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A national initiative supporting affordable housing leaders who are improving human health by using less toxic building materials.
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Turn Black Friday GREEN
As Thanksgiving approaches, so does a range of retail-focused days, including Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. We all want our holiday gifts to be magical and memorable, but often these purchases have real human health and environmental impacts. Learn how you can make choices that are healthier...
Read MoreIndustry Leaders You Should Know: Simona Fischer, MSR Design
As registered architect, sustainable design professional, and associate with MSR Design, Simona Fischer has spent much of her career thus far developing and testing strategies for integrating sustainable design into the workflow of architectural practice. She was instrumental in the Living Building Challenge Petal Certification of MSR Design’s new downtown...
Read MoreNew HomeFree Resource: How to Create Healthier Materials Guidelines
HomeFree is excited to announce a brand new resource designed to help architects, building owners, managers, and developers create materials guidelines that support human and environmental health in housing projects. Conceived as a complementary resource to HBN’s product guidance, this guide will walk you through how to institutionalize healthier material...
Read MoreAddressing the Plastics Crisis: Why Vinyl Has to Go
If we are to have any chance of addressing the global plastics crisis, Polyvinyl Chloride plastic (PVC), also known as vinyl, has got to go. In this article, HBN founder Bill Walsh explains the technical, economic, and behavioral reasons why.
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Ben Rabe
Director, Built Environment, Fresh-Energy
Ben Rabe joined Fresh Energy in June 2016 as a senior policy associate on the energy performance team and now serves as our Director of Built Environment. Ben leads the research and advocacy of policies that improve energy efficiency related to buildings and the built environment. He develops positions and strategies on policy matters, assists with Fresh Energy’s legislative priorities, and develops documents to communicate policy and scientific information to policymakers and the public. Ben holds a MA in International Energy Policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BA in International Studies, Political Science, and Anthropology from Macalester College. He is also a Certified Energy Manager with the Twin Cities Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers.