Healthy Buildings Conference a Smash Success!

Overflow crowd applauds effort to phase-out PVC plastics from construction industry

San Francisco Firefighters Strongly Support Safer Alternatives to PVC Building Materials

Learn More!

Overview
Overview	What is PVC? Why is PVC problematic? Where is PVC used in the construction industry? What are some of the alternative materials to vinyl products? Click here to find out more!
Health Hazards
Health Hazards	As PVC use has spread, it has become the source of some of our most pervasive toxic problems. PVC contaminates humans and the environment throughout its lifecycle--during its manufacture, use, and disposal. Click here to find out more!
Phasing Out PVC
Phasing Out PVC	Heightened attention to the hazards of PVC in recent years in a variety of applications such as packaging, toys and medical supplies has resulted in efforts by a growing number of major corporations to eliminate their use of PVC. An increasingly wide range of architects, designers, corporations and communities are recognizing the hazards of PVC and the need to eliminate its use. Click here to find out more!
Alternative Materials
Alternative Materials	Alternatives to PVC exist for all design and construction applications. While there are environmental considerations with every material, none of the listed alternatives cause the highly carcinogenic dioxin emissions that result from PVC. All of the alternates described below are currently commercially available. Click here to find out more!
Alternative Contacts
Alternative Contacts	This is a listing of some of the manufacturers and distributors referred to in the fact sheet on Alternatives to PVC Products. This is only a sampling of manufacturers of available products, not a comprehensive listing. Listing here does not imply an endorsement. Click here to find out more!
	In order to view the fact sheets, you will need Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer

For more information, contact:

Bradley Angel Greenaction	(415) 248-5010
San Francisco Dept. of Environment	(415) 934-4814
Center for Environmental Health	(510) 594-9864

Over 325 Architects, Designers, Planners, Governmental and Environmental Leaders Attend Healthy Buildings Conference in San Francisco

National Alliance to Phase-Out PVC Plastics in Construction to be Launched

San Francisco, CA -- On Thursday, February 3, 2000, a "Healthy Buildings" conference sponsored by Greenaction, the Center for Environmental Health, and the San Francisco Department of the Environment drew an overflow crowd of more than 325 architects, designers, planners and environmental leaders.

Hosted by the Wallace Stegner Environmental Center, the forum focused on emerging trends in the design and construction of healthy buildings. Examining the health and environmental concerns of toxic materials in construction, the workshop featured notable sustainable design experts, architects, physicians and scientists, and environmental policy experts. In particular, the forum highlighted problems with construction materials made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics ñ vinyl siding, roofing, pipes, floor and wall coverings.

Francesca Vietor, Executive Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment said: "San Francisco aims to be a model for what experts in the field already know: that environmentally healthy buildings are good for both their occupants and the bottom line. The City of San Francisco has passed a landmark green building ordinance to this effect, the Resource-Efficient Building (REB) Ordinance. I am very excited that this conference will help translate that intention into a profitable, healthy reality on the ground."

San Francisco Fire Chief Robert C. Demmons noted in a letter to conference attendees that the Department "strongly supports safer alternatives to PVC building materials" and is "very concerned about the health hazards posed by exposure to combustion byproducts of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic in fires." Last year the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Oakland City Council each unanimously passed resolutions encouraging zero dioxin emissions and the elimination of PVC plastics wherever possible due to concerns about dioxin emissions.

"The manufacture and incineration of PVC has been shown to produce dioxin - a material that is carcinogenic in smaller quantities than any other chemical known to science. It is time to eliminate PVC plastics" said Bradley Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction. "We believe that this conference will be the birthplace of a nationwide movement towards healthy and toxic-free buildings," said Michael Green, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Health.

A video of the conference is available for viewing at the San Francisco Public Library in the Wallace Stegner Environmental Center. It is currently available for viewing in the library on their machines. It will hopefully become available for circulation, including interlibrary loan, but that is not yet confirmed. It does not yet show up in the library's on line catalog.