Sharing this article from The Architects' Newspaper featuring @Teresa Jan, @Kathleen Hetrick, @Priya Premchandran, @Aaron Vaden-Youmans Vaden-Youmans, and Jack Murphy! Link to the full article with images here.
A roundtable discusses the links between plastics manufacturing, fossil fuels, and public health
While the pursuit of low-carbon construction continues to redefine architectural practice, growing attention is now focused on the health impacts of toxic, petrochemical-based building materials.
One informal working group consisting of researchers, and public health experts is making connections between architecture, manufacturing, and public health. They are rallying around Informed™, Habitable’s product guidance, which helps the design and construction industry make healthier material choices, and have created a four-step call to action: Commit to eliminating toxic materials from buildings; advocate for policies eliminating toxic materials in buildings; support fence-line communities through resilience planning and design; and advocate for policies supporting fence-line communities’ health security.
The group previously presented its work in May at the USGBC California Green Building Conference. Its members will lead a panel at Greenbuild in Los Angeles on Friday, November 7.
Several experts from the group recently spoke with AN’s executive editor, Jack Murphy.
AN: Habitable released a report about plastics in September. What were some of the findings?
Priya Premchandran (PP): The report exposes the stunning volumes of plastics used in the building sector, its significant growth projections, and the harms it is causing to people and the planet. While the building industry has been focused on carbon, health impacts from pollution and toxic chemicals, particularly from plastics, have fallen to the wayside.
The report unlocked a few things for us. First, almost all plastics are petrochemical-based, meaning they come from fossil fuels and harm people and the planet throughout their life cycle. When we think about decarbonizing the built environment but ignore these impacts of plastic-based building materials, we’re choosing to continue to drive demand for oil, gas, and coal, leaving a big opportunity on the table to truly achieve a decarbonized built environment in the future.
Another important realization was that the extensive presence of plastics in building materials isn’t widely understood. The public believes that plastic pollution comes primarily from single-use packaging. But as the report highlights, from flooring and siding to insulation and paint, building materials represent 17 percent of global plastic production, second only to packaging.
Even within the building industry, where there’s a growing focus on health, the extent of harm caused by plastic products at every stage of its life cycle has been overlooked, especially impacting the most vulnerable population, such as the communities living near extraction and manufacturing plants, who are exposed to plastic pollution in the air and water, building construction workers exposed to dust and microplastics generated by products like foam insulation, and firefighters combating fires in buildings with plastic products that are faster-burning and release [the] highest amount of toxic chemicals. Until we take that full life cycle into account, we can’t meaningfully address plastic’s impact.
While the report focused on plastics to bring attention to the issue, it also highlights the solutions that are available today for every project team to use and be leaders in protecting the health of the people and planet. Using Informed product guidance, project teams can significantly reduce plastics or avoid the worst plastic products.
AN: Teresa and Aaron, as practicing architects, how do you see a report like this being used to inform or influence specifications?
Teresa Jan (TJ): Plastics are part of the fossil-fuel economy, so the conversation about plastics inevitably circles back to decarbonization. When I was director of Climate Positive Design at Multistudio, we used Informed product guidance as a key educational tool. We asked designers to start with simple steps, such as not specifying PVC flooring, window shades, fabric, and flooring base. The goal has always been encouraging designers to look beyond aesthetics and basic functionality by introducing cost-competitive, less toxic alternatives and sharing those options with clients.
Aaron Vaden-Youmans (AVY): At Grimshaw, the scale and complexity of our projects demand rigorous guidance on material health. We’ve collaborated with the Habitable team on an update to our Healthy Materials insight paper, and we’ve integrated this into our design process from the start. Since every team member makes material choices, we ensure everyone is familiar with this resource and understands their role in specifying healthier materials. We also partner with specialists like Kathleen Hetrick at Buro Happold to implement best practices. Currently, we’re piloting Habitable’s Informed product guidance on several large-scale infrastructure projects.
The big shift with Informed™ is that it doesn’t ask teams to spend hours researching which products perform better than others. The guidance is simpler and based on independent and credible science: Just don’t use red-ranked product types and prefer yellow- and green-ranked product types within the product categories you are selecting from.
We emphasize using a lot less material overall, which can reduce cost and complexity. Where avoidance isn’t possible, like for a particular type of insulation at a foundation wall, we document it. My team feels frustrated when a material can’t be replaced with nontoxic alternatives, so we record it and seek Habitable’s expertise.
Kathleen Hetrick (KH): The overall point is that there needs to be a change in how we approach architecture, engineering, and construction. The built environment accounts for 40 percent of global carbon emissions, and a significant portion of that material is contributing to exposure to carcinogens.
For my master’s in public health at Johns Hopkins University, I looked at some of these issues firsthand; my research focused on tracing where these hazardous materials come from, how they affect people, and which policies are, or aren’t, protecting us. During the wildfires in Los Angeles last January, for example, third-party research on ambient air-quality testing detected huge spikes of chlorine gas and lead in the air. Chlorine gas isn’t present when rural wildfires occur; it was released because of burning wiring, electronics, vinyl flooring, installation, and PVC pipes. These halogenated materials pose significant risks as we continue building in wildfire-prone areas.
This all underscores a bigger point: Health challenges like fertility decline and rising cancer rates, especially among young people, and environmental issues like carbon emissions and chemical pollution are interconnected. We need to address both the personal health side—epigenetics, how our DNA is changing across generations—and the planetary impact, including the introduction of novel chemicals we can’t take back, like PFAs and other halogenated compounds.
