Healthy Materials Lab

Mears is currently fascinated by industrial hemp, whose stem is processed to create a byproduct that can be combined with powdered lime and water to produce a matrix material that helps support composite materials often used in construction. This plant-based substance can then act as a substitute for many of the petrochemical products found in a typical residential wall, including insulation, flame retardants, and membranes.

In 2015, designer Jonsara Ruth (left, thumbnail image), and architect Alison Mears (right) joined forces to launch the Parsons School of Design’s Healthy Materials Lab, which is dedicated to raising awareness about the relationship between human health and toxic building products.

The answer was sustainability. Both Mears and Ruth had long been interested in studying the impact of design beyond aesthetics. They observed that many of the conversations around environmental issues in architecture were dominated by energy use and carbon reduction. Interior designers, on the other hand, were thinking about air quality inside, where people spend most of their time. But few others in the design world were paying attention. “Where is the exposure [to harmful chemicals] over the course of your lifetime?” asks Ruth. “It’s to the things we live with.”

“A lot of what we do is about education and awareness,” Mears says. Ruth and Mears note there is no one standard for judging material health. Rather, it’s a confluence of considerations—how a product is manufactured, distributed, used, and disposed of, for starters—that dictates whether they consider a product healthy. Ruth says one trick is to think of building products like you might food: The shorter the ingredient list, the better.

Over the last four years, the lab has expanded its reach by offering a self-paced online certification program each semester that includes a four-part introductory course on healthy materials. The program costs as little as $100 and counts toward continuing education hours. So far, more than 6,000 people have taken the online courses, including Parsons students and professional designers.