Creating a healthy home: environmental building materials--what are they? Where are they?

During the 1970s the building industry witnessed a focus on energy-conserving building materials sparked by oil-price increases; during the 1980s attention to building materials that reduced or omitted pollutants became important as a result of the "Sick Building Syndrome" or indoor air pollution. Now, in the 1990s, we are engaged with a more comprehensive definition of environmental materials and technologies. This definition encompasses both energy-conserving products and socalled nontoxic or healthy products. But more importantly, it defines a new component, which I will call resource management. As the world enters the 21st century, we are more aware that the world's resources are dwindling at rapid speed, and the need to conserve, to recycle, and to sustainably manage these resources is vital. The building industry has a primary role to play in this management. This role begins in the selection of materials and technologies used in building itself. As we near the year 2000, we will witness a change in the way our buildings look and in the materials they are built with. This change will probably occur not due to choice, but rather due to lack of choice. The inventory of conventional materials is running out; many in the building industry, from architects to tradesmen, are not aware of this phenomenon, therefore the conventional mode of design and construc-