Materials and human health Indeed, none of the materials used to make contemporary buildings is specifically designed to be healthful for people. Even a cursory inventory begins to suggest some of the challenges facing architects.Consider the ubiquitous use of polyvinyl chloride. Better known as PVC or vinyl, it is commonly used for windows, doors, siding, flooring, wall coverings, interior surfaces and insulation. Many PVC formulations contain plasticizers and toxic heavy metals such as cadmium and lead. Plasticizers are suspected of disrupting human endocrine systems, cadmium is known to be carcinogenic, and lead is a neurotoxin.Equally common are the volatile organic compounds, some of which are suspected carcinogensand immune system disruptors, which are released from particleboard, paints, textiles, adhesives and carpets. Design flaws that trap moisture in buildings and add mould to the substances fouling indoor air, as well as the products developed to fight mould, appear to be generating a permanent breeding ground for resistant microorganisms. The widespread presence of wood preservatives and lead rounds out this formidable array of harmful materials.Energy efficient buildings, which are designed to require less heating and cooling, and thus less air circulation, can make things worse. A recent study in Germany found that air quality inside several highly rated energy efficient buildings in downtown Hamburg was nearly four times worse than on the dirty, car-clogged street. For all the care taken to save energy by keeping out the elements with better insulation and sealed windows, no one considered the long-term effects of sealing in the chemically laden carpets, upholsteries, paints and adhesives used to finish the interiors. The effects are hard to ignore. When buildings with reduced air-exchange rates are common, so are health problems. In Germany, where tax credits support the construction of energy efficient buildings, allergies affect 42% of children aged six to seven, largely due to the poor quality of indoor air.3Eco-efficient buildings also have a cultural impact. Following the old modernist aesthetic, they tend to be steel and glass boxes short on fresh air and natural light, their internal ecosystemsdivorced from their surroundings. Whether located in Frankfurt or Indonesia, they are the same.Architecture critic James Howard Kunstler has called such structures “intrinsically despotic buildings that [make] people feel placeless, powerless, insignificant, and less than human.”Are these the kind of buildings we want all over the world? Can’t we do better?