HEALTHY MATERIALS
How to critically audit and implement finishes that support human health and well-being.
Over the last century, the evaluation criteria for selecting interior materials has revolved around their durability. Beginning in the early 1900s when the Wyzenbeek abrasion test was developed to test the strength of textiles, designers have been searching for the longest lasting option. In 1973, the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) was founded to provide a similar standard of durability for commercial furniture.
As we look more recently, there has been a dramatic expansion of the criteria used to specify materials, especially those in the interior. The vast facets of environmentally conscious material attributes and the health impacts of those materials has dominated the conversation.
The USGBC put the environmental conversation into action in 1994 with the LEED® standards and
in 2010, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute began certifying specific products for their entire life cycle. With the recent pandemic, our designers see human and material health as top of mind.
What is material health?
Pursuing material health in the building industry involves avoiding or eliminating toxic chemicals from building products and replacing them with safe antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties.
Toxic chemicals are classified as such when they have the potential to inflict harm during manufacturing, installation, over the course of their useful life, or in the disposal process. We see opportunity to improve material health through thoughtful design decisions and product selections.
Why does material health matter?
Embracing choices that foster a more sustainable and human-centric environment can provide both short and long-term benefits. While the pay-off can be intangible and difficult to measure, designers can support decisions that improve material health and validate their success by establishing specific metrics upfront. When companies/institutions select materials with “healthy” qualities, occupants can see the company’s investment in their people and the environment. This human resources ROI promotes company pride, culture and retention.
Financial benefits could include;
• Employees staying healthy leads to missing less time from work, lower expenses in health care, etc
• Sourcing locally saves time (shorter lead times) and cost (fuel and transportation)
• Sourcing materials and products with a longer life cycle means less cost replacing and cleaning them
• Specifying products where parts can be replaced rather than the entire product means less cost
• Tax credits and financial incentives are available for usage of certain materials and material reuse
How can understanding material transparency guide the conversation?
Material transparency allows designers to research hidden product impacts like embodied carbon, toxic ingredients or byproducts, and social responsibility in the supply chain.
One bleeding edge example is California’s Proposition 65, Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement which became law in November 1986. This legislation is updated at least once a year and currently includes over 900 chemicals.
According to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assesment (OEHHA)
• “Proposition 65 requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.
• Exposure to these chemicals may take place when products are acquired or used.
• Exposure may also occur in homes, workplaces, or other environments in California.
• By requiring that this information be provided, Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed decisions about their exposures to these chemicals.”
Manufacturers may release many types of documents to facilitate transparency. A few of the most commonly referenced are detailed below.
01 Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
EPDs focus on telling the life cycle of a product and it’s environmental impacts from production to disposal. UL’s EPDs “do not rank products, and the existence of an EPD for a product does not indicate that environmental performance criteria have been met. EPDs are a disclosure tool that helps purchasers better understand a product’s sustainable qualities and environmental repercussions, so they can make more informed product selections.”
02 Health Product Declarations (HPDs)
A document in which manufacturers disclose the ingredients, toxicity profiles and any potential health hazards.
03 Declare
Declare is a nutrition label for building products. It is designed to help specifiers quickly identify products that meet their requirements. Declare labels disclose all intentionally-added ingredients and
residuals at or above 100ppm (0.01%) present in the final product by weight. Each ingredient must be reported with a chemical name, CAS number, and percentage or percentage range.
04 GreenGuard Environmental Institute (GEI) GEI is an industry-independent, non-profit organization that certifies a product has low chemical emissions. The majority of our chemical exposure happens through the air we breathe, including indoor air.
05 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The FSC is an international, non-governmental organization that provides oversight and certification for forest management that promotes biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers, while ensuring it sustains economic viability.
06 Corporate Sustainability Reports
The internally or sometimes externally produced reports look at the overall environmental impacts of a whole company.
Healthy Material Selection Guide
Certifications to look for that apply to several categories
• California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method for VOC Emissions
• Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
• GreenGuard Environmental Institute (GEI)
• The International Living Future Institute’s Living Product Challenge
Acoustic Wall and Ceiling Panels
ADOPT – high recycled content and FSCcertified wood.
AVOID – stain/ dirt repellents made from perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), flame retardants, formaldehyde and PVC.
Engineered Wood
ADOPT – woods that contain no-addedformaldehyde resins and are available with FSCcertified content.
AVOID – wood from unsustainable sources.
Hardwood & Bamboo Flooring
ADOPT – products that have Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, are rapidly renewable or are sustainably sourced reclaimed materials.
AVOID – finishes with high VOC emissions, tropical hardwoods, formaldehyde-based adhesives and reclaimed wood that’s not sustainably sourced.
Interior Paints
ADOPT – paints with less than 50 g/l of VOC content (after tinting) or have MPI X-Green Performance Standard certification.
AVOID – coatings with greater than 50 g/l VOC content (after tinting).
Interior Stains and Clear Finishes
ADOPT – products with factory-applied coatings when applications demand higher-VOC products, are below California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) standards for VOCs, use UV-cured finishes or natural oils.
AVOID – products containing heavy metals, formaldehyde, or aromatic solvents.
Modular & Broadloom Carpet
ADOPT – CRI Green Label Plus certified products for VOC emissions, Cradle to Cradle Silver or higher, or NSF 140 Platinum, or the Living Product Challenge for overall sustainability, have lower embodied carbon, need no added stain or dirt repellents, may use peel-and-stick application method, or come from manufacturers with take-back programs for end of life recycling.
AVOID – products coated with PFAS, products with antimicrobials above 100 ppm and backings that contain fly ash, PVC or polyurethane.
Resilient Flooring
ADOPT – Flooring that meets or exceeds the performance and emission standards set by one of the various third party certifications; ASTM testing, GreenGuard Gold certification and look for products with biobased content.
AVOID – vinyl flooring (like LVT), any flooring requiring ongoing maintenance with harsh chemicals and rubber flooring made from recycled tires.
Textiles
ADOPT – textiles made from natural fibers and certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) or Oeko Tex 100, are ACT Factscertified Gold or Platinum, Cradle to Cradle Gold (Silver if the finished fabric has no fluorinated compounds).
AVOID – stain and dirt repellents made from perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and toxic chemicals used in flame retardants.
Wallcoverings
ADOPT – bio-based ingredients, PVC-free and have no PFAS coating.
AVOID – PVC (vinyl) wallcoverings and products containing orthophthalate plasticizers.
Choosing a Non-Toxic Engineered Wood Floor “My Chemical Free House” Sustainable toxin-free wallpaper “Makelike” Earth Weave Broadloom Carpeting “DwellSmart” Recyclable Acoustic Ceilings “BAUX”