Plastic Stone Tiles

Materials master Enis Akiev has taken surface experimentation to another level. For the past few years she has taken inspiration from an eclectic selection of substances. A project at Hong Kong Polytechnic University led to the exploration of a cellulose creation from kombucha bacteria utilising black tea and various sugar solutions and heat treatment to develop skin-like materials that can be dyed with fruit juice. … Continue reading Plastic Stone Tiles

Hemp House

Hemp is fast being recognised as one of the most important crops to tackle climate change due to its prolific growing potential, carbon-sequestering nature, and its capacity to be used in almost any industry. Its ability to sequester carbon begins from the moment it is seeded, with one ton of harvested hemp fiber sequestering approximately 1.62 tons of CO². In the building world hemp’s popularity … Continue reading Hemp House

green charcoal bricks Indian School of Design and Innovation in Mumbai

Lightweight Loofah

Building material alternatives are some of the most exciting things to write about – celebrating innovation that seeks to minimise our impact on the planet, and work for the benefit of non-human creatures is a pleasure that is thankfully becoming ever more common. In a research project from the Indian School of Design and Innovation in Mumbai aimed at developing healthy and environmentally friendly building … Continue reading Lightweight Loofah

Paprica by Marca Corona

Exploring the sustainability of ceramic surfaces

Ceramic products can be certified as complying with the main international green building assessment protocols (LEED, BREEAM, etc.). Ceramic products may be compliant because they possess many of the characteristics required to earn credits, such as: a content of at least 20% by weight of post-consumer recycled material or the equivalent percentage of pre-consumer recycled material, the absence of VOC emissions, sector or product EPD certification, and optimised energy performance. Continue reading Exploring the sustainability of ceramic surfaces

Retroactive2.0 by Crossville

Ceramic tile for safe and sustainable homes

The UL-certified Industry-Wide Environmental Product Declaration for North American-made ceramic tile shows that ceramic tile has the lowest environmental impact across major impact categories, when compared to other floorings with generic EPDs evaluated under the same product category rules. Continue reading Ceramic tile for safe and sustainable homes

Cork tiles from Havwoods

Cracking Cork

Flooring company Havwoods specialise in wood of all kinda with products suitable for floors, cladding, and joinery. But their use of the outer bark of the cork tree is something for the Tile Addict. By laying the cork in a variety of ways, a range of styles can be achieved out of the material. There are three 3D designs on offer with various shapes and … Continue reading Cracking Cork