The staff of the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) will celebrate the first-ever National Tile Day on February 23, 2017, with a tour of Clemson University’s new 140,000-sq-ft Football Operations Building. The $55 million facility is currently pending LEED Silver Certification, thanks in part to its ubiquitous use of tile.

“As the trade association representing North American manufacturers of ceramic tile, tile installation materials, tile equipment, raw materials, and other tile-related products, we’re of course always excited to get a first-hand look at innovative uses of our members’ products,” said Eric Astrachan, executive director. “As it happens, we also have very close ties with Clemson University, and not only does our lab—home to the most experienced tile-and-stone-specific team in North America—draw a lot of in-house lab and engineering talent from Clemson, but we also work closely in concert with the materials and science engineering department there when we need outside assistance on different facets of projects.”

The Clemson Football Operations Complex encompasses 30,000 sq ft of tile, along with 4,000 sq ft of thin brick. According to Jeff Thomas, senior account executive with DCO Commercial Floors, both the expanse of the project and the variety of styles used (including stone- and wood-look tile and glass tile) contributed to the complexity of the install. The “TCNA Handbook” was reportedly instrumental in the team’s success, especially considering they had a firm due date: ESPN’s live broadcast on National Signing Day.

“I was fortunate to have the use of the ‘TCNA Handbook’ to pass along our reasoning on why we recommended certain methods of installation,” said Thomas. “For example, this project covered numerous types of installation methods—showers, pools, steam rooms—and thin brick veneer were all present, and in many cases, focal points of the project. With the ‘TCNA Handbook,’ I was able to easily illustrate to the design team our preferred method of installation while explaining the reasoning behind it. This allowed any RFIs and clarifications to be expedited and continue to meet the fast-paced schedule.”

“We’re proud that our research, industry standards, and reference materials have been of service to the companies who worked on the Clemson Football Operations Complex project,” said Bill Griese, TCNA’s director of Standards Development and Sustainability Initiatives. “Seeing tile playing a key role toward the building attaining LEED Silver certification is even more rewarding. Further, we fully anticipate that the energy, environmental, health, and lifecycle benefits resulting from the project’s extensive use of tile will serve Clemson and its athletes well, long into the future. It’s neat to see firsthand the beauty and limitless design potential of tile on full display in any high-profile LEED project, but when ‘Clemson orange’ and waterjet-cut ‘tiger paws’ are involved, it’s that much more fulfilling.”

Clemson aims to achieve at least a LEED Silver rating for all newly constructed buildings and large renovations. The LEED green building certification program is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. It contains prerequisites and credits in five categories: sustainable site planning, improving energy efficiency, conserving materials and resources, embracing indoor environmental quality, and safeguarding water.

For more information, visit www.tcnatile.com, www.clemson.edu or www.usgbc.org/leed.