The Greening of an Industry: PVC again awaits its environmental labeling fate

The tale of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its green building run is a cautionary one for resins that want to be included in the sustainable construction toolbox yet could face challenges along the way.

The Vinyl Institute (Arlington, VA) was born in a defensive posture in 1982, conceived by PVC stakeholders facing accusations about the fire safety of the material following the November 1980 fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, which claimed 84 lives.

For most of its existence, it’s remained on the defensive, with PVC often a target of disparate groups, for reasons ranging from opposition to the phthalates, lead, and cadmium sometimes added for greater functionality to the role of chlorine in its production. Other reasons for opposition can be less concrete.

“Some people who are against vinyl don’t even know why they’re against vinyl,” explains Vinyl Institute Director of Public Affairs Allen Blakey. “They just heard it’s not good.”

A challenge from the USGBC

Blakey felt some of that bias might have fueled the decision in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC; Washington DC), a nonprofit organization with members from every sector of the building industry, to offer builders a credit towards its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ratings for avoiding the use of vinyl in commercial interiors. After protests by the Vinyl Institute and other stakeholders, the USGBC’s Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee formed a PVC Task Group in November 2002, which reviewed the life-cycle impact and risk assessment of PVC in pipe, siding, windows, and flooring. It released a draft report in December 2004, and according to Taryn Holowka, USGBC communications manager, it plans to have a final announcement on the PVC report before June of this year.

“As it is now, USGBC does not have a position on PVC,” Holowka answered in an e-mail response to MPW questions.

“The LEED rating system does not address PVC. During the course of early LEED product development, a credit was proposed to award the avoidance of PVC in building products. Yet it has been asserted that the available science does not support such a credit.”

That initial report generated 600 comments, according to USGBC, and as a consensus-based organization, Holowka says issues are voted on by its members and the public. Draft reports are released for comments, which are reviewed, and finally, recommendations are passed along to the USBGC board of directors.

“PVC is a complex issue,” Holowka responded. “USGBC has received thousands of reports, e-mails, and comments on the draft report that our technical task force has been reviewing.”

In spite of the attention, Blakey says vinyl has not been negatively affected in the building and construction market, which he estimates makes up 70% of vinyl usage.

“The green building community is only a small fraction of the total building community,” Blakey says. “Most builders and architects recognize that vinyl has certain benefits. There are certain things you want to use it for, and certain things that you would not use it for.”

PVC touts green credentials

Blakey feels PVC has several things working in its favor in green circles, including: recyclability, low-energy input in its polymerization, and the fact that it is 50% derived from chlorine, a non-fossil-fuel resource. Such factors can help it in life-cycle analyses (LCA), which look at a material’s impact through extraction and refining to fabrication and, ultimately, end of life.

LCA consultant PE International (Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany) offers its take on vinyl in a study posted by the Vinyl Institute. “PVC does not play an especially significant role as a material, from an LCA viewpoint. It has individual environmental advantages and disadvantages, as do other polymers, metals, or renewable materials. Therefore, (from an LCA viewpoint) there seems to be no reason why PVC should be treated differently than other materials.”

As the Vinyl Institute awaits final word from the USGBC, Blakey hopes the material is validated. “Science says that vinyl deserves to be considered as a material that could benefit green building,” Blakey says, “so now we want to build on that and show how vinyl can help.”