-By Chris Youssef

"Designing for Health" is a monthly, Web-exclusive series from healthcare interior design leaders at Perkins+Will that focuses on the issues, trends, challenges, and research involved in crafting today's healing environments. This month's article focuses on sustainable design that considers chemical awareness.

We have all been there—a sales representative visits the office touting a new green product, and he or she then gives a marketing spiel: “This product is really sustainable. I saw on your Web site that you are committed to green design. So are we. This product will get you LEEDs points.” Today, everyone is marketing products as sustainable. Beside the errors in terminology, what does this all mean, and what counts as sustainable? In order for a product to truly be sustainable, we must address the role of chemicals used in products and their adverse effects on human health and the environment, among other things. How can something be sustainable when we don’t understand the chemicals that comprise it or the toxicants it may release?

The World Commission of Environmental and Development defines sustainability as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This generalizable definition is intended to evolve with new information and values. It is our definition and now we must consider biochemical sustainability, our human health, as part of sustainable practice.

Ten years ago, architects and designers were just beginning to discuss sustainability. High-performance building standards existed, and the USGBC’s LEED rating system was in its infancy. Many designers avoided sustainable materials because they were thought of as less aesthetically pleasing, unreliable, or expensive compared to their non-sustainable alternatives. As the market began to shift and clients began to demand “green,” designers were forced to rely primarily on manufacturers’ marketing to guide their decisions. “The words ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ on the label became more important than the actual ingredients in the product,” said Julie Silas, director of health care projects for the Healthy Building Network. The sheer number of labels now on the market—more than 400, most self-certified—make it hard to tell green from greenwash.

LEED offered a simplified but limited sustainability approach, and through its rapid embrace by the building industry a large sector of the industry began to be seen as environmental stewards. With respect to building materials and their environmental health implications, however, LEED has done little to aid specifiers in discerning and differentiating between the mass products in the marketplace today.

Yet materials choices can have significant impact on human health. The products we use to make buildings may introduce chemicals into our bodies, some of which may be bioaccumulative and passed on to future generations for years to come. Some of the chemicals can change our body chemistry, increasing our susceptibility to cancer, diabetes, reproductive disorders, and other disabilities. The constant exposure to multiple chemicals from everyday products, including building materials, makes sorting out the impact of one chemical difficult. In our daily lives we are exposed to innumerable chemicals because most everything, on some level, is a chemical, and our bodies are like a “toxic soup.”

What is a designer to do? When selecting materials, we already have to consider multiple criteria, including basic issues of cost, quality, performance, and client requirements. Under the prevailing definition of sustainability, designers have begun to consider the use of recycled content, a product’s recyclability, embodied energy, proximity of manufacturing facility to the building site, shipping, and reclamation programs. Adding chemical content and human health concerns to the already overwhelming list of criteria may seem daunting.

Moreover, chemical companies are not required to report most of the chemicals used in their products. “In most cases, the chemicals in the product are still not being disclosed for the architect and design community to see,” said Silas. “We believe that the best decisions are made with all the information at hand.” Yet we continue to construct buildings everyday without basic information about whether the products’ ingredients may be harmful to human health.

Most of us, however, don’t have the time (or billable hours) to undertake the complex effort required to adequately understand how product ingredients may affect human health. When confronted with the confusing array of information about product contents, it’s hard not to feel the need for a basic understanding of material science and chemistry to be able to screen products. A series of Web sites, including those of watchdog groups, government offices, and nonprofits can help to filter scientific data for the design community. New tools are available to designers that are invested in having sustainability act as more than a mere marketing ploy. Adding chemical information can actually make it easier to weigh materials. If a material has a carcinogen, there is no reason to investigate whether the material is recyclable. It makes no sense to recycle poison. Let’s make our definition into something workable for a sustainable, healthy future.

Chris Youssef is an interior designer with Perkins+Will in New York and a co-author of the Perkins + Will precautionary list of substances that pose potential threats to human health. He can be reached at Chris.Youssef@perkinswill.com

Additional Resources:
Perkins+Will Precautionary List: http://transparency.perkinswill.com
Health Building Network: http://www.healthybuilding.net
Pharos Project: www.pharosproject.net
Global Health and Safety Initiative: www.globalhealthandsafety.org
Health Care Without Harm: www.noharm.org
U.S. Green Building Council: www.usgbc.org
MBDC: www.mbdc.com/ref_glossary.htm

Past installments of "Designing for Health" include (click on title to access the full article):
• 10 Strategies to Move Your Client Toward Sustainability
• The Age Factor--Energizing the Healthcare Workplace
• Medical Teaming Centers
• Integrating Security in Hospital Emergency Departments
• We Eat What We Build
• Evidence-Based Healthcare Design Forum
• Designing the Ideal Space