Ep 260: How Modern Building Materials Trigger Chronic Illnesses | Lauren Riddei

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If you knew how toxic our modern building materials are, mold wouldn’t be your biggest worry.

Lauren Riddei got sick from her own job sites, and a naturopath's question helped point her toward why. She is a triple-certified building biologist and interior designer who rebuilt her practice around the idea that many modern building materials are contributing to poor health.

The conversation gets specific. Acrylic paints she describes as smelling like acetone. Spray foam that can obscure water damage in a wall assembly. Fixed LED cans that are impossible to swap out. A smart meter her own utility company claimed it didn't know how to remove. Carpet that the EPA studied and removed from its own headquarters, before publicly denying it caused harm.

A lot of what she recommends comes back to older craft. The five-weight pulley window built to be repaired. Linseed oil instead of a plastic coating. Mineral paint that binds to the wall rather than sitting on top of it. Kapok, cork, hemp, natural latex. Most of these predate the synthetic versions that replaced them.

Lauren also explains why she thinks of mold as a way-shower rather than a villain, and why building smaller may matter more than building "green."

You'll Learn:

[0:00] Introduction

[7:02] The rain barrel effect and reaching critical mass

[12:11] Discovering building biology after a spiritual awakening

[24:40] Why Europe builds with mass wall systems

[34:35] Interrupting the general contractor's monocultured approach