Text and Images provided by
Sami Ullah Khan, Healthcare Architect
Climate change is one of the rising concerns that emerged globally and Construction is one of the prime sources in driving the negative change in terms of wastage, and promotion of hazardous materials which ultimately affects human health and the built environment. The AEC (Architecture Engineering and Construction) industry has a significant impact on Nature for instance; chemicals used in the form of building materials like furnishings, and accessories, all have the potential to seriously impact human health and the built environment.
Why Healthy Building Materials?
Healthy building materials are another byproduct of Sustainability like green building design. We have focusing on energy savings for decades and made remarkable progress until today. Similarly, regenerating the built environment and human health by utilizing healthy materials has also now become an emerging concern. There are serious health issues associated with hazardous chemical-based materials thus we as designers can now develop tools and resources for safeguarding human health and formulate strategies for picking up the right material with healthy properties. We can always play our role in preventing the built-environment and combating climate change through specifying the use of healthy building materials as it contains equal importance in formalizing healthy built environments like as promoting the use of organic food to optimize our health.
Healthy Material Goals:
Since human health is now the prime concern of any country, there is an immense and prompt need to shift from conventional construction toward healthier material application. We as designers have the super ability to control the bio-hazards and material wastage generated from our construction projects. There are numerous ways to take over climate change in terms of attaining healthier environments by implementing tested and renowned strategies and techniques such as;
- Adaptive Reuse
The repurposing of buildings or materials in a new way extends the product life cycle and eliminates the waste of producing and buying new products. - Bio-design
The practice of designing with biology by incorporating living organisms or ecosystems as essential components, thus enhancing the function of the finished work. Bio-design replaces industrial or mechanical systems with biological processes. These processes tend to be more renewable while making fewer material and energy demands. - Circularity
A circular or closed-loop economy is a way of eliminating waste and pollution by keeping products and materials in use. This means we extract less from the supply chain, allow the product or material to be easily reused, and send less building waste to the landfill.
Furthermore, each of the construction projects should acquire the LEED certification, as the third-party evaluation and endorsement would be a great addition in witnessing the healthy impacts of that particular building in regenerating the built-environment.
Establishing Healthy Material Evaluation Criteria and Vetting Process:
The past pandemic has highlighted the importance of a health-promoting built environment and the threat of being unprepared for future events. Both the risks and opportunities provide compelling reasons to develop and implement solutions that may uplift construction industry trends. The steps we take now to mitigate future risks will have clear implications for the safety and wellbeing of building occupants, and the spaces that they rely on for their prosperity.
There are several ways to investigate or determine the material properties and their impacts on human health such as;
- Third party Evaluation
With third-party assessments like Cradle to Cradle certification and Green Seal, confidence comes from the quality assurance built into the assessment from an independent party. Cradle-to-cradle, for example, is a wonderful sustainability tool as each product is assessed based on five categories of criteria. Material health, material re-utilization, renewable energy use, water stewardship, and social responsibility. Because it’s a certification, there is an overall rating or level of recognition. Bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. With each level representing a different level of commitment to environmental sustainability. A note of caution. It’s important to be mindful of checking the material health score, specifically, as the overall rating is guided by the five scores combined. - Manufacturer’s Material data sheets and Eco-Labels
A key factor for determining confidence in certifications and disclosures provided by the manufacturers. You can also compare different assessments to understand how thorough different assessments or declarations may be. However, you should never take any single assessment or declaration at face value. They’re just tools to support your vetting process. Although a lot of manufacturers claim that their products is sustainable or healthy, we need to look beyond the marketing and consult trusted documentation to verify their claims.
You can always go for a healthier alternative is by looking for an EU eco-label. This environmental labeling system certified products that have met standards for low environmental impact through their life cycle. - Material Vetting
You can always go for vetting materials to gain more confidence by gathering available information from the manufacturer and always ask for missing information, this enables transparency and contains information about the associated health impacts of the ingredients on human health. Secondly, identifying materials that meet sustainability standards ensures that selected products align with project goals and then lastly by performing certain tests in a certified laboratory and if possible let it go by installing it in a smaller area with less public intact.
Determining Project Needs and Setting up Priorities:
Being a designer, project leader, or key stakeholder, you have the power to transmit knowledge and awareness to your project team. Having a clear plan from the beginning of a project will help the team navigate the potential obstacles and help you present the case for material health to stakeholders. Your team must go through the following concerns to determine the priorities and set up project goals in attaining a healthy built-environment.
- Identify the type of construction e.g. renovation, interior, expansion, or new construction, and building use e.g. residential, commercial, educational, etc.
- Designing for young, elderly or low-income users? Designing for occupants with allergies or sensitivities? Or all of the above?
- Identify areas or surfaces of impact. Which materials will be in high volume or touched most often? These will present the highest level of exposure to the occupants.
- Include stakeholders / community organizations in initial conversations and understand their concerns & requirements. Follow up with them frequently.
