As safe as Swedish houses?
A lot of the material used in buildings contains substances that may be harmful for human health or the environment. The construction sector has a great responsibility in making sure that these substances are phased out.
“The things we build today will still be there in 30, 50, maybe 100 year’s time. It is not enough to think about and focus on substances that we know are harmful today. In 50 years, we will know much more about all the substances used and we therefore need to have complete information now on what materials are being used in our buildings,” emphasises Ms Marianne Hedberg, Expert in environmental issues at the Swedish Construction Federation in an interview in ECHA’s newsletter (February edition).
In an inspiring interview, Marianne Hedberg tells us what Sweden and the Swedish Construction Federation are doing to make our (Swedish) buildings safer. She depicts, among other things, how the BASTA system and its database were established. BASTA is a scientifically based system with freely available information that enables conscious product selections and is a guide to sustainable building and construction materials. Read full article …