In 2013, I became aware of a form of structural racism that shows up in community development but is not yet visible to most people working in the real estate sector.
I spent the first 20 years of my career working as a housing developer, creating or preserving thousands of affordable housing units. In addition to social justice issues, I was interested in environmental health, so I combined my two passions as I created housing that was affordable, high-performing, and healthy, while minimizing its impact on the Earth.
As I was developing an ultra-sustainable multi-family apartment called The Rose, I learned that the chemicals used to make building materials were linked to various diseases and health conditions. Cancer, autoimmune disorders, reproductive and infertility issues, and autism, are on the rise and part of a long, and growing list of health impacts. More and more scientific studies are finding hazardous chemical exposures a key concern.
Exposures to these chemicals not only impact building residents, but also affect the communities who work in or live near manufacturing facilities, workers who construct and maintain buildings, and communities who live near or work in recycling and waste collection. And these exposures and health harms disproportionately impact people of color, low-wealth communities, and children.
The community development field has long understood the significance of one’s zip code on their health outcomes. Legacy and contemporary racist policies and practices have resulted in higher concentrations of people of color and low-wealth communities living in the most problematic and polluted zip codes.
What is less understood is that building products and chemicals are woefully and inadequately tested and regulated. When I was developing housing, I assumed these products were safe – that the government, and those manufacturing building materials, would protect our health. That is not the case. Because of this lack of rigor, and racist policies and practices, there are “sacrifice zone” communities that are home to large numbers of facilities and industries making polluting products which disproportionately bear the pollution burden. Most notable is an area in Louisiana called Cancer Alley, where Black and Brown people have higher incidence of cancer and other diseases due to the pollution caused by the supply chain that manufactures products, like vinyl flooring, carpet, insulation, and the list goes on. As a housing developer, I had no idea that the products I was specifying were devastating low-income communities across the United States.
Whether you know it or not, if you are engaged in constructing or maintaining buildings, you are part of a racist and unjust system that disproportionately harms the health of people of color, low-income communities, and children. It is an unintended contradiction in our values to build affordable housing that is meant to combat social inequity, with building materials that perpetuate legacy health harms and environmental injustices.
When I became aware of this issue, I could not look away. In 2015, I left my two-decade long affordable housing career to join Habitable (formerly, Healthy Building Network) in advancing health equity and environmental justice through advocacy and education that supports the selection of safer building products.
The good news is that the real estate field has the power to make a difference. Knowing how products rank can help developers and architects make informed decisions that reduce impacts of harmful chemicals on building occupants, workers, and communities that live near polluting manufacturing facilities. Funders and financing entities also have a key role to play in leading and shaping a future that underpins health, equity, and environmental justice.
Habitable’s science team has created simple-to-use guidance to support safer product selection using a red (worst) to green (best) ranking. We call this initiative Informed™, and it is freely accessible on our website.
Habitable assessed the content of building products specified across 36 affordable housing projects (2,100 units). We found that 70% of products evaluated were amongst the worst (red and orange). This reality is not unique to affordable housing, as we see similar results across building typologies – offices, healthcare, schools, and more. However, affordable housing is uniquely positioned to change the system to one that is grounded in health equity and environmental justice. The most important first step you can take is to step-up from red-ranked products.
The great news is that leaders are already making positive changes by using healthier products. There are better alternatives that meet cost and performance criteria. Check out the case study that highlights First Community Housing’s success in using better materials in their modular apartment building. And, if you really want to be inspired, learn about the Lower Sioux Indian Community innovating building insulation by using hemp – not only a healthier alternative but one that is also creating green jobs and a new economic model for their community.
It’s time. We have the knowledge, and we have the power to design a new system grounded in health and justice, leaving no person or place behind.
Gina Ciganik is the chief executive officer of Habitable. She has been growing and scaling the organization’s vision since assuming the role of CEO in 2016. Gina previously served as Senior Advisor for Housing Innovation, and prior to Habitable, she spent two decades creating thousands of healthy, affordable homes as the vice president of housing development at a Minneapolis-St. Paul area affordable housing organization.