I am struck by how many conversations at Greenbuild this year mentioned the increasing rate and pace of change in our world of transparency and material health – it’s picking up speed. It is your efforts – the efforts of now thousands of individuals, from all corners of the building industry – that are resulting in this quickening of the pace of change.
“Every Product – Every Project” – our 2020 theme introduced at Greenbuild, captures the aspiration that we all share as we look ahead to 2020 and the next decade. I think we have very good reason for optimism. When we look back just 5 years ago, almost none of the transparency reports and material health tools that are available today had been created. And, just 10 years ago, the HPD Open Standard existed as a concept. For many, the concept of a user-driven, open, collaborative, voluntary product transparency initiative succeeding at anything like the level we have so far achieved was a question. The phenomenal progress that our community has already achieved, in less than 10 years, – this is a great reason for optimism for what we can make happen in the coming decade.
We want to thank each one of you whose efforts have taken us to where our initiative is today. Every product for which an HPD is published, now estimated to top 20,000 represented by over 5400 HPD reports – every project submission to LEED, WELL and other programs where material ingredient credits are used – every certification and rating program, information system, decision-making tool – each makes a difference and advances this work. Your efforts are making all the difference.
We wish everyone a very happy holiday season and look forward to working with you in the New Year!
Wendy Vittori, HPDC, Executive Director
HPD Collaborative and USGBC Introduce New Material Health Resources for the Building Industry
Building on their strategic partnership announced in 2018, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and HPD Collaborative (HPDC) announced during Greenbuild 2019 new capabilities for advancing and scaling the practice of transparent material health in the building industry. These new capabilities improve education and information tools to make product transparency more meaningful and transformative so that project teams and manufacturers can more easily earn the LEED v4.1 Material Transparency and Optimization credits.
“Significant progress has been made in simplifying the use of the Material Ingredients LEED credit,” said Wes Sullens, Director, LEED, USGBC. “The streamlining of the Material Ingredients credit language introduced in LEED v4.1 has resulted in a much greater level of utilization of this credit. We are also introducing other resources, such as the Better Materials initiative, which is focused on making Material Resources credits very attainable for every LEED project.”
In early 2020, educational offerings will make achieving the LEED v4.1 Material Ingredients credit simple and efficient. In addition, educational “badges” will enable project team members to earn an industry-recognized credential in Material Health competency and documentation integration between the HPD Public Repository and LEED Online will simplify project team workflow.
HPDC Announces New Board of Members for 2020
The 2020 Board candidate slate nominated by the Board’s Nominating Working Group was ratified in the Board Election conducted in October.
We welcome our new HPDC board member…
Robin Guenther, Perkins&Will – User Category Member.
Robin Guenther FAIA LEED Fellow is Principal of Perkins+Will and Senior Advisor to the global non-profit Health Care Without Harm. Robin works at the intersection of health care architecture, health and sustainable policy and participates in a wide range of leading edge advocacy initiatives while continuing to practice. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader and the co-author of Sustainable Healthcare Architecture. Healthcare Design magazine twice named her the #1 Most Influential Designer in Healthcare. Fast Company included her as one of the 100 most creative people in business in 2012.
And re-elected board members…
Rand Eckman, HKS Architects – User Category Member.
Rand Ekman is Chief Sustainability Officer at HKS. He has a passion both for projects and for driving broad-based, measurable change in practice. He holds a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and a Master’s in Architecture. Rand was a member of the USGBC Market Advisory Committee, was the 2012 President of AIA Chicago, Co-Chair of the LFRT Sustainability Committee, 2015 Chair of the AIA COTE. He continues to be involved in the AIA’s 2030 Commitment program.
Jean Hansen, HDR – User Category Member.
Jean is a Senior Professional Associate and HDR’s Sustainable Principal for the firm globally. She is based in San Francisco with experience in interior design, medical planning and sustainable design. Jean is responsible for advancing HDR’s sustainability initiatives in project and research work for healthcare and institutional environments. She served on Kaiser Permanente’s High-Performance Building Committee for 10 years to develop national sustainable design standards, led sustainable research in the textile industry for Kaiser Permanente and co-authored a white paper on the research, titled, Future of Fabric: Healthcare.
Amanda Kaminsky, Building Product Ecosystems LLC – User Category Member.
