The project NonHazCity 3 helps municipalities, entrepreneurs and individuals construct and renovate buildings with tox-free materials in order to protect health and the environment.

Nowadays hazardous substances or fibres such as arsenic and asbestos are no longer used in construction materials. But this does not mean that substances potentially harmful to our health and our nature are no longer found there.

The NonHazCity3 (NHC3) project deals with the problem of harmful chemicals found in buildings, construction sites and construction materials.
Within the framework of the project, four solution models are being developed to reduce exposure to these substances of concern at homes, workplaces and the (water) environment, including the Baltic Sea.

The NonHazCity3 project is aimed at all those who have to make decisions about the construction, renovation or purchase of buildings and facilities. This means residents buying or renovating their homes, companies building buildings, and local governments ordering larger buildings.

After all, it depends on these people what material choices are made and whether materials that do not contain harmful chemical compounds are preferred. However, this decision does not only concern construction or the acquisition of a building. You should know the entire life cycle of the building. From the production of construction materials and the construction process to the maintenance of the facility and finally to demolition and waste disposal. Since most buildings and facilities are very long-lived, it is often forgotten that the environmental impact is even longer than the building itself.

NonHazCity3 helps to create just such a comprehensive understanding, thus saving both people’s health and the health of the natural environment, and at the same time offering economically reasonable alternatives.

The project helps to raise the awareness of residents, companies and municipalities to make the right choices and decisions, introducing both problems and their alternative solutions.

These problems are similar throughout the Baltic Sea region. So many have already found a solution in one area or another, but the knowledge about it does not move so fast. Therefore, one part of the solution is to bring representatives of different towns and regions together and to increase the sharing of practices between them. The eight pilot projects initiated as part of the project are therefore not limited to solving a specific problem in a specific location, but bring relevant information to all partners and, through that, to all countries in the region.

Additional information about the project can be found also on the INTERREG NonHazCity 3 website here.