Selection of Building Materials for Healthy Buildings with Special Reference to Wood Products

Rapporter från Trätek — Institutet för träteknisk forskning — är kompletta sammanställningar av forskningsresultat eller översikter, utvecklingar och studier. Publicerade rapporter betecknas med I eller P och numreras tillsammans med alla ut-gåvor från Trätek i löpande följd. Citat tillätes om källan anges. Reports issued hy the Swedish Institute for Wood Technology Research comprise complete accounts for research results, or summaries, sur\eys and studies. Published reports hear the designation I or P and are numbered in consecutive order together with all the other publications from the Institute. Extracts from the fe.xt max be reproduced provided the source is acknowledged. Trätek — Institutet för iräteknisk forskning — be-tjänar de fem industrigrenarna sågverk, trämanu-faktur (snickeri-, trähus-, möbel-och övrig träför-ädlande industri), träfiberskivor, spånskivor och plywood. Ett avtal om forskning och utveckling mellan industrin och Nutek utgör grunden för verksamheten som utförs med egna, samverkande och externa re-surser. Trätek har forskningsenheter i Stockholm, Jönköping och Skellefteå. The Swedish Institute for Wood Technology Research serves the five branches of the industry: sawmills, manufacturing (joinery, wooden houses , furniture and other woodworking plants), fibre board, particle board and plywood. A research and development agreement between the industry and the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development forms the basis for the Institute's activities. The Institute utilises its own resources as well as those of its collaborators and other outside bodies. Our research units are located in Stockholm. Jönköping and Skellefteå. INTRODUCTION The prescribed and practised ways of selecting building materials during the design phase of a building are changing. Several parameters other than strictly technical properties rightfully claim their place in the selection process. Formal requirements are raised for the inclusion of new, and in many cases "softer", selection criteria among those traditionally used. Environmental issues, including recyclability and energy consumption and other aspects of total life cycle assessments, are becoming of primary concern. Health issues are also brought up as important criteria. The emphasis on the implications of building materials on human health is justified insomuch as the potential impact of a poor choice may become large for the individual inhabitant, as well as for the economically responsible contractor. On the other hand, these health implications are generally much more difficult to elucidate than most "hard" technical facts. A few notable examples of materials with an undisputed detrimental influence on the indoor climate have been recorded in Sweden, such as the casein-containing self-levelling compounds used …