For this issue of Contemporary Stone & Tile Design, we have a focus on residential design, and achieving LEED status using natural stone. We had the chance to talk to Stephanie Vierra, who is the president of Vierra Design & Education Services, LLC, who specializes in research, project management and educational programs on sustainability and whole building design, and she is a LEED-Accredited Professional with the USGBC. She was able to tell us about the importance that natural stone plays in going for LEED certification on a project. Her interview begins on page 28.

Going along with Vierra’s interview, we talked to Jim Heib, the CEO of the Natural Stone Institute about their campaign, Use Natural Stone. He discussed with us what the objectives are of the campaign and also how it has recently taken off with the architect and design communities. On page 22, we wrote about a house that was designed to be net-zero energy, sustainable and uses regional limestone. That project also falls under our other category for this issue, residential design.

On page 12, we start off the residential design section with a project that used regional limestone and Ozark chopped stone. The project has unique gradient features that are typically not found in Dallas, TX, as well as an unusual property shape. We had the chance to speak to the architects and home builder about the project. The final residential project we have starts on page 18, a backyard utopia located in New Orleans. A couple used tile throughout their pool, spa and back porch to design an oasis and get away from their busy lives.

The final story we have starts on page 7, where we feature a roundup of the newest tile trends in the industry. These range from different wood looks to mosaic tiles.

Finally, I would like to point out a mistake we made in our previous issue, Summer 2018 of CSTD on page 31. In the credit box, we accidently wrote that Lunada Bay Tile produced the products used for that project. In fact, they were produced by Oceanside Glasstile. CSTD regrets this error.

We hope that this year has been a busy one for you and we wish you continued success into the New Year.