Waterproof Your Building without Polluting the Planet

Brief 

Waterproofing is one of those underappreciated building materials that very few people think about until it fails to do its job of keeping water and moisture out.It is an essential component of a structure, as water is a highly destructive element when it gets into places it’s not meant to be, causing deterioration, impacting indoor air quality due to mold and mildew, and creating all sorts of other damage to property and human health.

Insight

Waterproofing is one of those underappreciated building materials that very few people think about until it fails to do its job of keeping water and moisture out.

It is an essential component of a structure, as water is a highly destructive element when it gets into places it’s not meant to be, causing deterioration, impacting indoor air quality due to mold and mildew, and creating all sorts of other damage to property and human health. It is one of the most important products used on a building.

Even more underappreciated and unknown are the impacts from the chemicals and materials used in making various waterproofing products, and the havoc some create for human health and the environment.

Some of you have considered impacts of the installers and building occupants, and you assessed whether the products off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Perhaps you have wondered whether they contain chemicals that mimic hormones (aka endocrine disrupting) like phthalates that are devastating to children’s health, as well as for adults.

While these are very important considerations, it is vital that we also look beyond the installers and building occupants and examine how these materials broadly impact our overall health and the environment.

Healthy Building Network (HBN) recently highlighted the true cost of toxic materials. This work emphasized the numerous ways select materials have an impact during raw material extraction, product manufacturing, installation and end-of-life. HBN’s Product Guidance incorporates some of these often overlooked considerations, in addition to the impacts on those installing and living with these materials.