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Bedford Green House is a 118-unit, 13-storey affordable housing development in New York City, with sustainable design and resident health at its heart. The development used HomeFree to inform the selection of building materials, considering human health impacts. This included using solid core doors with a NAUF (No Added Urea Formaldehyde) core and hardwood plywood cabinets which use less binder (and therefore less formaldehyde) than particleboard and MDF.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of thousands of synthetic chemicals that are used throughout society. However, they are increasingly detected as environmental pollutants and some are linked to negative effects on human health.

This page from the European Chemicals Agency provides background on PFAS chemicals and their use in a number of products, including construction materials, paints and chrome plating.

The Green Science Policy Institute's page on building materials, linking to background information on issues with PFAS, and halogenated flame retardants in insulation.

Tarkett have introduced an eco-innovation programme with the aim of providing more comfortable, healthy and people-friendly indoor spaces without compromising performance and design experience. Key initiatives include:

• Phthalate free technology in their New Generation Vinyl flooring;
• Low VOC emissions in flooring;
• ReStart Takeback and Recycling Programme, and use of recycled materials in new products.