This is a legacy version of the WELL Building Standard. Please check the latest version here.
  1. Air
  2. Enhanced material safety

Enhanced material safety

Features>Air>26. Enhanced material safety

26. Enhanced material safety

Intent: 

To minimize the impact of hazardous building material ingredients on indoor air quality and protect the health of manufacturing and maintenance workers.

Some of the chemicals used in building materials have not been fully evaluated for safety and may carry potential health risks. Off-gassing from such materials can contribute to SBS (sick building syndrome) and associated respiratory, neurotoxic and dermatologic symptoms. A precautionary approach—taking reasonable steps to minimize risks and avoid hazards—suggests substituting potentially dangerous materials with safe ones when possible. Various voluntary programs in the market allow suppliers that have carefully screened the composition of their products and avoided potentially harmful substances to be recognized for their achievements.

Part 1: Precautionary Material Selection

At least one of the following requirements is met:

a.13 The project completes all Imperatives in the Materials Petal under the Living Building Challenge 3.0.
b.1 At least 25% of products by cost (including furnishings, built-in furniture, all interior finishes and finish materials) are Cradle to Cradle™ Material Health Certified with a V2 Gold or Platinum or V3 Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum Material Health Score.
c.1 At least 25% of products by cost (including furnishings, built-in furniture, all interior finishes and finish materials) have no GreenScreen® Benchmark 1, List Translator 1 or List Translator Possible 1 substances over 1,000 ppm, as verified by a qualified Ph.D. toxicologist or Certified Industrial Hygienist.
d.1 At least 25% of products by cost (including furnishings, built-in furniture, all interior finishes and finish materials) meet some combination of the certifications described in requirements b and c.
Cardiovascular
Respiratory
Endocrine
Immune
Integumentary
Muscular
Digestive
Nervous

Applicability Matrix

Core & Shell New & Existing Buildings New & Existing Interiors
Part 1: Precautionary Material Selection - O O
Commercial Kitchen Education Multifamily Residential Restaurant Retail
Part 1: Precautionary Material Selection O O O O O

Verification Methods Matrix

Letters of Assurance Annotated Documents On-Site Checks
Part 1: Precautionary Material Selection Architect, Contractor, & Owner

1

U.S. Green Building Council. LEED v4: Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction. Washington D.C.: U.S. Green Building Council; 2013: 37, 43-44, 541-552, 567, 605, 623, 645-53, 658-61, 682-3, 685-6, 723-4.
26.1.b

USGBC's LEED v4 MR Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization - Material Ingredients allows Cradle to Cradle v2 Gold or Platinum or v3 Silver, Gold or Platinum as one way to achieve Option 2.
26.1.c

USGBC's LEED v4 MR Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization - Material Ingredients allows GreenScreen v1.2 Benchmark as one way to achieve Option 2.
26.1.d

USGBC's LEED v4 MR Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization - Material Ingredients, Option 3 allows projects to combine allowed programs in meeting the 25% threshold.
13

International Living Future Institute. Living Building Challenge 3.0. Seattle; 2014: 38, 43-49, 60.
26.1.a

The International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge 3.0 Imperatives 10 and 12 require independently verified declarations of products.
Features>Air>26. Enhanced material safety