- Perform room-wise space utilization, timings, and study the End-user profile.
These steps will support your Material selection process by omitting the unfit material based on its properties and use. Specifying materials is not just about recommending products based on their quality but is greatly rooted in their utilization, end-user profile, and environmental influence.
Healthy Material Application in a Construction Project:
Here is a Material investigation case report presented to have a better understanding of the motive of this exercise. I have selected a few of the largely used products in construction projects to demonstrate how they exert a negative impact on our health and despite this, we are still utilizing them in mass quantity. The good news is that there are some healthy alternatives available to take the place of hazardous products and help mitigate the negative environmental impact.
- Material A – Interior Paints:
When it comes to health concerns about paints, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) get the most attention. However, binders, pigments, and additives can present a variety of other toxicity concerns. For example, Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs) are a group of chemicals used in acrylic paint to allow pigments to blend better. However, APEs are suspected endocrine disruptors and can cause hormone dysfunction in people, animals, and sea life.
Most common interior paints are acrylic-based, made primarily from petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels. Acrylic paints contribute to the massive amount of micro plastics in the environment, and making these paints is carbon intensive and contributes to the climate crisis.
Healthier mineral-based paints are available on the market as alternatives to plastic-based paints. This can involve a learning curve for contractors and installers. We list several mineral-based paints that have been tested for durability and ease of application. Ensure a breathable wall system by working with a mineral-based primer if necessary.
Recommendations: Minimize specifying Acrylic Paint. New research shows that Acrylic (Plastic) Paint appears the largest source of micro plastics in oceans and waterways. And, acrylic paint is now found in human blood.
Healthy Alternative: Prefer Mineral-based paints. They tend to avoid VOCs and hazardous additives. Certain mineral-based paints also absorb impurities from the air, actively improving indoor air quality and Linseed oil paints are another good choice.
- Material B – Resilient Flooring:
It is hugely important to consider alternatives to vinyl (known more commonly as “PVC”) flooring for a myriad of reasons. Firstly, as chlorine molecules are heated to high temperatures during the manufacturing, burning, and landfilling of PVC, a type of highly toxic chemicals known as dioxins are released. Dioxins not only persist in the body for years after exposure, but with links to cancer, reproductive disorders, and hormone disruption, they have been called the most toxic man-made substance ever created. PVC floors also contain phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors.
Recommendations: Avoid vinyl flooring. It tends to contain harmful plasticizers called phthalates. As studies show, phthalates can disrupt the endocrine system, the body’s system of regulating hormones. The vinyl chloride monomer in PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a known carcinogen.
Healthy Alternative: Designers must seek healthier alternatives in linoleum, cork, natural rubber, or bio-based materials as they are preferable when selecting resilient flooring. These products are typically made from bio-based ingredients and are more likely free of hazardous ingredients commonly used in materials like vinyl. - Material C – Composite Wood Products:
Wood is considered a natural and healthy material. Trees naturally sequester carbon from the atmosphere and biodegrade at the end of their life. However, when wood pieces are glued together, these composite wood products often contain formaldehyde, a human carcinogen. Formaldehyde is an ingredient in the glue, a volatile organic compound (VOC), allowing it to off-gas into indoor environments.
For healthier products, look for composite wood products with “No Added Formaldehyde” (NAF). And be aware of products that use substitutions which also may be harmful.
Recommendations: Be mindful of the amount of binder. Because the binder contains most of the formaldehyde in composite wood products, less binder means less toxic content. Plywood tends to have the lowest amount (3.5% by weight), while MDF, HDF, and particleboard have much higher concentrations (10%, 11.4%, and 12.4% respectively).
Be mindful of finishes. Shellac, lacquer, and polyurethane involve solvents, VOCs, and isocyanates, which all pose health risks.
Protect floors with penetrating oils and hard wax finishes, which avoid solvents and allow for spot repairs. Review the ingredient list to ensure that you’re using a product without metallic dryers. A matte floor shows fewer scratches and looks fresh longer.
Choose an installation method that minimizes adhesives, a potential source of toxic chemicals and off-gassing. Instead of tongue and groove installation, which relies on more adhesives, consider using click-lock flooring.
Healthy Alternative: Solid wood can be the healthiest choice. Consider if solid wood is an option before looking for composite wood products. Solid wood omits the need for resins or binders altogether, avoiding concerns of formaldehyde or regrettable substitutions. Always make sure that If you are specifying wood from your region, ensure that it is sustainably grown and harvested.
These are a few examples of healthier options, which disclose a minimum of 75% of ingredients by weight and avoid the most significant health concerns. We must develop our evaluation process to determine the impact of each material on human and environmental health throughout their lifecycle, before specifying them for our projects.
By promoting the use of healthy alternatives in our projects, we can promptly attain a significant change in the environment by enhancing indoor quality, boosting well-being, mitigating material wastage, and much more. Such material application can also significantly minimize the climate change by regenerating Nature.
