The builder said to me “Then your products are all about feeling good.”  “Yes, but not how you are thinking”, I replied.

I had this conversation with a builder this week as we presented the products in our showroom and explained to him about all the sustainable building products.  We would introduce him to a countertop made from recycled paper or recycled glass and he was thinking about granite.  We showed him bamboo, cork and linoleum floors and he was thinking about pine or oak flooring.  We showed him clay wall finishes and zero VOC paints and he scoffed and said he could get the same thing elsewhere for less.  “Your products don’t save the client money on their utilities; they just make them feel better because they are recycled.”

Yes, these products do make them feel better, they make them feel better because they are not full of caustic chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), like formaldehyde,  PVC, lead, asbestos, radon or many preservatives (yes, lead and asbestos have been outlawed since the 70’s),  when will formaldehyde be outlawed from building products?  We will talk more about why these VOC’s are currently not outlawed in a minute, but first, why is the incidence of cancer increasing so rapidly or the numbers of adults and children with Asthma or Allergies increasing and who wants to put their food on a surface that must be chemically sealed and yet still emits radon?  This is the feel good that our clients are looking for.  This is not to say that finishing your home with sustainably built products will prevent cancer or eliminate Asthma and Allergies.  I will not stick my neck out that far, but I will tell you that the products we offer and free of all known VOC’s.

Have you ever walked into a closed (air conditioner not running) mobile home or HUD trailer in the middle of summer and felt how your eyes will burn and your throat will ache.  This is an extreme example of how VOC’s affect the human body and yet it is exactly the same reaction your body is having over an extended period of time as we are exposed to low levels of VOC’s in our daily lives.

Why then are all VOC’s - chemicals like formaldehyde or pvc - not outlawed; the reason – politics.  Who has the lobbyists? The businesses producing the chemicals, that’s who.  Why do the major paint manufacturers produce products that are labeled no VOC’s and still they must label there product with disclaimers that say use of the product might cause cancer in laboratory mice?  Because the chemicals contained within the product are VOC’s that are not on the “list”.  The list the government – our government has ruled on, but they are VOC’s that are on the watch list…

Why do our clients feel good about their decisions?  They feel good because they know they are doing everything they can to live a long and healthy life.