FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: 

Paula Schaper
Marketing Director
HPD Collaborative                                           
pschaper@hpd-collaborative.org

USGBC and HPDC Collaborate to Simplify Material Ingredients Reporting for LEED

HPDs published meeting the LEED v4.1 Option 1 Pre-check will now be automatically accepted for LEED project documentation

San Francisco, Calif., November 2, 2022 – U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC) today announced a new capability that will simplify and streamline product acceptance by GBCI for the LEED v4.1 Material Ingredients Disclosure and Optimization, Option 1 credit.

USGBC is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. GBCI was founded with the support of USGBC to provide independent oversight of professional credentialing and project certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. HPDC is a non-profit, member organization that manages the building industry’s leading open standard specification – the Health Product Declaration® (HPD) – for manufacturers to accurately, reliably and consistently report product contents and associated health information and for project design team to confidently select healthier products for building projects.

“We have been collaborating with HPDC since the formation of the HPD Open Standard in 2012 to synergize the standard-compliant product information reported in HPDs with the documentation review process for LEED submittals.  This collaboration, together with the proven compliance checking capabilities of the HPD Builder, have made it possible for us to take this meaningful step in simplifying the LEED submittal process for both manufacturers and project teams,” said Wes Sullens, Director, LEED, USGBC.

HPD Builder is a web-based platform provided by HPDC for manufacturers to create and publish HPDs in compliance with the HPD Open Standard.  The current version 2.3, released in July 2022, updates LEED Pre-check capabilities to LEED v4.1.  Published HPDs that achieve “LEED v4.1 Option 1 Pre-check” will be accepted by GBCI for “1 Product” under Material Ingredients credit Option 1, without need for additional review, with this new capability.

USGBC and HPDC will work together over the coming weeks to implement the specifics of this new streamlined submittal process, with the goal of launching the capabilities in production in January 2023. “Our goal is to replace the majority – if not all – of the manual document compilation and checking required for achieving this credit.  With success here, we hope to extend this to other information reported and pre-checked for LEED in published, standard-compliant HPDs,” commented Sullens.

This new capability brings clarity and certainty to the LEED Material Ingredients credit qualifications for both manufacturers and project teams.  Manufacturers can pre-check their HPDs for LEED using the expanded Program Pre-check features available in the current, v2.3 HPD Builder, which provides criteria-specific feedback on compliance. Qualification for GBCI approved will be automatically designated when the HPD is published to the HPD Public Repository.  For project teams, a clear GBCI approved designation will be visible on the HPD report and searchable in the Repository, both through the native Repository user interface and through output to Repository API partners.

“This milestone is a critical next step in achieving the long-term vision we had when we launched the HPD initiative in 2012,” said Wendy Vittori, Executive Director, HPDC.  “To achieve broad adoption of material health practice, we need to make the process easily affordable and attainable for everyone.  The strong foundation of the HPD Open Standard, and the collaboration of USGBC, our ecosystem partners and thousands of material health practitioners, have matured our methodology to the point where we are starting to deliver the significant cost and time-saving benefits we have always envisioned would be possible.”

USGBC and HPDC will hold an information session on this new capability: Wednesday, November 2, 3-4 PM, at the HPDC Greenbuild Booth, #1758.

ABOUT USGBC

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building program, robust educational offerings, an international network of local community leaders, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the Center for Green Schools and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org and connect on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

ABOUT HPDC

HPDC is a not-for-profit, member association with over 360 organizational members, representing the full spectrum of the building industry: architects, designers, building owners, manufacturers, consultants, tool developers, and others who all share a common purpose to improve the transparency of information and the material health of the built environment. The HPD Open Standard has become widely adopted as the industry standard for reporting on building product contents and associated health information, since its launch in 2012, with over 10,000 HPD reports publicly available. HPDC members champion the continuous improvement of the building industry’s performance through transparency, openness and innovation in the practices of reporting, disclosure, specification and selection of building products.  For more information, visit hpd-collaborative.org or connect with HPDC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2022

Contact:
Paula Schaper
Health Product Declaration Collaborative
520.604.6273
pschaper@hpd-collaborative.org

The Next Step in Product Transparency, Data Quality and Ease of Use for the Building Products Industry

Wakefield, MA, May 12, 2022 / EIN Presswire – The Health Product Declaration (HPD) Collaborative has released HPD Open Standard Version 2.3, the latest update to its industry-leading open standard for transparency and reporting for building product contents and associated health information.   Full implementation is planned for Q2/Q3 2022.  This is when the HPD Builder, HPD Public Repository, and APIs for electronic data exchange with other information systems will be fully updated to comply with Version 2.3.  This work is in the final stage of development and testing.  Until full implementation, HPD Version 2.2 remains that active version of the Standard.  HPDC will provide a one-month notice period prior to full implementation of Version 2.3. Once full implementation takes place, all newly published HPDs will be required to be Version 2.3 compliant.  The release of Version 2.3 today provides the opportunity for users to become familiar with the updated Standard and prepare for full implementation.

