Dust-free Options
Clean Drywall offers dust-free smoothwall finishes.
Dust-free Level 4 smooth finish
Level 4 dust-free finish with two coats of paint over primer:
Dust-free level 5 smooth finish
On Dust Production
Anyone who's had experience with drywall knows it's one of the dustiest, if not the dustiest part of the construction process. If you will see, drywall compound labels say, 'do not create dust'.
Start with counting dust particles per cubic centimeter. Use a magnifying glass and basic math. For this discussion we'll assume an enclosed room 12' X 12' X 8', and look at airborne particles per cubic centimeter, p/cm3 (a little less than 1/2 cubic inch), in average distribution throughout the space. The best times/conditions I've found for measuring dust particles are early mornings on sunny days (in the sun beams), and nights, using flood lights (within 12" of the light source).
Airborne drywall related dust particles range in size from being "coarse," visible to the unaided eye (20/20 vision), to "fine," particles practically invisible, appearing more as a cloud.
During installation of drywall (hanging the board) when roto-zip tools are used to cut electrical boxes and doors/windows within the space, both fine and large particles are created and can count between 500 and 5,000 p/cm3. Use of hand tools and cutting the board out doors or outside the work area can reduce p/cm3 to as few as 50 to 500. With care and technique, dust particles during installation and finishing can be reduced to primarily course particles, as few as 10 to 100 p/cm3.
When a finish is sanded, mostly fine particles are produced, and can number as high as 8,000 and 10,000 or more p/cm3. If I'm asked to sand a site, I try to limit particle counts to between 100 to 500. In some cases this is not problematic, but it's realistic to plan for 1,000, even 2,000.
Keep in mind that sitting down once on an aging, fabric couch can produce over 100 p/cm3 within 6' of the event. Wearing cotton or wool clothing and moving about produces measurable particle counts as well. Shaking out a bed sheet can produce 50 to 200 or more p/cm3 in a room. Turning on a vacuum cleaner with an overdue filter can produce up to 300 and 500 fine p/cm3.
'Comparing between drywall work and plain, day-to-day life, this is a baseline definition:
Dust-free Drywall - Given an enclosed space and measured dust particle counts per cubic unit: levels of drywall related dust production generated during the drywall process that are less than or equal to levels normally produced by the people occupying that space.