Amanda Kaminsky is Founder and Principal of Building Product Ecosystems [BPE] LLC, operating multi-disciplinary collaboratives that evolve feedstocks, recycling, infrastructure, and logistics for optimal systemic health and performance of major building materials. BPE pilot improvements to product, process, and infrastructure on behalf of building owners, their design and construction teams, supply chains, recycling networks, and impacted communities, engaging regional policy makers and academic research as needed. Amanda Chairs the Health Product Declaration Collaborative Board and is a Director on the Board of Healthy Building Network, and the Recycling Certification Institute. BPE is a Reuse Partner of the Building Materials Reuse Association. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from University of Virginia.
Meg Whittaker, ToxServices LLC – Ecosystem Category Member.
Dr. Margaret (Meg) Whittaker is a board-certified toxicologist with more than 20 years of experience advancing safer chemical selection. She has expertise in assessing hazards and risks posed by many types of materials, including those used in the built environment. Meg is Managing Director of ToxServices LLC, a scientific consulting firm that is unique in advancing chemical alternatives assessment methods under the auspices of multiple standards/programs, including Health Product Declarations, Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Program, GreenScreen for Safer Chemical assessments, Living Product Challenge, and U.S. EPA Safer Choice Program assessments.
Dennis Wilson, Saint-Gobain – Manufacturer Category Member.
Dennis Wilson, Director, Sustainability & EHS, Saint-Gobain is a career sustainability and EHS professional with 20 years of experience in several industries. He holds a BS in Applied Environmental Health & Safety Sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Environmental Protection & Safety Management from Saint Joseph’s University, an MBA from LaSalle University, and a Certificate of Sustainable Engineering from Villanova University.
Greenbuild International Conference & Expo 2019 Recap
The HPDC Team Stays Busy During Greenbuild Expo & Conference
The HPDC team was busy at Greenbuild 2019 in Atlanta, answering questions about the HPD Open Standard and new IT tools to help project teams specify healthier building products. There was a significant increase in the number of educators and architects who visited the HPDC booth this year to learn more about transparency practices.
The Greenbuild 2019 photo gallery includes photos of Expo Hall activities, HPDC presentations and all HPDC member exhibitors.
Wendy Vittori Unveils “Every Product. Every Project.” During Greenbuild Speaker Spotlight
HPDC Executive Director Wendy Vittori spoke at the Greenbuild Speaker Spotlight on Tuesday, November 19. She shared the goal of the USGBC and HPDC partnership to make it easy to develop and select better products, introducing this year’s theme “Every Product, Every Project.” Wendy said, “We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with USGBC to realize this vision – to make healthier products, healthier buildings- the norm. We thank all of our stakeholders, partners and community of leaders for getting us this far. By acting collaboratively, we can make sure better materials and better products lead to better lives and a better future.”
Tristan Roberts Packed the House at the Interface Education Lab
On Thursday, November 21, HPDC Technical and Education Director Tristan Robert presented “Specifying Health and Carbon-Smart Materials at the Interface Education Lab from 10:15 to 11:15. There was a full house inside and outside the the education lab.
HPDC Technical and Education Director Tristan Robert presented “Specifying Health and Carbon-Smart Materials at the Interface Education Lab. There was a full house for his talk, which focused on the global health impacts of global warming. Given that, should the embodied carbon of a building product or material be considered as a relevant piece of health data when making a product selection decision? What are the necessary steps to ensure that source and health data reported on an HPD is well-aligned with embodied carbon data currently reported on EPDs? This is an emerging area of discussion at HPDC and we would like your input!
Nearly 100 Members Participate in Annual Meeting & Reception at HKS
The HPDC Member Meeting & Reception on Tuesday, November 19 was a huge success! Almost 100 members joined us at HKS in Atlanta to celebrate our accomplishments over the last year and network with other members, our staff and Board of Directors. Proof in the Pudding served yummy appetizers, wine and beer at the reception.
Thank you HKS for hosting this year’s HPDC Annual Member Meeting and Reception during Greenbuild 2019!
HPDC Staff Updates Members on Progress & Strategies
HPDC Executive Director Wendy Vittori reported to members that the HPD Open Standards continues to have steady growth among membership, and use of the Public Repository and HPD Builder. There are now 283 member companies, a 4% net increase since June. Over 5,381 HPDs have been published from 500+ manufacturers in the HPD Public Repository, a 4% increase since September. And there are over 1,491 registered HPD Builder users – up 6% since September!
