What makes a material ‘healthier’?
While there is no universal standard for what makes a material ‘healthier’, it seems holistic in considering the impacts that materials can have through their extraction, processing, use and disposal, as well as all those that may be affected along the way.
To make these many considerations more accessible to designers, the Healthy Materials List serves to develop the evaluation lens seen below, which organizes a bunch of material assessment factors into six primary impact categories.
This tool provides designers with a framework for comparing different product options and broader thinking about the impacts of their choices, empowering them to take greater responsibility in making material decisions.
These most commonly used collections of construction products contain a sample of healthier options. To be considered, the product must reveal at least 75% of its ingredients and avoid major health problems. The effect of a material or construction product on human health and the environment during its life cycle is crucial to our assessment process.
A collection of healthier construction products
Product development from environmentally sustainable materials in the construction sector, design & architecture and everyday life.
Why healthy materials?
More and more studies show that building materials directly affect human health.
In realfiber, we deal with the most critical issues facing the most vulnerable population and try to create awareness of poisons that are often an invisible part of the material and interior.
Chemicals such as formaldehyde (a known carcinogen) and volatile organic compounds (compounds that become vapors and carry hazardous chemicals into the air) are often found in common products used indoors.
If you have a project that you are considering moving in the direction of sustainable and healthy, feel free to contact us, we advise you and we will come up with a solution together through education on healthy and sustainable materials!
The company provides education and assists designers, product designers, architects, the construction and wood industries, the petroleum products industry (in an appropriate percentage) and the paper industry as well as other sectors, in making decisions about materials and sustainable solutions.
From the collection of products and materials, we offer guidance strategies and practical examples of products that positively impact human health, environmental justice and social equality.