Go deeper
Nothing here is ours. These are the building standards, ingredient databases and indoor environment researchers we lean on — all free to read, all worth an afternoon.
International Living Future Institute
The most demanding building standard in use — buildings must generate their own energy, handle their own water, and avoid a published list of worst-in-class chemicals. Useful as a north star even if you only borrow one idea from it.
Open resourceInternational Living Future Institute
A plain list of the chemicals the Living Building Challenge bans outright. Read it once and you will start recognising the ingredients behind that new-furniture smell.
Open resourceInternational Living Future Institute
Nutrition labels for building products: every ingredient, where it came from, and whether it clears the Red List. Search it before buying paint, flooring or cabinetry.
Open resourceInternational WELL Building Institute
Organises building health into air, water, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound and mind. The concept pages are a free, well-argued reading list for anyone upgrading a home.
Open resourcePassive House Institute
An airtightness-and-insulation approach that pairs a sealed envelope with continuous filtered ventilation. It is the clearest argument for why fresh-air strategy beats simply opening a window.
Open resourceEnvironmental Working Group
Type in your zip code and see what your utility actually reports. It is the fastest way to find out whether you need reverse osmosis or just carbon.
Open resourceUS Environmental Protection Agency
Government guidance on VOCs, radon, combustion appliances and mold, without a product to sell you. Start with the mold remediation and radon testing pages.
Open resourceASHRAE
The residential ventilation baseline that range-hood and bath-fan sizing rules come from. Handy when you are deciding whether your kitchen exhaust is actually doing anything.
Open resourceParsons School of Design
Free research and material collections aimed at affordable, low-toxicity interiors. Their product guides are refreshingly specific about substitutions.
Open resourcemindful MATERIALS
A cross-manufacturer library that lines up health and transparency certifications side by side. Useful when two products look identical and only one discloses anything.
Open resourceInternational WELL Building Institute
The measurable case for bright mornings and dim evenings, written for people specifying real fixtures. Pairs neatly with warm bulbs and blackout at night.
Open resourceTerrapin Bright Green
The research behind why plants, daylight, natural materials and a view of the horizon calm the nervous system. It is the closest thing to a scientific companion for arranging a room.
Open resourceThe home audit turns these standards into a short, ordered list for your space.