Material Health
Pursuing material health in the building industry involves avoiding or eliminating toxic chemicals from building products. Toxic chemicals are those that can bring harm to factory workers, installers, or building occupants. There are tens of thousands of unregulated chemicals used in our building products, and they can increase the risk of everything from asthma to obesity to cancer.
Materials containing these toxic chemicals include carpet, insulation, wet-applied products like adhesives and sealants, and many others. It’s possible to improve material health through better design decisions and product selections.
Material Health
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
-
LVT: Like Vinyl Today? It’s Making a Comeback
Product Review
The popularity of luxury vinyl tile represents a resurgence for PVC, but there are alternatives that look as good or better.
-
A PEX-Like Pipe Without the Cross-Linking Chemicals
Product Review
HyperPure PE-RT drinking water piping is a new take on flexible polyethylene tubing.
-
Non-Hazardous Deep-Cycle Batteries for On or Off the Grid
Product Review
Aquion offers high-performance “saltwater” energy storage without lead, sulfuric acid, or flammable lithium salts.
-
Three Ways to Find Sustainable Textiles, and Seven of the Best Brands
Product Review
A complex supply chain makes finding sustainable textiles for furnishings, draperies, panel fabrics, and other applications a challenge, but there are shortcuts.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
Rubber Flooring: A Good Use for Old Car Tires?
News Analysis
Rubber flooring is getting greener overall, but tire-derived products are still an iffy proposition.
-
New Tool Compares VOC Content of Coatings for Product Selection
News Analysis
Healthy Building Network’s CompAIR calculator allows you to compare the total VOCs of wet-applied coatings based on coverage and other factors.
-
USGBC, Chemical Industry Reach Historic Compromise on Product Optimization
News Analysis
Option 3 of the LEED v4 Material Ingredients credit rewards manufacturers for chemical management up the supply chain.
-
Vinyl Group Launches Reporting Label for Toxic Chemicals
News Analysis
Flooring manufacturers and their Product Transparency Declaration (PTD) will compete with the Health Product Declaration (HPD) format for industry acceptance.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.