LEED Is Leading The Way To Healthier Buildings

Last month we co-released a report with Healthystuff.org that found many building materials contain toxic substances like lead and cadmium. The report also found many materials that were free of heavy metals and PVC. We spend about 90% of our time indoors, so indoor pollutants are a major health concern. And safer building materials are a must.

 

Luckily safer building materials recently got a boost from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization behind the LEED standards for energy efficient, environmentally-friendly buildings. USGBC just announced a pilot credit which awards sustainability points for avoiding phthalates and halogenated flame retardants in building materials.  Both types of chemicals have been shown to leach out into air and house dust over time, so eliminating the source leads to improvements in indoor air quality.  Phthalates in particular have been linked to childhood asthma.

 

This is a great next step after their credit for avoidance of persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs) such as dioxin. We hope that over time they’ll create credits for BPA, PFC, and PVC avoidance as well.  Many building materials are already free of toxic chemicals, which means they can be avoided in manufacturing.  However, having a LEED credit available for builders who avoid these chemicals will help make toxic-free home improvement products more common and cost-effective.