“HPD Open Standard v2.3 reflects an important next step in improving both reporting quality and ease of use for material health information,” said Wendy Vittori, HPDC Executive Director.  “New features include results and pre-checks for previously time-consuming and repetitive steps, such as screening for additional listings and pre-checking against program criteria.  Learning from the almost 10,000 published HPDs, we have been able to refine reporting guidance in many areas, making it easier for manufacturers to prepare high quality reports.”

“As an early adopter, HPDs are well integrated into our product development process and enable our customers to better understand the work we are doing to improve our products,” said Charles Griffin, Director of Product Integrity, and Quality for Carnegie Fabrics.  “New features of v2.3, such as the additional listing screening and Program Pre-checks, serve as useful resources that enable us to collaborate with our clients and offer authentic product solutions that fit their healthy building design objectives.”

HPD Version 2.3 introduces a number of new features, and important refinements to improve useability by both manufacturers and project teams.  Highlights of the release are:

• Increased Material and Substance Data Transparency and Quality – Key updates to “Alternative Materials and Substances,” “Content Differences,” and “Guidance for Substance Names” provide manufacturers with a clearer picture of the data quality requirements and best practices for producing high quality HPD reports.
• Additional Listings – The “Additional Listings” section adds substance screening results for key restricted substances lists (RSLs) or other non-hazard listings that are complementary to the GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals, GreenScreen List Translator™ and HPD Hazard Warnings results already reported in HPDs. The v2.3 release adds: Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard Restricted Substances List (Basic Screening), Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List, US EPA Safer Chemicals Ingredients List (SCIL), Green Science Policy Institute Six Classes, REACH Exemption List, and Perkins&Will Precautionary List.  Additional lists will be considered for inclusion as proposals are made to the Technical Committee.
• Data Consistency for Special Condition Policies – HPD v2.3 revamps data-entry for Special Conditions, introducing enhanced completeness checks, better data validation, and smarter policies. The update also provides visual consistency for Special Conditions with other content in an HPD.
• Additional Special Conditions Policies –For some types of materials, the ability to identify and characterize substances and/or CAS RNs may be challenging. In other cases there are specific issues relating to hazard screening using CAS RN. The HPD Open Standard includes specific guidelines, or “Special Conditions,” to address these known issues.  Version 2.3 adds Special Conditions in these areas:  Metal Alloys, Minor Fasteners, Form-specific Hazards.
• Enhanced HPD Compliance and Program Pre-Check Capabilities – manufacturers will receive more detailed feedback on compliance of reporting with the HPD Open Standard v2.3. Program pre-check capabilities, which have been available for LEED v4, are being greatly expanded to enable pre-check for additional certification and rating programs, including LEED v4.1.

“For Lendlease, as a property builder, developer and owner, HPDs help us understand the material health of products we use in our buildings,” said Amanda Kaminsky, Director, Sustainable Construction – Americas. “HPD reports, based on the HPD Open Standard v2.3, provide quality reporting that is consistent across product categories, and from manufacturer to manufacturer.  The comprehensiveness, scale and ease of use of HPDs speak to the rapid adoption of this methodology as the standard for transparent material health reporting in the building industry.”

“Version 2.3 of the HPD Open Standard takes another big step closer to the ease of use that project teams need for material health.  By automating screening of additional listings, including the Perkins&Will Precautionary List, and giving us even more pre-screening of HPDs with the new Program Precheck Option, our project teams will be able to streamline our design process when researching substances of concern in materials.  This update to the HPD will aide greatly in our ultimate goal to optimize the material selections we share with our clients and the health impact of the buildings we design,” said Mary Dickinson, Director of Sustainability, Associate Principal, Perkins&Will.

“The new ‘Additional Listings’ section now provides a method for the manufacturer to report additional screening results, by screening substances for ingredients identified in one or more of the most respected restricted substances lists.  We are able to use this new data in the Transparency Catalog to provide new tools that make it even easier for project teams to quickly find materials that meet their selection criteria and get understandable results fast,” said Terry Swack, Sustainable Minds Founder & CEO.

First released in 2012, the HPD Open Standard is harmonized with reporting for leading sustainability certification systems for buildings, such as LEED and WELL, and for building products, such as Cradle to Cradle Certified™, Declare, GreenScreen Certified™ and BIFMA LEVEL®.  When manufacturers report their information using the HPD Open Standard, costly repetitive and duplicative reporting steps can be eliminated.  By publishing an HPD report in the HPD Public Repository, manufacturers can make their detailed product information publicly available, and also electronically transmit their information to product libraries, such as mindful MATERIALS, Ecomedes, and Sustainable Minds.

Additional resources will be provided in the coming weeks to assist in the transition to HPD Version 2.3.  For further information and access to HPD Open Standard Version 2.3 documents, click on this link to visit the HPD Collaborative website.

