David
I read a few articles in the January issue of Architectural Record that showed a lot of new building materials. One in particular got me thinking. It is Monier Lifetile roof tiles. They remove smog from the air over time by using titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide reduces VOC’s and nitrogen oxides in the air. 2,000 square feet can remove as much nitrogen oxide as a normal car produces in a year. This is a very amazing technology that not only provides coatings for new roofing tiles, but also paints, cement, and windows.
I started researching other materials to see if there were other similar technologies that I haven’t heard about yet. I found out that a lot of “green” products aren’t exactly what you would think they are.
Low-VOC or No VOC paint is good because it takes a lot of harmful chemicals out of the air and off your walls but they may still contain harmful chemicals that are not VOC’s. VOC’s are volatile organic compounds. They are organic compounds that tend to evaporate quickly when in liquid form, causing high vapor pressure. The definition isn’t important. What is important is that most VOC’s are very harmful and dangerous but some are completely harmless. Acetone and Ammonia are not VOC’s in American Standards, so they could still be in your paint, even though they are harmful chemicals. If your goal is paint that won’t be harmful to your health you must find paints that eliminate the harmful chemicals that aren’t VOC’s as well as the harmful VOC’s.
There are a lot of other building materials that are aiming at reducing pollution levels. Glues used to hold OSB, oriented strand board, are now less toxic than previous versions. This is done in factory while making the OSB. Caulking and glues are also made from less toxic materials. All of these advances are made to reduce the initial release of pollution during application, as well as long term release of toxic gases. You shouldn’t tear your house apart to change it to these new products but they are what you should think about using when you want to upgrade your house.
You should also keep this in mind when you are buying furniture with any type of finish, or even a new copy machine. VOC’s and other harmful chemicals are not just in the building materials, they are in the furniture and equipment as well. Think what the product you are buying is made of before you purchase it.
Past Blog Entries:
https://www.ecoperformancebuilders.com/eco-news/cost-effective-ways-of-saving-energy/
https://www.ecoperformancebuilders.com/eco-news/net-zero-energy-buildings/
https://www.ecoperformancebuilders.com/eco-news/residential-smart-meters/
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