We highly recommend that our clients use materials that do not emit or off-gas toxic substances, such as those which are contained in most conventional floor finishes, paints, plywoods, and many other materials. We strongly prefer to work with zero-VOC paints, using the Benjamin Moore Natura and Aura paints, and often recommend finishing floors with a combination of natural tung oil (made from the tung nut) which is then covered with a low volatile organic compound (VOC) water-based polyurethane.

As we have mentioned in the section on natural materials, we prefer to work with natural materials such as wood, stone, porcelain and steel, rather than the synthetic plastics and fiberglasses that are often used in less sustainable forms of construction, and these materials not only contribute to healthier, happier living environments, but have less adverse effect on the natural environment, which can lead to serious health problems among humans, global climate change, and destruction of ecological systems, in their manufacturing processes and in their disposal at the end of their useful life.