Buy Local, Buy Healthy
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
WHAT IS BUY LOCAL, BUY HEALTHY?
Buy Local, Buy Healthy is a concept and approach to purchasing building products that focuses on supporting jobs in the local or regional economy and lessening exposure to hazardous substances in the home through a better understanding of a product’s ingredient content and how they might impact the health of residents and installers. This concept, when applied in conjunction with building products that are energy and water efficient, can help transform our lives and our communities by creating buildings that save resources, grow jobs and protect our health.
WHY SHOULD YOU BUY LOCAL, BUY HEALTHY?
The manufacturing footprint of building products in the U.S. is significant and currently employs hundreds of thousands of Americans in good quality jobs. Energy-efficient products and recycled building materials alone support more than 320,000 American manufacturing jobs.
Insisting on U.S. made products manufactured close to the project site helps sustain local manufacturing jobs and creates incentive to further expand the domestic manufacturing of these products and their supply chains. Buying local also minimizes costs and the environmental impact incurred from the transportation of products made far away. Identifying building products that contain ingredients of concern is being made easier through third-party certifications and ingredient disclosures, which are helping consumers understand the potential health impacts of those products.
HOW CAN YOU BUY LOCAL, BUY HEALTHY VIA BUILDINGCLEAN.ORG?
Buying locally made building products that are healthier for residents and installers is easy with the help of BuildingClean.org. The website contains more than 4,600 manufacturing facilities across the United States producing a wide range of building products from drywall to metal exterior panels. Manufacturers are searchable by product type, CSI code, product material, state, and zip code in order to help locate those products made closest to your project location. The website also has a searchable database of products with ingredient disclosures allowing you to identify less hazardous products and Cradle to Cradle certified products, which are free of the most harmful substances.
All of this information is freely accessible and is a simple step towards embracing the Buy Local, Buy Healthy concept in your building projects.
1 in 12 People in the United States has asthma.
42% Black people and American Indian/Alaska Natives have higher asthma rates than average. Black people are 42 percent more likely than whites to have asthma.
63% When “breathe easy” homes are built to eliminate pollutants—including using building products without harmful toxic chemicals—asthmatic children had 63 percent more symptom-free days.
A recent BuildingClean.org report found increasing the rate of residential deep retrofits across the nation coupled with the implementation of Buy American procurement policies could create more than 170,000 American manufacturing jobs.
Featured News & Reports
Featured Blogs
Find Local, Healthy Energy-Efficient Building Products
Building Clean is your portal to BUY LOCAL and HEALTHY energy-efficient products.