Material Health and Human Wellbeing: Rethinking Material Selection in the Age of Ecological Transition

This section develops a conceptual framework for evaluating how building materials affect indoor environmental quality, human health and wellbeing, and ecological systems. Using a cross-scale approach, it maps the relationships from material composition and production to chemical hazards, emissions, exposure pathways, indoor conditions, occupant outcomes, and wider ecological impacts. The framework also considers healthy material strategies, transparency, restorative and biophilic design, and certification systems as inputs to material selection decisions. Its key finding is that environmental performance and health performance are related but distinct: sustainability attributes alone do not establish whether a material is safe for occupants. By linking material and component properties with exposure and outcomes at building, occupant, and ecosystem scales, the framework clarifies how health implications can be assessed more holistically. The chapter’s original contribution is an integrated conceptual model that connects material selection, indoor environmental quality, human wellbeing, and planetary health to support more informed architectural decision-making.