Dialogue regarding materials transparency in the building products sector has increased in recent years through efforts such as the Health Product Declaration, but less progress has been made in designing, specifying, and adopting safer materials. Although knowing whatâ …
By Tim Taylor on
23 Dec 2014 •
openbook 5 minute read
The beauty about trash is the simple fact that it disappears. Whether it’s your favorite 90’s tie from the Jerry Garcia collection your wife “misplaced” or last night’s dinner; our trash has the miraculous gift of vanishing every day! Since our trash output is …
By Kelly Worden on
13 Oct 2014 •
openbook 2 minute read
Health will be front and center at Greenbuild in New Orleans! The conversation begins with two pre-conference Summits and continues right through Friday.
Tuesday, October 21 will be an especially big day: the Materials and Human Health Summit and the Affordable Homes …
Imagine being able to readily access and interpret human health and environmental attributes of any building product—ingredient lists, health and ecosystem hazards, life cycle data, assessments, and more. Making specification and purchasing decisions that prioritize h …
By David Marcus on
06 Aug 2014 •
openbook 2 minute read
Maybe it’s a vestige from grade school, but I’ve always loved watching educational videos. I remember getting a little thrill each time the teacher broke out the VHS player (remember those?) and we got to watch an interesting video about how volcanoes form or “rid …
By Courtney Yan on
17 Jul 2014 •
openbook 3 minute read
USGBC’s LEED version 4 Materials & Resources Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization - Material Ingredients is based on the premise that in order to promote healthier building products and materials, we must first know what ingredients go into a produ …
The periodic table is beautiful. I have no fewer than three in my office, and you can also find one in the front or back of almost any chemistry textbook. If you want to understand chemistry, it is worthwhile to spend a few minutes with the periodic table.
I will spa …
Through the LEED, Materials, and Health Initiative, USGBC has been advancing dialogue around the challenges and opportunities associated with material ingredient disclosure and elimination of chemical hazards in the building sector.
Last week USGBC held a workshop on …
By David Marcus on
27 May 2014 •
openbook 4 minute read
Increasing transparency and scientific understanding around the health impacts of building materials is unquestionably a timely and complex topic. The growing number of chemicals and products in the marketplace brings a deluge of new information and opportunities, but w …
By Adam Maynard on
02 May 2014 •
openbook 3 minute read
Last month, Tom Lent, Policy Director of the Healthy Building Network sat down alongside Brendan Owens, VP of LEED Technical Development at USGBC, for a lunch talk entitled Building Material Transparency: We Should Care What’s in Our Buildings. It was the second suc …
