VC-21A-C060 - Materials Health in HVAC Equipment and Systems

A growing body of environmental health research shows that commercially available products, including building materials, contain chemicals hazardous to human and environmental health. Since approximately 2005, healthy materials certifications and databases have incentivized healthy materials in architectural products to compensate for the EPA’s lack of materials regulation in the US. However, the HVAC industry lags behind architectural trades in implementing healthier materials - as of August 2020, there are only 64 Health Product Declarations for MEP-related products, but several thousand are available from other trades (Arup, 2020). This research investigated the underlying causes of this gap and proposed potential solutions.

To combat these barriers, the team suggests requesting the material composition of HVAC equipment to incentivize manufacturer materials transparency; to aid these requests, this paper includes a list of common problematic materials. Also, the research presents a tiered strategy to define the scope of healthy materials for HVAC equipment on projects, considering that a healthy materials approach can focus only on health impacts to building occupants or can be expanded to the embodied carbon and lifecycle of all equipment used on the project. Ultimately, this paper will help engineers initiate the necessary engagement with manufacturers to provide healthier materials for healthier buildings and a healthier planet.