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A brand new Adult Day Care facility has just opened in Baltimore, Md., and it is chock full of vinyl products to support the durability, maintenance, and aesthetic needs of […]

In my continuing education classes for architects and designers, I like to highlight how often vinyl has been introduced as a replacement for products made of more ‘traditional’ materials. I recently did some research for a book being written by design historian, Grace Jeffers, which deals with common perceptions about natural and synthetic materials.

PVC is a relatively new material for seawalls. It was studied and initially approached with some caution by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An interim report issued in 2005 recognized the benefits of PVC seawalls. 

Whether its siding, roofing, flood barriers, or seawalls, vinyl products provide unparalleled benefits to residents living in areas of extreme weather.

It is also the time of year where there’s a lot of competing information about what school supplies to buy and what to avoid—and, frankly, a lot of misinformation too. Add vinyl into that mix. The bottom line, however, is that vinyl school supplies are safe, durable, and make a lot of sense from a dollars-and-cents perspective too.

A marine scientist at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has devised a noninvasive system that may protect beachgoers from shark attacks.

The state of California has eliminated the requirements, in effect since 1975, that foams within upholstered furniture must pass an open flame test. It did this by replacing the traditional California TB 117 standard with a new standard that does not require open flame testing but only requires testing for smoldering (cigarette) ignition, especially for cover fabrics.

I attended one presentation I found particularly interesting and thought provoking and wanted to share it with you. Grace Jeffers, a Design Historian and Materials Specialist presented a program titled, “Manmade Natural: Real versus Fake Materials, A New Perspective.”