The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) for New Construction and Major Renovations (NC) is a system that provides guidelines for sustainable design and building. LEED/NC certified projects lessen impact to land, water and atmosphere, conserve energy, materials and resources, improve indoor air quality and encourage innovative design. Specifying brick in a building’s design can contribute toward an overall LEED strategy. Listed below are the specific LEED qualification opportunities with ceramic tile:

Indoor Environmental Quality

EQ Prerequisite 1: Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance (required)
EQ Credit 4.1: Low-Emitting Materials: Adhesives & Sealants (1 point)
EQ Credit 4.2: Low-Emitting Materials: Paints & Coatings (1 point)
EQ Credit 4.3: Low-Emitting Materials: Carpet Systems (1 point)

Ceramic tile can be an integral component toward a design strategy that establishes minimum indoor air quality performance because it does not contain VOCs, lead or other allergens, it resists mold growth and it does not require sealants, wax or coatings that may emit indoor air contaminants. Adhesives for ceramic tile with low VOC emissions are available for installing tile.

Substituting ceramic tile for carpet systems can further contribute to a low VOC emissions strategy.

Credit 1: Innovation in Design (1 – 4 points)

DE Certain building-wide design strategies that do not fit under other LEED criteria are addressed in the "Innovation in Design" category. Because of its numerous environmental qualities, ceramic tile can be used in innovative design approaches that seek to improve the building life cycle or optimize indoor air quality.

MR Credit 2: Construction Waste Management (1 – 2 points)
MR Credit 4: Recycled Content (1 – 2 points)
MR Credit 5: Regional Materials (1 – 2 points)

Since it is a recyclable product, less landfill space is used with ceramic tile than with other building materials. Damaged tile is reused as raw material and salvaged tile from a project site can also be used as raw material for new tile.

SS Credit 7: Heat Island Effect, Non-Roof (1 – 2 points)

Use of light-colored ceramic tile in landscaping design can help reduce the "heat island effect," which is caused by dark surfaces that absorb more heat or by lack of vegetation for shade and air cooling.