HPDC Newsletter – February/March 2021

Welcome, Spring 2021! We have a year of exciting innovation planned at HPDC, and are eager to share with you updates on our progress in this newsletter. Even more importantly – we want first to acknowledge the challenges that we all have faced since we learned of the looming global pandemic a year ago. We honor those who are no longer with us. To each person who has given of themselves to provide more equitable, safer and healthier conditions for all of us during this challenging time – Thank You!

The events of 2020 have also brought to the mainstream a heightened public awareness of the health impacts of the built environment – both positive and negative, and the fact that these impacts are often inequitably distributed. HPDC is honored to be able to contribute to the solutions that are so needed. Through the HPD Open Standard, our information systems and the work of our committees, to our collaboration with our ecosystem partners, and the transparency and public access to product content and health information using HPD reports: these efforts are building the foundation to know what are healthier and safer building products.

As you will see in this newsletter, adoption of the HPD Open Standard as a baseline transparency and material health reporting specification continues to expand within the material health ecosystem. This growth has been led by over 600 manufacturers, who have published almost 8,000 HPD reports to date. The growth in the past year has been rapid; over 2,500 HPDs were published during this time.

Project team participation with material health is also growing. An excellent indicator for this is the use of the LEED Material Ingredients credit, which is being attempted on an increasing number of registered LEED BD+C and ID+C projects. Around 25% of LEED certified projects to date have earned the credit, and those in-progress are choosing the credit at an increasing rate. For instance, over 35% of all LEED v4.1 credit substitutions* are for the Material Ingredients credit.

This year we have an increased focus on creating new resources to better support project teams and manufacturers that are taking their first steps to practice transparency and material health. We will be rolling out these new learning resources in the coming weeks – stay tuned for an update in our April-May newsletter. Our mission continues to be to bring the promise of transparency and material health knowledge to Every Project, Every Product. In 2021, working together, we will move closer to achieving this goal.

Wendy Vittori, HPDC, Executive Director

* https://www.usgbc.org/articles/leed-link-leed-v41-credit-substitutions

Apply Now – Open Call For TSG Applicants: Deadline, Friday March 26, 2021.

HPD Collaborative has issued an Open Call for Applicants in the following Technical Sub-Groups (TSGs): Content Inventory, Supply Chain, Third Party Verification and Hazards. As a TSG member, use your knowledge and expertise to address specific topics in further depth and make recommendations to the Technical Committee on the next innovations in transparency and material health reporting.

Any representative of a member organization of HPDC may apply. Participants must have expertise and experience relevant to the Sub-Group activities, as explained in the application materials.

Appointment to TSGs is for a two-year term. The time commitment for TSGs includes one-hour conference calls twice per month. Work may also be assigned between calls to conduct research, develop draft materials, and review drafts, as well as participating in informal working groups.

HPD Collaborative and CROSSWALK® Bring Improved Product Classification to the Building Industry.

HPD Collaborative and Construction Information Network (CIN) recently announced a product alliance that brings cutting-edge technology to product classification in the built environment. HPDC has partnered with CIN to implement the CROSSWALK capability in the HPD Builder. Using CROSSWALK, manufacturers can easily assign product classifications consistently, ensuring accuracy through the entire construction project process.

CIN has created the CROSSWALK platform, the first agile API to connect leading construction industry standards and classifications, including CSI’s MasterFormat®, Uniformat® and OmniClass®, and ASTM’s E1557-09(2020)e1 with the world’s building professionals, construction technology platforms, and data flows.

The use of CROSSWALK also benefits users of HPD reports and data. Consistent and accurate product classification enables architects and designers to search for and reliably compare products within a product category, using CSI MasterFormat classifications associated with each HPD report.

New Guidance Standardizes Reporting of Antimicrobial Content in Building Products.

Based on the work of the HPDC Antimicrobials Working Group, HPD Collaborative has published “Best Practices for Reporting Antimicrobial Content.” This guide standardizes the reporting of antimicrobial content in building products, extending the capability of the HPD Open Standard specification in this very important ingredient area. In doing so, the HPDC is responding to the growing demand for antimicrobial data that has arisen during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Best Practices guide provides manufacturers with an easy to navigate, step-by-step approach to reporting data with increased accuracy. A series of questions and answers results in specific, pre-defined responses which can be reported in the HPD. The guide addresses areas such as identifying antimicrobial pesticides, and sharing information on public health claims, if applicable.

Meet HPDC’s Newly-Appointed Technical Committee Members.

The HPDC Board is responsible for the annual appointment of members to the HPDC Technical Committee. Applicants respond to the Open Call for Applicants in December-January, and appointments are made by the Board at its February Regular meeting. Appointments are for a two-year term. The primary role of the 19-member Technical Committee is to maintain and evolve the Health Product Declaration (HPD) Open Standard.

