The advent of green building design in recent time has raised a number of public concerns in respect to the ongoing use of PVC based products in new buildings. Primary concerns expressed are:

• Large amounts of chlorine are consumed in PVC production
• The use of toxic chemicals in the production process
• Hazardous by-products are formed in manufacture
• Burning PVC creates dioxins

In 2000 the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) was developing the LEED Commercial Interiors rating system. Before including accredit for the avoidance of PVC materials the USGBC decided that further technical knowledge was needed before including this credit rating. This task was given to the USGBC’s Technical and Advisory Committee (TSAC) in 2002.

The approach involved comparing PVC based materials to see if they are consistently worse than alternative materials for environmental and health impacts

The PVC Task Group found that the environmental and health impacts of PVC building products are no worse than those of alternative materials and that “the available evidence did not support a conclusion that PVC is consistently worse than alternative materials on a life cycle environmental and health basis. Therefore, there is no justification for a credit in the environmental design rating system for “eliminating PVC or any particular material” it added.
This expert, thorough and independent examination of PVC and its alternatives consistent with the conclusions of the European Commission’s recent report, Life Cycle Assessments of PVC and of Principal Competing Materials (2004) and reviews undertaken by the CSIRO in Australia in 1996, 1998 and 2001

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Read full report produced by the USGBC

Read the full report by the European Commision