Research & Development
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6/14/2024
How we take care of air quality in your homes
The increasingly important role of innovative building products and certified solutions by Mapei to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOC)
Mapei focuses on improving indoor air quality by developing low-VOC building products and certifying them to international standards. Our commitment includes over 850 certified products and a real contribution to achieve protocols like LEED. Mapei emphasizes transparency and education to help clients make informed decisions about air quality.
We spend more than 90% of our time in closed environments. What is more, the Covid-19 pandemic we had to live through in recent years, by forcing us to spend long periods of time within the walls of our homes, highlighted how the healthiness of indoor environments becomes a crucial factor and how important it is to know the level of VOC (volatile organic compounds) emitted by products used in construction works.
In fact, construction materials and finishing products could release formaldehyde and other substances that can compromise indoor air quality, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases, allergies and other illnesses. For example, paints can emit VOC both during and after application. Similarly, insulating materials may also be a source of air pollution inside our buildings. It is essential, therefore, to choose materials with low emissions of VOC to create a healthy and safe internal environment.
Evaluation of indoor air quality starts during the design phase: IAQ (Indoor Air Quality), in fact, is a fundamental aspect if you wish to guarantee the health and quality of internal environments you intend living in.
Our commitment to indoor air quality
For more than 20 years Mapei has been studying and developing solutions that guarantee high indoor air quality and certifies its products according to various international standards, guaranteeing their quality on markets all around the world. For many years the company has been committed to the Research & Development of materials that limit the emissions of VOC with a view to safeguarding the applicators who use the products, those who live in indoor spaces and the environment around us.
The various markets around the world that have grown to appreciate Mapei products have become much more aware of this issue and are specifying increasingly stringent requirements with regards to low emission products. In addition, the sustainability protocols adopted for buildings (both voluntary and mandatory, such as LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) recognise low emissions from materials as a fundamental element in terms of environmental and social sustainability and require their use on various types of building sites (public and private).
The importance of certification
In order to effectively communicate Mapei’s commitment to reducing VOC emissions we need to include product certification, which constitutes a sign of reliability. This is why Mapei Group currently has more than 850 products certified according to one or more standards such as Emicode, Blauer Engel, Logosanitaire or M1. This commitment also involves the search for solutions that meet (or anticipate) the requirements of a market that is highly structured and in constant evolution.
In order to meet more effectively the requirements of our reference markets, Mapei has obtained Indoor Air Comfort (IAC) certification issued by the accredited laboratory, Eurofins. This is an important achievement and has been obtained for various products from the MAPEFLOOR CPU+ line of cementitious and resin flooring, which guarantees a high level of environmental care during the product’s installation. Indoor Air Comfort certification is a consolidated tool that demonstrates the conformity of the product to low VOC emissions criteria established in Europe and is also accepted by several eco-sustainable protocols for buildings around the world.
Gold level IAC certification represents the highest level of product emissions conformity with the criteria of many voluntary specifications issued by the most important sustainability bodies, as well as requirements for the certification of eco-sustainable buildings (LEED, BREEAM, etc.).
The IACG (Indoor Air Comfort Gold) certification system also contemplates an annual inspection by the certification body to guarantee that what has been communicated by the company in terms of VOC can be demonstrated and verified.
Constant commitment to communication
For our clients we must always guarantee transparent communication and, above all, compliance with the highest standards in terms of volatile organic compounds emissions currently adopted by the market.
Spreading a culture of air quality means promoting research and development of innovative solutions that respect people and the planet, with a view to sustainability at 360 degrees. Knowledge, ideas and practices need to be shared and we need to communicate our results openly and transparently (and it is crucial that we do that from a sound, certified position), informing and training clients and suppliers to become more informed about this issue, so they possess the tools to autonomously select the right product for their home.
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