Please welcome these newly-appointed Technical Committee Members, with terms through 2023:

Wade Bevier, User Category

Construction Specifications Manager at SmithGroup

Catherine Bobenhausen, User Category

Senior Consultant at Colden Corporation

Carrie Claytor, Domain Expert

Director, Material Stewardship – United States | Global Sustainable Development Lead at Copper Development Association

Olivia Fritz, Domain Expert

Co-founder of TrueNorth Collective

Daniel Huard, Domain Expert

CEO at Global GreenTag Americas

Susan Kaplan, User Category

Director of Materials Technology and Sustainability Advisor at HLW

Annmarie Ott, Manufacturer Category

Product Stewardship Manager at Saint Gobain

William Paddock, Ecosystem Category

Managing Director at WAP Sustainability LLC

Luke Zhou, Manufacturer Category

Lead Sustainable Materials Specialist at Humanscale

HBN’s New HomeFree Resources Help Affordable Housing Practitioners Achieve 2020 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria.

Through its HomeFree national initiative to support affordable housing leaders, Healthy Building Network (HBN) has created a suite of resources to help affordable housing professionals achieve the 2020 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria that are now in effect. The only national green building standard designed specifically for affordable housing projects, the criteria has impacted more than 130,000 units across 43 states and the District of Columbia since it first launched in 2004.

HBN has participated in development of the last three versions of Green communities – 2011, 2015, and 2020 criteria. Many of HBN’s resources are incorporated as references throughout the Materials category, including HomeFree recommendations and education for affordable housing, the Optimizing Recycling series of reports, the Making Affordable Multifamily Housing More Energy Efficient report, and Pharos compound groups.

“Significant improvements were made to the Materials section of the Green Communities standard thanks to the leadership of HBN,” said Krista Egger, Senior Director of National Initiatives at Enterprise. The updated standard includes criteria related to product transparency, recycled content, chemical hazard optimization, and an expanded chemical avoidance criterion that includes new mandatory and optional chemical avoidance criteria. HPD reports can be used as documentation in the updated material health sections of the Criteria.

Dana Bourland Addresses the Future of Housing and Our Planet in Her New Book Gray To Green Communities.

In her recently published book, Gray to Green Communities, Dana Bourland explains the urgent need to rethink our entire approach to housing, advocating for mutually inclusive, national commitments:

“The climate and housing crises are complex. We need big, mutually inclusive, moonshot actions on both fronts. We must have a national commitment to ending our use of fossil fuels, and we must have a national commitment to ensuring that everyone has a home they can afford.”

Moving from “gray” to “green,” housing will go beyond the necessary function of providing shelter, to fundamentally addressing residents’ needs and aspirations. Green housing reduces carbon emissions, improves health, efficiently uses energy and water, and demands materials that are beneficial for both residents and the planet. Dana draws from her experience leading the Green Communities Initiative at Enterprise Community Partners, and developing the first and only standard for green affordable housing. In this book, Dana demonstrates that we do not have to choose between protecting our planet and providing housing affordable to all.

Use the code BOURLAND to receive a 20% discount.

MEMBERS CORNER

If you would like to share your organization’s leadership story in the Members Corner, please contact us. Share you news, progress and update with Paula Schaper at: pschaper@hpd-collaborative.org.

The HPD Public Repository is the authoritative resource for all published HPDs. Visit the Repository to access almost 8,000 published HPDs, representing over 20,000 building products, from 600+ manufacturers –

Thanks To The 109 Manufacturers Who Published 531 HPDs In December 23 – March 23, 2021:

HPDC continues to grow our membership now with over 300 member organizations. Membership is open to any organization that participates in the industry and supports the goals of transparency and material health practice of the HPDC. See a full list of HPDC Members and Sponsors.

Please Join Us in Welcoming Our Newest Members to HPDC:

• Aristech Surfaces LLC
• The AZEK Company
• IFS Coatings, Inc.
• Knauf Insulation
• Eggers Division
• Polyguard Products, Inc.
• Senses Akustik Pvt Ltd
• TrueNorth Collective
• Marray, Inc.
• AMLY Sustainability
• Martin Brattrud
• Crypton LLC
• Southwire Company LLC
• EGR
• K.N. Crowder
• Gilasi
• One Workplace
• Parklex International
• Kingspan Access Floors Ltd

Learn more about HPDC membership. For the full list of HPDC members – now over 300 organizations – click here

HPD Collaborative is a not-for-profit member organization responsible for the maintenance and evolution of the HPD Open Standard. For more information, or to join HPD Collaborative, please visit the HPDC website. The work of HPD Collaborative is made possible by our members—through their volunteer efforts and annual dues—and by our sponsors, with their generous financial contribution. We would like also to thank the JPB Foundation for their support of our work through the HAMP project.

Members, log in to the Members Portal to get involved!

Not a Member? Click here to learn more about the benefits of membership!

Ready to access the benefits of HPDC membership?

HPD Collaborative | 781.786.8871 | Email | Website