Green Me Now

Unless a building material smacks you with a powerful odor or lengthy health warning on the label, it can be difficult to gauge its environmental and human-health impact. Professional builders and architects should know, of course, but homeowners--including us do-it-yourselfers--often don’t.

Architect and design company Perkins+Will has developed a precautionary list that highlights chemicals recognized by the government as having negative health effects, and it associates those chemicals with the classes of building materials that often contain them. The list is not written for homeowners and lay people, but with careful reading you can use it as a guide of what to avoid.

You can also use it for guidance in which products to use. The precautionary list includes alternatives for each of the harmful chemical listed.

For example, urea formaldehyde is among the compounds listed in the section on indoor air quality. The list notes that it is commonly found in composite wood products, insulation, furniture, and adhesives. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies urea formaldehyde as a “probable human carcinogen and suspected asthma trigger” that may also irritate mucous membranes and cause skin reactions. For alternatives, the list advises that there are many readily available composite wood, insulation, furniture, and adhesive products that don't incorporate urea-formaldehyde. So in this case, it’s just a matter of reading the label and choosing products without the compound.

Another indoor air quality example: Volatile organic compounds (VOC), the organic chemical compounds that emit gases in their solid and liquid states. They are suspected carcinogens and asthma triggers, as well as development and reproductive toxicants that are found in paint, sealants, roofing products, resilient flooring, carpets and adhesives. Look for those that state low or zero VOC emissions.