New Handbook Simplifies Health Hazard Avoidance in Building Products

Architects, designers, contractors, and building owners struggling to reduce chemical hazards in their building projects will benefit from a simplified approach detailed in a new report from BuildingGreen: Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Commercial Building Products.

"Toxic substances come in different forms and have different health effects," according to BuildingGreen president Nadav Malin. "But only five classes of chemicals rate a high across-the-board priority for green building decisions."

Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Commercial Building Products gives designers and product specifiers guidance on what to spec—and what not to spec—in order to avoid the biggest health hazards, including:

• How to set priorities for reducing health hazards—and balance toxicity concerns with other considerations
• A quick guide to 33 common hazards—what they are, what harm they cause to human health, and where to look for them
• Specific guidance for 20 product categories in Interior Finish and Furniture, Mechanical and Electrical, Envelope, and Exterior Finish and Site—including specific product recommendations
• For each building product category, a reality check—cost, availability, and tradeoffs
• How to use Environmental Product Declarations, red lists, certifications, and material safety data sheets to make decisions about product hazards

Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Commercial Building Products concludes with four case studies (including interviews with those intimately involved in the projects) on how Google, HOK, Turner Construction and other leading firms eliminated chemical hazards in major commercial projects, while achieving the desired performance, aesthetics and cost competitiveness.

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