When you shop at the grocery store, the products you buy include labels that detail ingredients and nutritional value. If you are building or renovating your lodging establishment, however, there is a good chance you will never know what chemicals are in the building materials that you buy. Why is it important to know? There is a long list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity and these are commonly found in building materials currently on the market.
To make it easier for designers, architects and others to know which chemicals to avoid, Peter Syrett and his colleague Chris Youseff recently created the Perkins+Will Precautionary List. Syrett and Youseff both work for Perkins+Will, a commercial architect design firm. The List features 25 chemicals broken into typical building categories such as wood treatments, indoor air quality, ozone depleting gasses and heavy metals. Each entry describes the chemical and provides links to vetted government databases, such as California’s Proposition 65 list developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which catalogs chemicals and their known health hazards.
The Perkins+Will Precautionary List also highlights where the chemical is or may be found in specific building products and provides alternative product suggestions when available. In some cases healthier alternatives currently do not exist. I strongly recommend checking out the Perkins+Will Precautionary List, as well as California’s Proposition 65 list, before embarking on any new construction or renovation.
Irony of Ironies
I spoke with Peter Syrett and he told me that he and his colleague were inspired to create the list while working on a cancer recovery center that needed to be free of all known cancer-causing chemicals. Turns out the two architects discovered that some of the materials used in the center’s construction did indeed include chemicals that can cause cancer. How ironic is that? “We worked as much as possible to remove carcinogens from the building,” Syrett said.
In determining which chemicals to include on the List, Syrett said his company looked at what they specify most. Flame retardants was of particular interest because of their use in fabrics, plastics, foams, epoxy and resins, and other materials commonly found in building interiors. Syrett admits that it is impossible for anyone to vet every single chemical but tackling the ones that are most prevalent is important.
“There’s a growing understanding that there is a relationship between the built environment and human health,” Syrett said. “As design professionals, it is important to look at health and welfare issues. People spend 90 percent of their time indoors.”
Finishes & ‘Specialties’
Syrett recommended that those in the lodging industry pay particular attention to Divisions 9 and 10 on the List. Division 9 focuses on finishes and division 10 on “specialties” such as Bisphenol A, Phthalates, Polystyrene, and Polyvinyl Chloride.
Syrett said one purpose of the List is to help start a conversation in the marketplace—“to move the industry as a whole to a better place.” Manufacturers are encouraged to participate in the dialogue, he added.
“There is an entire spectrum of people engaged in this conversation,” Syrett said. “More and more clients are asking about these things. The hospitality industry will move in this direction as well. Transparency is what we would like. We want to be an informed customer. There has not been a charge by a third party to certify.”
Absent government regulation that makes it easy for specifiers to understand what is in the materials they specify, it is imperative that architects, designers and others educate themselves about the harmful chemicals that are included in building materials. Ultimately, those individuals that stay or work in the structures that are built or renovated will either benefit or suffer.
Also be sure to check out the Healthy Building Network and the Pharos Project.
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