Resources
BuildingGreen Approved
Sound, unbiased advice on sustainable material selection [website] C2C Certified Products Registry Source for products with full C2C product certification [website] C2C Material Health Certificate Registry Source for products with standalone C2C material health certification [website] Carbon Smart Materials Palette Prescriptive guidance for selecting building materials with lower embodied carbon impact [website] Climate Positive Design Initiative for climate-conscious design started by landscape architecture firms and organizations [website] Cog FX Study: The Impact of Green Buildings on Cognitive Function Groundbreaking research connecting indoor air quality, including VOCs in building materials, to professional human productivity [website] Declare Products Database Source for products with Declare product labels [website] Embodied Carbon Network Collective of individuals within taskforces committed to designing embodied and operational carbon out of our new and renovated buildings, to achieve a carbon neutral built environment by 2050 [website] For Health / Healthy Buildings Project Summary reports with extensive bibliographies to build the case for healthy buildings [website] Global Forest Watch Interactive, crowd-sourced forest monitoring map with rich data on everything from lumber harvest practices to intact forest loss to biodiversity hot spots [website] HBN Research & Reports Groundbreaking research on toxicants in building materials [website] Healthier Hospitals Initiative Safer Chemicals Challenge Standards for elimination of known chemical hazards in healthcare facilities [website] Healthy Materials Lab Resource center for information to make better sense of what is in building materials and why we should care [website] HomeFree Product Guidance "Stoplight" product selection guidance [website] HPD Public Repository The definitive source for finding products with Health Product Declarations [website] |
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Standards and accountability for green building, managed by the U.S. Green Building Institute. LEED v4 incorporates new concepts to encourage holistic material selections [website] Living Building Challenge The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is touted as the world’s most rigorous proven performance standard for buildings [website] LBC Red List "Compliant" Products Product lists from completed and certitied LBC projects; Products must still be reviewed for compliance with current LBC Red List requirements [website] LBC Red List Information on the 22 targeted classes of chemicals, and the related 800+ individual chemicals, prohibited by the Living Building Challenge [website] mindful MATERIALS Open-source data platform with aggregated human health and environmental information from leading manufacturers, vetted by experts passionate about making it easier to make informed product choices [website] Perkins + Will Transparency Precautionary List List of chemical classes with known health or environmental issues, with which project teams should proceed with caution, inform clients, and look for alternatives [website] Prescription for Healthier Building Materials: A Design and Implementation Protocol Both a great primer on the current understanding and tools for healthier materials selection and a method for incorporating safer product screening into the design process [website] Program Operators Consortium Source for products with EPDs, developed by ASTM, SCS Global, Sustainable Minds, ICC Evaluation Service, CSA Group, and NSF International; go to "EPD/TR Catalog" on website [website] Quartz Common Products Database Industry average health and environmental impacts [website] Six Classes Six short video primers on harmful chemical classes commonly found in products [website] Sustainable Minds Transparency Catalog Snapshot view of manufacturers' disclosure documents by product, including definitions of disclosure types and how they can be applied to different rating systems [website] The Wood Database Encyclopedia of wood species and responsible wood selection, including current CITES and IUCN endangered wood lists [website] |
UL Spot
Find products with EPDs developed by UL Environment [website] Understanding Wood Primer on responsible wood selection [website] WELL Building Standard Certification system focused on human health and well-being in buildings, including provisions for materials that do not contain certain chemicals of concern [website] |