How do chemicals research scientists and the real estate sector collaborate? The NIOSH Pocket Guide Tool

On October 28, 2022, Concepts in Wellness hosted a webinar with special guests from Perkins&Will and the International WELL Building Institute. The panel presented “Chemicals & Architecture: Translating Science into Healthier Buildings for Workers” to the CDC | NIOSH’s Immune, Infectious and Dermal Disease Council (IID Council), a public-private partnership with an eight year agenda to research chemicals that impact health in occupational settings. The webinar detailed the solutions developed in the Design Industry since 2014, with an end to providing a pipeline for new chemicals identified by the IID Council. Databases like Perkins&Will’s Precautionary List have provided a chemicals vocabulary for designers, and the IWBI’s WELL Building Certification provides a corporate level (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategy for eliminating chemicals of concern.

The interesting exchange of knowledge between scientists and the webinar participations started a conversation, with a hope for future collaboration projects to eliminate harmful chemicals in buildings. The attendees decided on their first collaborative effort: to develop a diagnostic tool using the NIOSH Pocket Guide data, which will translate scientific information for real estate professionals to help them determine if chemicals are causing health issues in their buildings, where to find those chemicals, and provide approved environmental and medical tests for those chemicals. Expected launch is 4Q 2023.