additional energy and waste efficiencies in their factory include but not limited to:
– the installation of new modern electric kilns
– the replacement of all lighting fixtures with LED light bulbs (using at least 75% less energy and lasts up to 25x longer than incandescent bulbs)
– the layout of their manufacturing process to increase capacity while being more energy efficient and creating fewer opportunities for waste.
B Corp certified
With all of Fireclay Tile’s sustainable strategies set in place at the manufacturing and production level, they also take a holistic approach to sustainability by being B Corp certified, and have been since 2014.
They’re not only committed to environmental stewardship, but also to corporate governance, employee welfare, and community involvement as part of their B Corp certification. Fireclay Tile is also Climate Neutral Certified (specifically focused on the measurement, reduction, and off-set of carbon emissions), and Certified Employee Owned.
To learn more, here is a link to Fireclay Tile 2022 Impact Report.
LEED, Fitwel and WELL Building Standard
Fireclay Tile can contribute to credits in various sustainable commercial and residential certification projects that include LEED under Materials & Resources (recycle, reuse and regional materials) and Indoor Environment/Air Quality categories, as well as under Fitwel and WELL certification categories, reducing human exposure to hazardous building materials for interiors (like VOCs) to create healthy indoor air quality for building occupants.
You can find Fireclay Tile’s LEED Credit Eligibility Sheet here, and additional certification and environmental qualification information under Trade and Specs tab on their website.
You can view all of Fireclay Tile projects here.
*all photos are from Fireclay Tile.