AN: You’re also making the case for considering health at the site of manufacturing, like in Louisiana and Texas, where fence-line communities are exposed to pollution from petrochemical production. How do you build the case to think about health at the start of a material’s life, not just when it’s installed in a building?
KH: I was fortunate enough to connect with someone who had worked in Louisiana around Cancer Alley. They invited Professor Seydina Fall and me down in April to a meeting of the Catholic Climate Covenant, which highlighted how severe the situation is for industry-adjacent communities.
Louisiana has some of the worst maternal and child mortality rates in the country. Communities along the petrochemical corridor are disproportionately impacted. For example, a very small community produces 95 percent of the country’s chloroprene, or neoprene, so hazardous that a school just a few miles away had to be shut down.
Building trust and making connections with these communities takes time, but it’s critical. It’s a slow process, but if the industry focuses on this, we can make meaningful change. We’ve seen huge progress in areas like embodied carbon over the last decade. Now, we need the same level of attention on environmental justice and the material supply chain.
AN: There was momentum with the Inflation Reduction Act under President Biden, but now it seems that federal climate and sustainability efforts have stalled or even been reversed. How are you responding to these shifts?
PP: Our work has always been market driven, not policy driven. We partner and advise organizations working on policy, often guiding based on what we have seen from our own research or from working with partners in the industry who are leading the movement. Historically, real change in the built environment has happened when the market acted, not the government.
Government mandates and incentives do matter, particularly in sectors like affordable housing where much of the funding comes from public sources. But at the same time, clear market signals, especially from the demand side, can fundamentally shift the supply chain and drive the change we want to see, rather than waiting for government action. One immediate example is two bills, AB 823 and SB 682, which aimed to address microplastics and PFAS. They were both recently vetoed by the California governor.
AVY: It also depends on which government you’re talking about. California, for example, acts differently than the federal government. But it’s worth noting some stark changes. The EPA has eliminated its scientific research arm, removing many chemists, biologists, and toxicologists there who were doing first-rate research. Some were even collaborating with Habitable. The Toxic Substances Control Act, which was designed to protect fence-line communities, is being dramatically weakened. I don’t think we have a strong enough voice to rely on market change alone. State-level action is key.
TJ: California should lead the way. I recommend using climate resiliency as an entry point, because its impacts are highly visible, and the resulting health and economic burdens on communities are tangible. Wildfire risk is becoming increasingly pronounced not only in California but also in different regions across the nation. This was also highlighted in the recent report by Plastic Pollution Coalition [PPC), in collaboration with Habitable, that shows how the production and use of plastics in our built environment both fuels wildfires and exacerbates wildfires’ harms to human health and the environment.
By prioritizing fire-hardening and healthy materials at the same time helps tackle multiple problems at once. For affected communities, the issue extends far beyond property insurance; it also carries lasting impacts and costs on public health and the environment due to the toxic debris released into the air and landfills. To build community resilience, building materials with less toxicity is another tool.
AVY: As fossil fuel demand declines, the petrochemical industry has flooded the market with cheaper synthetic materials, many of which carry hidden health costs. As architects, we can demonstrate alternatives—materials that cost only marginally more but deliver significant value. That value is project specific, but it always includes eliminating toxic substances from our built environment. Look at asbestos specifications from the mid-20th century: The health hazards were scientifically documented decades before regulations finally caught up. By proving these approaches work at scale, we create the evidence base that drives policy change.
AN: Where do you find hope?
PP: This is a solvable problem and hope lies in knowing that solutions exist that are accessible for everyone to take action. We have the knowledge and tools that are grounded in science and can make decisions that deliver measurable impact in terms of protecting the health of people and the planet. Leaders such as those here are driving change and we need everyone to join and take collective action.
AVY: There are committed people at state and local levels working toward evidence-based policy, though federal support has been gutted. In California especially, I’m seeing coalitions form around material health and sustainability. These grassroots efforts give me real optimism about what’s possible.
TJ: I’m hopeful because I’ve seen awareness grow among architects and designers across the country. Even in places or project types where these conversations haven’t historically taken place, people are now presenting better alternatives to clients, which can drive systemic change within their organizations. When clients realize there are achievable, healthier material options, they consider updating their standards and expectations. When solutions feel attainable, designers and owners are more likely to act, and that sense of empowerment fuels the courage to demand for healthier, more sustainable practices.
Connect with this group through the contact link on Habitable’s website, and note in your message that you would like to learn more about supporting its expanded call-to-action.
Teresa Jan is an architect and planner committed to regenerative design—pursuing climate-positive outcomes that balance economic, social, and environmental equity. She also serves on the USGBC-CA Bay Area Regional Leadership Advisory Board.
Kathleen Hetrick is a sustainability engineer, environmental justice advocate, Bloomberg Public Health Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, and sustainability integration lead for the Buro Happold U.S. region.
Priya Premchandran is the vice president of market transformation at Habitable, where she leads the Informed™ platform to advance science-based solutions that reduce pollution, mitigate climate change, and promote environmental justice.
Aaron Vaden-Youmans is the North American sustainability lead at Grimshaw, where he advances regenerative design and climate action and serves on the National Steering Committee of US Architects Declare Climate, Justice, and Biodiversity Emergency.