Copper is one of nature’s most beautiful materials, and now there’s another reason for using it.
It seems that germs can’t live on copper or copper alloys like brass or bronze, while they survive on almost all other building materials, including stainless steel. Doorknobs, faucets, countertops, handles, and table tops can all be made with copper. Using copper doesn’t cause microbes to develop resistance the way anti-bacterial soaps do; hospitals are switching to copper surfaces now to fight MERS and other deadly superbugs. This recent discovery has to do with the way copper’s electrons burst the cell walls of microbes, while still being safe for people and pets. In our projects, we’re moving toward copper touchable surfaces wherever we can.