ABOUT HPDC

HPDC is a not-for-profit, member association with over 360 member companies, representing the full spectrum of the building industry: architects, designers, building owners, manufacturers, consultants, tool developers, and others who all share a common purpose to improve the transparency of information and the material health of the built environment.  The HPD Open Standard has become widely adopted as the industry standard for reporting on building product contents and associated health information, since its launch in 2012, approaching 10,000 HPD reports publicly available.  HPDC members champion the continuous improvement of the building industry’s performance through transparency, openness and innovation in the practices of reporting, disclosure, specification and selection of building products.  For more information, visit hpd-collaborative.org or with HPDC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Paula Schaper
Marketing Director
HPD Collaborative
pschaper@hpd-collaborative.org

Taryn Tuss
VP, Marketing & Communications
Green Seal
ttuss@greenseal.org

Streamlined programs simplify product manufacturers data management and demonstrate proven leadership in the building industry

San Diego, Calif., September 22 – HPD Collaborative (HPDC) and Green Seal® have announced a strategic alliance to bring the expertise and certification leadership of Green Seal into alignment with the capabilities of the HPD Open Standard. The result will be expanded options for product manufacturers to enhance their sustainability reporting and certifications for products used in the built environment.

Green Seal is a nonprofit that develops environmental standards and certification programs for products and services based on performance, health, and sustainability criteria. HPDC is a nonprofit that manages the building industry’s leading open standard specification – the Health Product Declaration® (HPD) – for manufacturers to accurately, reliably and consistently report product contents and associated health information.

The alliance will enable building product manufacturers to simplify their data management and reporting when they use both the HPD reporting format and the Green Seal certification program, using an automated data exchange.

The first collaboration coincides with Green Seal’s newly revised paints standard Edition 4.0, which was issued in September 2021. HPDC and Green Seal will launch a pilot for dual reporting and certification programs for manufacturers who produce paint and/or use paint as an ingredient in their building products.

“This collaboration allows us to create greater business value for manufacturers by providing them with tools that help them identify opportunities to improve the material health of their products,” said Wendy Vittori, Executive Director of HPDC. “Transparency in reporting and optimization for improved material health makes products more attractive to project teams. Increasingly architects, designers and others who select and specify building products are showing a preference for products with these features.  These efforts by manufacturers also demonstrate industry leadership and due diligence with Sustainability and ESG compliance.”

Green Seal’s paint standard requires uncompromising functional performance while restricting VOC’s and prohibiting carcinogens, reproductive toxins, hazardous air pollutants, alkylphenol ethoxylates, and a host of other harmful chemicals. Green Seal recently announced that products certified to its updated GS-11 paint standard are designated by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as complying with the requirements for the LEED v4 and v4.1 low-emitting materials credit, making the Green Seal mark the only one to qualify products for both LEED v4.1 credit requirements and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly badge.  

For more than 30 years, Green Seal’s standards have focused on eliminating hazards from the supply chain. Building on its successful Formula Facts platform for ingredient communication for cleaning products, and its recently launched raw material verification program, this partnership represents another step in Green Seal’s work towards increasing transparent reporting of ingredient information to consumers and commercial buyers alike.

“Not only are consumers demanding transparency these days, but leading manufacturers are requiring transparency in ingredient disclosure from their suppliers,” said Doug Gatlin, CEO of Green Seal.  “The goal of this partnership is simple: align reporting metrics and methods for greater ease of use by suppliers and manufacturers throughout the building industry.  Green Seal is excited to be part of this important collaborative effort.”

Harmonization and data exchange with other programs are a main objective of HPDC, supporting the widespread, transparent access to higher quality product data, at a lower cost, available throughout the building industry ecosystem through any certification or rating system.

The alliance will bring about greater transparency and harmonization in material health, resulting in:

• Efficiencies and value add in manufacturer data reporting and certification through easy reuse in complementary programs.
• Better understanding of chemicals of concern and safer alternatives in product areas common to both the HPD and Green Seal Certified programs, opening up opportunities for industry innovation in safer products.
• Educational offerings that help building owners and operators understand the health and environmental impacts of building product selection.

HPDC and Green Seal plan to build on this alliance to continually advance product transparency in material health through innovative data reporting and certification in the building industry. They will also work to extend the collaboration to other product categories, such as cleaning products, which are complementary in their use in the built environment.

ABOUT GREEN SEAL

Green Seal® is a global nonprofit organization with a mission to transform the economy for a healthier, greener world. Since 1989, Green Seal has applied rigorous standards for health, environmental sustainability and product performance to its certification programs to empower better purchasing decisions. Green Seal has certified thousands of products, services and spaces from hundreds of leading companies including 3M, Ecolab, Georgia Pacific, Benjamin Moore, Hilton, Marriott and Staples, and is specified by countless schools, government agencies, businesses and institutions. Today, the Green Seal certification mark is a universal symbol that a product or service meets the highest benchmark of health and environmental leadership. Visit greenseal.org or connect with Green Seal on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

ABOUT HPDC

HPDC is a not-for-profit, member association with over 330 organizational members, representing the full spectrum of the building industry: architects, designers, building owners, manufacturers, consultants, tool developers, and others who all share a common purpose to improve the transparency of information and the material health of the built environment. The HPD Open Standard has become widely adopted as the industry standard for reporting on building product contents and associated health information, since its launch in 2012, with over 7,000 HPD reports publicly available.  HPDC members champion the continuous improvement of the building industry’s performance through transparency, openness and innovation in the practices of reporting, disclosure, specification and selection of building products.  For more information, visit hpd-collaborative.org or with HPDC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.