Beyond fire, thermal performance, and durability

Architects have always balanced multiple performance requirements. Fire safety, thermal performance, and durability are familiar parts of the specification process. Today, however, another consideration is increasingly finding its way into project discussions: material emissions.

While emissions have not traditionally been a primary specification criterion, architects now encounter related questions from clients, sustainability consultants, and certification assessors.

Material emissions are becoming part of building specifications

The growing focus on material emissions is being driven by several developments. Clients increasingly ask how material choices may affect indoor environmental quality, while sustainability consultants often request supporting documentation during the specification process. At the same time, certification schemes such as LEED, BREEAM and WELL continue to raise expectations around transparency and product information.

Regulatory developments provide another indication of this shift. From August 2026, new European requirements addressing emissions from construction products apply. While the regulation covers a range of substances, formaldehyde has received particular attention due to its relevance for indoor air quality.

The requirements are unlikely to change the way architects design buildings overnight. However, they send a clear signal about the direction in which the industry is moving. Emissions are becoming a measurable product characteristic rather than a secondary consideration.

Indoor air quality starts before the building is occupied

Indoor air quality is often associated with HVAC design and ventilation rates. Both are important. However, material choices also play an important role. Floor coverings, furniture, adhesives, coatings, and construction products, including insulated wall and roof panels, can all release substances into indoor spaces.

For architects, this creates an additional layer of responsibility. Material choices influence not only appearance, fire performance and energy efficiency, but can also contribute to the quality of indoor environments experienced by occupants.

This is particularly relevant in buildings where occupants spend significant amounts of time. Schools, hospitals, offices, and other high-occupancy buildings are obvious examples, where indoor environmental quality is receiving growing attention. In these projects, material selection plays an important role alongside comfort, durability and long-term building performance.

Material selection is becoming more complex

Architects are expected to balance a growing number of requirements when specifying materials. Fire performance, durability, aesthetics, embodied carbon, occupant comfort, and material emissions all play a role in specification decisions.

In practice, the challenge is often not the availability of information, but understanding which information is relevant and how different products can be compared. Various products may be supported by different test methodologies, declarations, or certification documents, making direct comparisons less straightforward than they first appeared.

For this reason, reliable and transparent product information is becoming increasingly important. Test reports declared values and supporting documentation help architects make more informed specification decisions and better understand how materials contribute to overall building performance.

Specification decisions have long-term consequences

Material decisions are often made well before a building is completed. Once materials are specified and procurement begins, changing products later in the project can be both costly and time-consuming.

For architects, early specification decisions can therefore have consequences long after the design stage is completed. Reliable product information, verified testing and transparent documentation help reduce uncertainty and support more confident specification decisions.

How Trimo supports low-emission building specifications

• EN 16516 tested
• Documentation supporting LEED, BREEAM and WELL projects
• Verified emission performance
• Technical support during specification