By Andy Pace, Founder of The Green Design Center and Healthy Home Concierge
If building your dream healthy home with an unlimited budget is in the cards for your 2025, congratulations! In my career, I have never been more excited and assured that the building and design industry is completely prepared to provide you with what you need. As a healthy home building material supplier and consultant for over 30 years, I am pleased to see that more and more healthy home materials are becoming accessible and home owners are becoming more educated on the subject. However, most of us who strive to live in a healthy home aren’t in a particular position to accomplish a healthy home top to bottom all at once, so we must do what we can, when we can. Room by room, as time and budget allows.
Bedrooms remain my number one priority in any home because of the amount of time we spend in them sleeping and restoring our bodies. The second most time spent is in our kitchens. Kitchens are where family and friends gather the most and have the potential to be the most problematic due to the myriad of moving parts, culinary activities and access to water. Building, designing or renovating a kitchen taps into my areas of expertise on how to eliminate the potential health hazards and toxins that are common in the kitchen.
COMMON HAZARDS TO WATCH FOR
As with all projects, 90% of the potential health hazards are due to chemical emissions arising from the things you see and touch on a daily basis. Flooring, cabinetry and wall finishes are the most common. The last 10% would be from materials you can’t see such insulation, caulking, adhesives, etc. Of course, there are also some huge potential problems lurking among your plumbing fixtures and piping, as well as a lack of proper ventilation.
FLOORING
It is important to start your project from the ground up and to choose a smart, safe and durable flooring. When choosing your flooring materials, please understand that it’s not only an aesthetic and design that you’re trying to achieve, but a high performing surface capable of providing certain functions. Flooring needs to be durable, water resistant and easy to clean. Porcelain tile is a good choice, but if you also want a floor that is comfortable to stand on for long periods of time (think Thanksgiving dinner), I would consider a cork flooring material such as the Wicanders Wood Inspire line. This safe option is made of 99% natural cork with a layer of a PVC-free plastic making this a comfortable and attractive alternative to harder materials. If a sheet flooring material is more in line with your needs, the Forbo Marmoleum product would be the best choice. This is true linoleum, not a vinyl flooring product. True linoleum is made from ingredients such as wood and cork dust, pine resins, linseed oil and pigments. Not only is it a durable material (your house might actually fall down around it with age) but it’s naturally anti-bacterial and anti-static. This means, it’ll be much easier to keep this floor clean.
CABINETRY
Cabinetry will more than likely be the largest potential culprit of chemical off gassing in the kitchen. The cabinet boxes are typically made from plywood or particle board. Both have a high risk of formaldehyde emissions. There are many improvements that have been made in this realm over the last 10 years, so it’s getting easier to find cabinet producers that use ultra-low emitting substrates. The finishes, however, are still the most problematic part of the equation. Stains and clear coats will typically release formaldehyde and other toxins for 3-5 years or longer. Imagine waking up every morning, walking into the kitchen and opening up a cabinet door to grab a coffee cup. Wham! Socked in the face with the chemical emissions that have built up since the last time that door was opened. Not a healthy way to start your day. My suggestion here is the Crystal Cabinet Company out of Minnesota. Extremely high quality products, excellent design and they only use low-emitting substrates. They will also use formaldehyde free finishes upon request.
WALL FINISHES
The wall and ceiling finishes play major roles in creating a healthy and non-toxic kitchen. Paints that do not off gas include AFM Safecoat or Keim Mineral Paint. If you are contemplating a more decorative finish such as wallpaper, I’d suggest you consider a decorative paint technique or a plaster treatment instead. Although there are wallpaper brands on the market that are extremely safe, such as Farrow & Ball, these materials can be potentially problematic due to the fact that they are not breathable and could lead to mold issues. Only use wallpaper on interior walls, not on any wall that is on the outside perimeter of the home.
COUNTERTOPS
This topic is so large that it requires its own report. Please check out the article I wrote on healthy and non-toxic countertops back in June 2023 called Counter Productive. Spoiler alert: large-format porcelain and manufactured quartz are my favorites.
PLUMBING
From a chemical release standpoint, the PVC drains under your sink can be problematic due to the use of cyanoacrylate glues to adhere the pipes together. There is no safe alternative here. But if that solvent aroma is just too much to handle, then I suggest wrapping the pipe joints with a metal type, similar to what is used for ductwork. This will eliminate the solvent release. Faucets, sink drains and water lines are prone to leak, so I definitely recommend the use of solid drip pans at minimum. Better yet, use a drip pan with a built in drain coupling so that if your refrigerator water line starts to leak when you’re on vacation, at least the water damage will be at an absolute minimum.
VENTILATION
For ventilation, it’s absolutely critical to have a range hood that exhausts to the outside. The proper use of the fan is to turn it on prior to turning on the range. This creates the correct air current to ensure that all smoke, fumes and moisture are expelled from the home once cooking has begun. All too often, people turn the fan on only after they see smoke. It’s too late. The air has already been infiltrated with potential hazards. The use of a good quality range hood is necessary in all kitchens, but even more so if you have a gas range. Correctly utilizing the exhaust hood will eliminate 99% of the hazards created by the combustion of gas. Electric range tops will be completely free of gas fumes, but could complicate issues that many folks have with electro-magnetic fields. As a side note, please do not rely on a recirculating fan that some microwaves feature. These are not helpful whatsoever.
To book a consult on your healthy kitchen reno or new build, please visit https://www.thegreendesigncenter.com and tune into Andy’s podcast Non-Toxic Environments.
By, Andy Pace
Healthy Home Concierge, Founder of the Green Design Center and Host of Non-Toxic Environments Podcast
About Andrew Pace Andrew Pace is a Healthy Home Concierge and Founder of The Green Design Center, a leading resource for homeowners and contractors looking to source products that are healthy and green and receive expert consulting advice on designing and building healthy green homes. Andrew is the host of Non Toxic Environments Podcast. He is a worldwide expert on green and healthy building products and services customers and contractors from around the globe. As founder of the oldest healthy building supply company in the United States, Andrew has become one of the single most helpful and educational experts dealing with the day-to-day concerns of those individuals who suffer from allergies, asthma and chemical sensitivities. Andrew serves as a board member of the Change the Air Foundation and has been featured in numerous national media outlets. Please follow along at @nontoxicenviornments and https://www.thegreendesigncenter.com.
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