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.
-
Innovative Products and Technology from the Greenbuild Expo
Feature Article
Our product editors pick some winners from the expo floor at Greenbuild 2013 while raising questions about some materials.
-
Can We Replace Foam Insulation?
Feature Article
There are a lot of reasons to avoid foam, but its high performance can make it a hard habit to kick, as designers are finding out.
-
Stone, The Original Green Building Material
Feature Article
Stone is natural and durable, emits no VOCs, requires almost no maintenance, and provides a connection to the earth and our history.
-
What Makes a Product Green Today?
Feature Article
Lots of manufacturers call their products "green," but are they? Here's our guide to the high-performance attributes that matter.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
-
Scorecard Shows Some Plastics Are “Cleaner” Than Others
Explainer
Plastics are made from petrochemicals whose environmental profiles are complicated at best. But some stand out as, if not cleaner, at least less dirty.
-
Putting a “LID” on Harmful Stormwater Runoff
Explainer
Low-impact development (LID) minimizes pavement and maximizes rainwater infiltration, filtering out pollution and preventing erosion.
-
Safety Sheets Getting New Format—And Some New Data
Explainer
The new Globally Harmonized System for the MSDS will make reporting requirements stricter and should make the forms easier to read.
-
Building Products and Health: A Look at Risk vs. Hazard
Explainer
Use of "hazard avoidance" versus "risk assessment" for understanding toxicity of building materials is hotly debated. Why, and is there a common-sense answer?
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
-
Wallcoverings
Product Guide
These durable wall treatments have no PVC and no toxic phthalates. This mitigates health concerns with this important design choice.
-
Hardwood & Bamboo Flooring
Product Guide
Hardwood and rapidly renewable flooring that's sustainably sourced and tested for ultra-low indoor emissions
-
Metal Coatings
Product Guide
These coatings have VOC levels below 50 g/l and contain no chromium, cadmium, or hazardous airborne pollutants.
-
Cables and Wiring
Product Guide
When possible, products should meet the European Union’s RoHS standards and be free of halogens and PFAS.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
PFAS in Building Products Ubiquitous, Says Report
News Brief
The Green Science Policy Institute details how common PFAS compounds are in our building products.
-
Antimicrobials Generally Not Recommended for COVID, CDC Confirms
News Brief
The CDC updated its guidance, stating that the risk from COVID transmission from surfaces is low risk and that disinfecting is typically not required.
-
Justice, Circularity Overhauled in Cradle to Cradle v4
News Analysis
The latest version of the Cradle to Cradle product standard also expands embodied carbon requirements and replaces the controversial “banned list” with a new approach.
-
10,000 Cancers in Canada: Building Hazards a Major Job Risk
News Brief
Many carcinogens associated with buildings and construction are to blame for a variety of cancer cases.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
-
HBCD Isn't the Only Problem
Op-Ed
Tom Lent argues that we should be looking beyond HBCD when thinking about toxic chemicals.
-
Polystyrene Chemicals Widespread
Op-Ed
Polystyrene chemicals may be more widespread than most people think.
-
Rethinking Polystyrene Insulation
Op-Ed
We should avoid using polystyrene made with the flame retardant HBCD in our buildings, using rigid mineral wool, polyurethane, cellulose, or other alternatives instead.
-
USGBC Supports Screening of PVC
Op-Ed
Tom Lent of the Healthy Building Network explores the recent PVC report from the U.S. Green Building Council.
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.
