Sustainability Stamps
Healthy Indoor Air Quality is an important component to living a green and healthy lifestyle. According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Americans spend an average of 90% of their time indoors where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that levels of pollutants may run two to five times and occasionally even 100 times higher than outdoor levels! Because we spend so much time indoors, it is critically important to get the interior space right! That is also in part, why Green Designs and Supply focuses most of our product and service offerings on the interior space and the day to day operations of the businesses we work with.
Some products can actually defray from one's health and inevitably lead to what's referred to as sick building syndrome, entails that one becomes ill, sometimes on a regular basis, from their own environment. Symptoms of sick building syndrome range from dizziness, drowsiness, allergies, asthma, consistent cough, and consistent runny eyes and/or nose. Sick building syndrome can lead to low productivity with millions of Americans absent from work or school. A variety of diseases have been scientifically linked to the use of everyday cleaning and construction chemicals manufactured mainly in the 20th and 21st Centuries: Diseases such as Cancer, Asbestosis, Emphysema, Infertility, Sterility, Legionnaires disease and others. Scientific research indicates that when exposure levels are high, even at minimal levels, risk for disease is possible. Persistent chemicals to be most weary of consist of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and semi Volatile Organic Compounds (sVOC) and chemicals like Tetrachloroethane, Trichlolorethane, Perchloroethane, Formaldehyde, Benzene, Mercury, and a variety of others. Those most sensitive to poor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), contaminated soil and water and household cleaning chemicals, are children and the elderly, however even persons of more robust ages may also be at risk.
Consumer spending can have an affect on this with their purchasing power. Products that can offer solutions to defray from these problems are generally those that have not only been certified through federal governments programs or state-specific requirements, but have also met the criterion of an independent third-party verification system. Depending on the type of product applied, some of the certifications that ensure an improved attention to healthy IAQ include GreenGuard, Green Label Plus, Green Seal Standard GS-11 and GS-03, and others as identified by the USGBC and other bonafide green building standards.
A few other things to keep in mind when analyzing Healthy Indoor Air Quality: Preventing IAQ problems associated with mold, radon, asbestos, lead piping or lead-based paint on the onset, is generally far less expensive than abating those issues afterwards! Build right to begin with and save on potential pollution remediation and abatement costs. Also note that some manufacturers in other countries, one being China for example, continue to use asbestos and lead in their products, so careful attention should be brought to imported building products.
Q: So what products offer solutions to these health concerns?
A: The conventional chemical content of adhesives, paints, primers, stains, sealers, plasters, caulks, carpets, composite wood products, laminate adhesives, cleaning products and even furniture and window treatments can potentially contain harmful chemical properties which lead to an irritating off-gas (VOCs) and even small particles released from paint chipping, cracks in the foundation, windows or door through a typical day of air flow. Products that contain harmful chemicals should be seen as obsolete in today's world of better and brighter options. Such options are the available products that contain no VOCs and are formaldehyde free. Products that are certified with third-party verification systems such as programs previously mentioned in this tutorial (i.e. GreenGuard, Green Label Plus, and Green Seal Standard GS-11 and GS-03) will help solve these problems. Other products that aid in healthy IAQ are air purifiers, superior HVAC systems, and air filtration systems that bring in fresh air recharge.
Green Designs and Supply also offers specialized services that can instill proper planning to achieve Healthy Indoor Air Quality. Get in touch with a professional by calling (651) 603-1326 to learn more.