DALLAS, TX – Dal-Tile Corp., in partnership with the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), is announcing the participation of their Daltile and American Olean brands in two new industry initiatives that assist customers as they specify tile products for projects. The Green Squared program makes it easy to choose sustainably manufactured products by providing a third-party certification that customers can trust. The new DCOF AcuTest™ provides a new, more accurate measure of coefficient of friction -- making it easier to choose the right product for the right application.

As a leader in the tile and stone category, Dal-Tile is among the first companies to endorse both initiatives. Most of the company's Daltile and American Olean brand manufactured floor, wall and mosaic products are Green Squared certified. The company will also report all floor products' DCOF scores on all marketing materials, including the Web sites to make product selection easier and faster.

"At Dal-Tile, we are proud to have helped the TCNA develop the Green Squared certification program and the DCOF AcuTest process," said James Fanning, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Dal-Tile Corp. "These initiatives will make it easier for architects and designers to specify products that meet both the sustainability and usability needs of the spaces they create. We will continue to work with the TCNA and with our customers to ensure these initiatives gain widespread acceptance and understanding within the industry."

As the use of sustainable products in building projects becomes more important, architects and designers are looking for products that are manufactured in an environmentally responsible manner. In the case of tile and tile installation products, the TCNA's new Green Squared initiative provides a green certification process that architects and designers can trust.

"In any given project, architects and designers have to make hundreds of product choices," said Robert Hurt, Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Dal-Tile Corp."We worked with the TCNA to develop the Green Squared certification program to help make it easier to make product choices that reduce the impact on our environment. By looking for the Green Squared seal, architects and designers can be confident they are choosing a green product."

The Green Squared seal will be prominently featured on marketing materials, including the Web site, of certified manufactured products, indicating that they meet the requirements of the new ANSI A138.1 Sustainable Tile Standard as verified by a comprehensive third-party audit.

Dal-Tile has embraced the Green Squared initiative, allowing its tile manufacturing plants to be evaluated by Underwriters Laboratories - Environment (ULE). All of the company's U.S. manufacturing plants and its Monterrey, Mexico operations were included in the ULE audit process, so architects and designers can be confident that selection of American Olean and Daltile manufactured products meet the industry's toughest green standards.

In order to achieve Green Squared certification, manufactured products are audited over every phase of their life cycle, including product characteristics, manufacturing operations, end of product life management, corporate governance and innovation.