Empowering the Building Industry to Write Healthier Specifications with Ramune Bartuskaite

Our guest on Episode 38 of The Quiet Mark Podcast is Ramune Bartuskaite - AIA, LEED GA, WELL AP. Ramune is a Healthy Building Advocate and an architect at FIFTEEN Architecture + Design in Philadelphia, a practice driven by the desire to affect positive change. She's also the Founder and CEO of Spec Matters, a diverse team of young professionals committed to “empowering the building industry to write healthier specifications and make better material selections—because these decisions matter.”

Quiet Mark recently joined forces in a unique move to make Quiet Mark certified products easily accessible to equip architects and specifiers. The new partnership will enable the 3,600+ practices that use NBS to create specifications to easily source and find Quiet Mark certified products and materials. The aim is to elevate the aural design of buildings, optimising the overall level of wellbeing and acoustic comfort for occupants.

Noise pollution is the 2nd biggest killing natural pollutant, after air pollution. The World Health Organisation estimates that at least 10,000 people die every year in the EU as a result of chronic exposure to unwanted noise. Through scientific testing and assessment Quiet Mark identifies the quietest products in multiple categories spanning many sectors, including: home appliances and technology, building sector materials and commercial sector products. 

Whilst our focus is on improved wellness through the provision of solutions to unwanted noise, Ramune, when sourcing materials, looks at both the physical and mental health benefits as they matter throughout the entire shelf life of a product.

“Materials can have a huge impact on us in the process of their construction, installation and break down as they turn into dust that we breathe. As buildings get deconstructed and materials end up in landfill, we ask what happens if they don’t degrade and the chemicals end up in our water systems and pollute our environment which enters our bodies. Everything is tied together.”

On her LinkedIn page, Ramune sums up Spec Matters saying, “Spec Matters is a free website and newsletter providing a hub of healthy building information. Bridging the gap between scientific research and time and resource specification selection processes. Architects and interior designs make material selections everyday without knowing the impact on human health and the environment. Building professionals can now educate themselves in order to create a healthier future through more informed decisions.” 

The motivation behind founding Spec Matters was inspired by a variety of factors. Ramune lost her mother to cancer in 2020. This coincided with Ramune pursuing her Certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building from Parsons School of Design. While “sustainability and air qualities were definitely addressed during my undergraduate and masters degree, I felt there was a gap when it comes to the toxins involved in some materials.” 

During her studies, Ramune was exposed to the fact that many materials used in the building industry are toxic and contain carcinogens - which wasn’t taught in her architectural schooling. She further learnt that only 10% of cancers are genetic, “this means 90% come from our environment. 2 in 3 Americans develop cancer in their lives.” Naturally, this deeply personal experience inspired Ramune to do further research and share as much information as possible. 

While there are many fantastic health institutions and organisations fighting cancer, Ramune spoke on the need for the “building industry to take a hard look at what role we play in this. Not just in cancer but also chemicals in building materials which cause developmental problems in children by means of fertility and hormone issues.”

As we often discover on the Quiet Mark podcast, the pandemic encouraged a heightened sense of appreciation for safe and healthy environments. “The pandemic gave us so much time to understand the impact we can have and to question our environments and what they’re made of. People’s questioning brings demand and there is a movement for transparency - it's the building equivalent of a nutrition label. There are many different forms such as the Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC)”, claims Ramune. More than 700 manufacturers are now using HPDs to provide material transparency data on over 33,000 products. 

“Pushing for transparency levels the playing field and that drives the desire to create less toxic materials and widen the choices so better products can be specified and selected.”

This societal gear change was another factor inspiring Ramune to set up Spec Matters. “It made me feel that now is the time to raise awareness and build a community around healthier materials.” 

 

“Spec Matters was born from asking a lot of questions. I realised that the science community had been raising red flags but the information on toxic materials didn’t seem to be reaching my industry. I felt the need to bridge this gap and due to my passion for sourcing materials I wanted to empower the people around me and build this said bridge.”

“Spec Matters’ Resource Directory offers filtering of information and materials from acoustic ceiling tiles to tile countertops. We break down what those materials are composed of, what chemicals may be detrimental to human health, we try to guide people on what would be a healthier choice and use our different ograndiations to source this information which is backed up by a lot of data and then publish it all on one place so the industry can apply it to their projects.” 

Ultimately, Ramune and her team are motivated to deliver the latest and most accurate news surrounding healthy building materials, working to educate the industry in a collaborative and transparent fashion. 

“Our newsletter is written by an exciting team who are very passionate about the issue of health in the building industry. They’re mostly students and young professionals with a wide range of backgrounds from marketing to interior design. I developed the system to take on people without much training and education on healthy buildings but encourage training and education surrounding the subjects so they are educating themselves and publishing their findings on Spec matters thus further educating our community.” 

Image: Meet the Team - Spec Matters are a diverse team of young professionals who are eager to learn and are passionate about sustainability and healthy building initiatives.

At the end of the podcast Ramune beautifully summarises the crucial need for material specification, one that considers physical health, mental health and sustainability: 

“The decisions we make today will be impacting generations to come, it is so important to take the time to learn about the impacts of materials we build with as these spaces continue to serve and impact so many people for much longer than we release. We need to be diligent and do our part, even doing something as simple as asking for a transparency documentation for fractures with work with, even just switching one toxic material at a single project at a time. Most importantly we need to advocate in our own communities and encourage others to ask questions surrounding materials in the built environment. We all need to do our part in creating demand for a healthier future.”

Listen to Episode 38 of The Quiet Mark Podcast here.