People spend most of their time indoors at home, at work, in transportation, and in many other public and private places. The quality of these indoor environments impacts human health and well-being.

For buildings, sustainability has been driven mainly by green building standards and certification programs. These programs use a similar approach: A performance evaluation of a building that is based mostly on design parameters such as energy and water consumption, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. As green building elements that promote energy and water efficiency have become the norm, we have seen a shift in the market toward designing, constructing and operating “healthy” buildings.

Knowing about potential emissions from those products is also key, considering how Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a foundational element of a healthy building. IAQ refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.¹ IAQ is influenced by several sources, including building materials (e.g., volatile organic compounds, or VOCs).

VOC content and emissions

VOCs are chemicals that are emitted as gases and may over time evaporate from a building product into the air where humans can breathe them in. VOCs can be emitted into indoor air from a variety of sources such as flooring, adhesives, sealants, paints and other building products. Indoor air quality can be improved by reducing the sources of VOC emissions.

A product labeled “low-VOC” or “zero-VOC” does not mean it is safe or good for your health, nor does it not mean there are no toxic chemicals. VOC content (what’s in the product) does it correlate to VOC emissions (what the product emits). Products with zero or low VOCs can still emit VOCs.

MAPEI is committed to human health and well-being. We understand our products’ impact and strive to make improvements to reduce our impact. In response to health concerns from building materials, MAPEI has developed products with low-VOC content as well as low-emitting alternatives. MAPEI has developed low-VOC content and low-emitting alternatives.

To help project teams make informed decisions about which products to choose, MAPEI has had all applicable products third-party tested and third-party certified to meet California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method v1.2-2017, the standard method for the testing and evaluation of VOC emissions. In addition, our products comply with the VOC content limits set by South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 1113 for Architectural Coatings and Rule 1168 for Adhesives and Sealants, which are the most stringent VOC regulations in North America. Testing our products to this high level demonstrates our commitment to the health and well-being of our installers and end users, as well as to the environment.

As a result, more than 375 products have achieved Indoor Advantage Gold certification from SCS Global Services. These VOC-emissions certifications also contribute to green building standards and certification programs, including LEED, the WELL Building Standard and the Living Building Challenge.

The use of low-emitting building products and materials can contribute to the goal of improving indoor air quality as well as human health and well-being. To learn more about MAPEI’s low-emitting products-, contact us at [email protected]. To learn more about the SCS Indoor Advantage Gold program, visit https://www.scsglobalservices.com/services/indoor-air-quality-certification.

¹Source: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/introduction-indoor-air-quality

MAPEI has several products that contribute to LEED, the WELL Building Standard, Living Building Challenge, and many more green building standards and certification programs.

 Manufacturer Inventory

MAPEI has also developed Manufacturer Inventories (MI) to support our customers’ demands for material transparency and to meet the requirements of many green building standards and certification systems. Our MIs meet the requirements of LEED’s Materials and Resources credit Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material Ingredients, Option 1. These material ingredient reports have been third‐party verified by GreenCircle Certified, LLC to follow LEED v4’s requirements and contribute to 1.5 products under v4.1. They also contribute to Living Building Challenge and the WELL Building Standard. MAPEI is a GreenCircle Certified Brands You Can Trust manufacturer.

To learn more about MAPEI’s products with Manufacturer Inventories, contact us at [email protected].

Red List Free

In addition to our Manufacturer Inventories, MAPEI products contribute to the International Living Future Institute’s Red List Free requirements. The Red List presents the “worst in class” materials, chemicals and elements known to pose serious risks to human health and the greater ecosystem that are prevalent in the building products industry. To meet the requirements of Living Building Challenge’s Materials Imperatives, projects must avoid Red List chemical classes. Our material data is based on specific product formulas; changes in the formula and/or updates to the Red List may affect material data.

To request a project-specific Red List Letter, contact us at [email protected].

All of MAPEI’s product’s sustainable attributes and certifications can also be found on mindful MATERIALS Library. #mindfulMATERIALS is a free product library, which allows project teams and industry professionals to search for a multitude of relevant, qualified products.

We also want to be in a position to influence the ongoing public discussions of green building standards and certification programs. One of the most effective ways that we can accomplish these goals is to be involved with green building organizations.

Through our involvement MAPEI can be an advocate for customers and for the communities they work in. We are actively involved in many capacities. We are honored to serve as members, committee advocates, and part of the day-to-day membership of many organizations including Canada Green Building Council, International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), mindfulMATERIALS and International Living Future Institute.

For more information, follow us on social media @mapeicanada.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/mapeicanada

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mapeicanada

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mapei-canada

Twitter: www.twitter.com/mapeicanada

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MapeiCanadaTV

About MAPEI

Founded in 1937 in Milan, MAPEI is now one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chemical products for the building industry and has contributed to the construction of some of the most important architectural and infrastructure works worldwide. With 89 subsidiaries operating in 57 countries and 81 manufacturing plants in 36 nations, MAPEI Group employs more than 10,600 staff worldwide. In 2020, MAPEI had a consolidated turnover of $2.8 billion Euros. The foundation for the success of the company is specialization, internationalization, research & development, and sustainability.

Headquartered in Deerfield Beach (Florida), MAPEI North America consists of the subsidiaries MAPEI Corporation (for the USA), MAPEI Inc. (for Canada) and MAPEI Caribe (for Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands), whose 18 facilities collectively have a workforce of more than 1,600 employees. MAPEI facilities have been certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards. An environmentally conscious manufacturer that reinvests 5% of its revenue into R&D, MAPEI offers training for architects, contractors, installers and distributors through the MAPEI Technical Institute. For more about MAPEI, visit www.mapei.ca or call 1-800-42-MAPEI (1-800-426-2734).