See How National Tile is Using ENSO to Identify and Communicate Sustainability Opportunities

About National Tile

National Tile has provided high quality products, services, and advice to the Irish community for over 40 years. They offer a wide range of tile products, tools and care, along with laminate flooring, engineered wood, and all the supplies you need for your new bathroom suite. 

Their experienced team is ready to help you with any project, from a one off upgrade to large scale or multi-site projects. Whether you are an architect, interior designer, contractor, property developer, retailer, hotelier, or an individual client, National Tile has the knowledge and equipment to meet your needs. The team at National Tile prides themselves on being your one stop shop for quality materials, necessary equipment, and expert advice. 

Sustainability has become a key focus area for National Tile. Over the last number of years, the team has done an excellent job educating themselves and making positive changes to increase their overall sustainability. In this case study, we will highlight some of the actions National Tile has taken and how they are using ENSO to communicate their great work with their stakeholders. 

The Challenge

National Tile identified multiple areas in which they had challenges relating to sustainability, including energy use and the amount of packaging in the tile industry. Over the last number of years they worked as a team to come up with and implement solutions. For example, in order to address their energy consumption, they installed solar panels on their facilities that produce 54% of the energy that they use on an annual basis. Another solution they implemented was relating to packaging. National Tile joined Repak and has started baling and returning their plastic through the organisation. 

At first, the motivation for these changes was cost savings. However, as National Tile progressed on their sustainability journey, they found that more and more current and potential customers were caring about what they were doing and were asking questions about their sustainability plans. A challenge arose for the organisation. They were taking action and increasing their overall sustainability, but did not know how to share their progress in an effective way. 

The Solution

The team at National Tile understands the importance of transparent communication of their sustainability journey. By sharing their actions, they are holding themselves accountable and sharing their knowledge as well as reaching new potential customers and fostering loyalty with current clients. As more people, tender applications, and regulations start taking sustainability into account, National Tile will be ready to share all of their great work through the ENSO platform.

Key Benefits:

1. Clear & Accessible Communication: By joining ENSO, National Tile now has a way to communicate all of their hard work on sustainability in an accessible and transparent way. Both the ENSO Badge and the bespoke public webpage help the team to communicate what they are working on currently, what they plan to do, and what they have already achieved. 
2. ENSO’s Impact List: The team at National Tile are continually learning and looking for new ways to take action to increase their sustainability. Using ENSO allows them to compare their current initiatives to the list of impacts on the platform and to identify new areas to focus on. As they take new actions, National Tile can easily keep their communications up to date through the public web page feature on the ENSO platform. 

The Results

Through their partnership with ENSO, National Tile has been able to overcome their communication challenge and begin to tell their sustainability story. Between their ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management Systems) certification, their support of their local community, and their positive environmental actions, National Tile continues to be an industry leader in sustainability. Now, they are able to shout about it! 

People are starting to care about sustainability more and more. As Brian Woods of National Tile puts it “they don’t want somebody who’s polluting and taking in stuff from somewhere where they’re using child labour and exploiting things. It’s a value thing for customers as well.” With their new communication tools through ENSO, National Tile is perfectly poised to engage with these customers and show their value as a sustainable supplier. 

Conclusion

“I do believe that consumers and architects, especially, probably in the design phase of development, they will look for ISO standards, any sort of sustainability standards.” – Brian Woods, National Tile

Design and quality still are top of mind for many customers. However, National Tile has seen an increase in interest in sustainability and are predicting that this trend will continue, particularly in the beginning stages of project planning. Developers and home builders are looking for businesses just like National Tile. 

They were ahead of the curve on taking sustainability actions and have made great progress. Now, through their collaboration with ENSO, they can share their journey in a transparent, accessible way and gain new business from clients who value sustainability as much as they do. 

For more information on National Tile and their sustainability journey, check out their ENSO sustainability webpage here! You will be able to see more information about their specific commitments and progress.