Improvements to LEED Material Ingredients Credits in v4.1 are paying off. Use of Disclosure and Optimization credit up 211% over LEED v4, and is the third most substituted credit in v4.1.
HPDC Technical and Education Director Tristan Robert shared HPD development plans for Q4 2019 and Q1 2020. He gave a recap and key takeaways from the HPD v3 Summit held in Chicago. This was the first ever in-person Technical Committee Meeting.
HPDC’s IT and Manufacturer Programs Director John Geyer updated members on the IT tools including the HPD Builder version releases, the Builder API and the Public Repository API. John also reviewed key elements of the Third Party Verification and Approved Preparer Programs.
Thanks to everyone who attended! Be sure to check out the photos from the HPDC Member Meeting & Reception.
MEMBERS CORNER
Each month the Members Corner highlights the leadership role of an HPDC member in driving transparency and material health practice. If you would like to share your organization’s leadership story in the Members Corner, please contact us.
HPDC’s 2020 theme—”Every Product. Every Project.”—communicates our aspirational goal of transparency in the building industry. We’re well on our way to achieving transparency and material health throughout the building industry ecosystem with tools that enable manufacturers to develop and design teams to specify healthier products.We’re taking time off from our usual Members Corner to get you thinking about how to take action in 2020 to advance transparency and material health.
Host a Transparency & Material Health Kick-off Event!
Start your engines. Get your green team together. Set a New Year’s Transparency Resolution for 2020. Commit to using all the transparency reports and material health tools in your practice that are available today. Host a Transparency & Material Health kick-off event. Then, share your story with us in the Members Corner.
Contact us to get your supply of “Every Product. Every Project.” buttons for your event. We’ll be checking in with you after the new year to hear your ideas.
The HPD Public Repository is the authoritative resource for all published HPDs. Visit the Repository to access over 5,400 published HPDs, representing over 20,000 building products –
Manufacturers Publishing HPDs Since October
3 Point Environmental
3M Company
Activar Construction Products Group
altaeco
Angelus Block Co., Inc.
APARICI GROUP
ARDEX Engineered Cements
ASSA ABLOY
Autex Industries Ltd
Babcock-Davis
BAUX AB
Benjamin Moore & Co.
Bentzon Carpets
Caesarstone
Cambria
carnegie fabrics
CEMCO
Chemetal
Congoleum
Designtex
dormakaba
DuPont Specialty Products USA, LLC
Ecore International
Evonik Corporation
Florida Tile
Formica
GAF
Galleher
Green Dot Sign, Inc.
Henry Company
Imagine Tile, Inc.
Innovant, Inc.
Inpro
JBT Aerotech
Johns Manville
Kelly-Moore Paints
KI
Koroseal Interior Products
LATICRETE International
Len-Tex Corporation
Leonhardt Environmental, P.C.
Luna Textiles
Mannington Mills
Mermet Corporation
Mohawk Group
Mondo America Inc.
mosa
Newspec
Nordic Structures
NSG Group
Nystrom
Object Carpet
Oregon Door
Owens Corning
PABCO Gypsum
Package Pavement – Spec Mix
Pioneer Millworks
Pointe International Inc.
PPG Architectural Finishes
Provident
QUIKRETE Companies, LLC
RedBuilt LLC
Rollease Acmeda
Saint Gobain
Sherwin-Williams
Siplast, Inc.
Soprema
Symbiote
TEKNOFLOR®
The Euclid Chemical Company
TileBar
TorZo Surfaces
Trebor Building Products Ltd
Ultrafabrics, Inc.
Uniboard Canada
USG
Vescom America Inc.
HPDC continues to grow our membership now with over 290 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
- Aparici Group
- S A Bendheim Ltd.
- Krowdsourced
- Autex Industries
- JBT AeroTech
- Ntgrate
- Wallworks Acoustic Architectural Products Inc
- DCI Hollow Metal
- BASF Corporation
- Provident
- mafi-America, Inc.
- Kvadrat Shade
- Stikwood
- Turf Design, Inc.
- Ntgrate
- Armstrong Flooring
- Supple – Affiliate
- Arktura LLC – Affiliate
- Morbern Inc. – Affiliate
- Herman Miller
- Evonik
- Alkenz
- Vermont Natural Coatings
- Siplast
- Trebor Building Products Ltd
- Smith & Fong Novato
Learn more about HPDC membership. For the full list of HPDC members – now over 290 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?
