Resource Library

Waterproof your building without polluting the planet

Sep 28, 2022

Hot-off-the-presses! HBN’s new waterproofing and dampproofing product guidance! Use this guidance to select product types that are yellow or above to decrease toxic chemical exposures to people and the planet. Products in green are the best options while products in red should be avoided. Those in-between provide intermediate, and meaningfully better options from a health hazard perspective as you advance up the color rankings. In short, strive to get out of the red-zone.

Low VOC? Don’t Stop There.

Mar 29, 2022

If you’re reading this article, chances are you are familiar with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals emitted from products into the surrounding air. Perhaps you even know that choosing zero- or low-VOC products is a good first step in selecting healthier building materials. But did you know that products labeled as zero- or low-VOC can still contain hazardous volatile compounds or other chemicals of concern?

Membrane Roofing: More Than Just a Hot Topic?

Feb 22, 2022

When it comes to selecting a roofing system, the type of membrane you choose can play a big role in reducing both a building’s energy consumption and its contribution to the urban heat island effect. But have you ever thought about how your choice of roofing membrane can impact human health and the environment? HBN recently released guidance for choosing safer Low-slope Membrane Roofing products.

Multifamily Energy Efficiency Programs Not Sealing the Deal

Feb 22, 2022

A well insulated and sealed building enclosure is key for both energy efficiency and health – so we were surprised when our recent research with NRDC and Energy Efficiency for All revealed that insulation and air sealing may not be happening in many energy efficiency programs for affordable multifamily buildings. Read about our findings and recommendations for improving these programs and ensuring the use of safer materials.

What to Know When Selecting Water Pipes

Oct 27, 2021

Water intake pipes are different from a lot of other building materials as they are one of the only materials that come directly into contact with the water that we drink, cook with, and wash with everyday. HBN recently released a new Water Pipes Hazard Spectrum comparing the impacts of different pipe materials from a health perspective.

Modular Construction - Let’s Get it Right from the Start

Mar 30, 2021

In November 2020, First Community Housing and SERA Architects announced a partnership to build a 66-unit housing project in Morgan Hill, California. The 66-unit apartment building will use modular construction techniques, offering a chance to explore healthier material solutions that leverage the technologies and standardized processes that are characteristic, or at least available to, the modular construction industry.

Solutions for Safer Turf

Oct 28, 2020

HBN has released new research on the human and environmental hazards surrounding natural and artificial turf solutions. Our Hazard Spectrum compares various options and their related hazards in an easy to read format.

Selecting the Wrong Drywall Could Introduce Mercury into the Environment

Jul 22, 2020

While one drywall board may look very much like another, some are made with naturally occurring gypsum, while others are made from coal-fired power plant waste and can introduce mercury into the environment during manufacturing. This article includes details of HBN’s recently updated analysis of mercury emissions from drywall manufacturing and our current recommendations.

New LEED Circularity Pilot Credit Incorporates HBN Optimize Recycling Research

Jan 30, 2020

A circular economy is an essential strategy to reach carbon reduction goals, reduce waste, and reduce the impact of resource extraction. Use of recycled content can also re-introduce legacy chemicals of concern into new products. By knowing where recycled content is coming from and testing for common contaminants of concern, we can encourage a safer and circular economy, while increasing the value of beneficial recycled feedstocks. A new pilot credit in LEED rewards project teams that use “safe & circular” products.

NRDC Prioritizes Safer Products in Energy Efficiency Programs

Dec 4, 2019

As part of their Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) campaign, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) partners with Healthy Building Network (HBN) and our HomeFree initiative to integrate healthier materials strategies to meet core energy program goals and achieve targeted health equity outcomes. These forward-thinking organizations are on the leading edge of holistic climate strategies that result in stronger outcomes for people and the planet. Through research and community action, they’ve learned that breaking down silos to inclusive policy interventions, is both efficient and effective for creating comprehensive change.

"Tens of Millions of Pounds of Phthalates Annually Eliminated from Vinyl Flooring"

Jun 27, 2019

Phthalates (thay-lates) are chemicals used to make vinyl soft and pliable for uses such as roofing membrane, wall covering and flooring. Healthy Building Network began a campaign to remove these chemicals from building products in our seminal 2002 report, Environmental Impacts of PVC Building materials. In 2005 we reported that researchers had demonstrated a link between a mother’s exposure to phthalates and genital deformities in male offspring. Soon phthalates began to be banned from children’s products, though not building products. In 2014 we published a positive assessment of available Phthalate Free Plasticizers in PVC. The next year, after extensive negotiations with the Mind The Store Campaign, a coalition of environmental health groups including HBN, The Home Depot led the big box industry in banning these chemicals from the vinyl flooring sold at retail. This week these groups announced that independent testing of product on the shelves of The Home Depot, Lowes and Lumber Liquidators has confirmed the successful elimination of these toxic compounds from vinyl flooring sold there. Read More

Newly Completed Inventory of Chlorine & PVC Production Sheds New Light on Supply Chain Challenges

Mar 19, 2019

Demand from the building industry now drives the production of chlorine, the key ingredient of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) widely used in pipes, siding, roofing membranes, wall covering, flooring, and carpeting. Chlorine is also an essential feedstock for epoxies used in adhesives and flooring topcoats, and for polyurethane used in insulation and flooring. On March 19, 2019, the Healthy Building Network will release Phase 2 of its landmark report on chlorine-based plastics that are widely used in common building and construction products. The report, “Chlorine and Building Materials: A Global Inventory of Production Technologies, Markets, and Pollution. Phase 2: Asia,” completes HBN’s global analysis of the industry.

Which Carpet is the Healthiest? Busting the Myth on Carpet Claims

Mar 19, 2019

When it comes to human and environmental health, there are few perfect products. It’s hard to name the “best” or the “healthiest” building products. Usually the best we can do is identify healthier products. There are almost always trade-offs.

Smart Resources for Understanding the Hazards of PVC

Dec 11, 2018

As the largest consumer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the building and construction industry shares a large responsibility for the global pollution unleashed by its production. In HBN’s first research report, Environmental Impacts of Polyvinyl Chloride Building Materials (2002), Dr. Joe Thornton observed, “The hazards posed by dioxins, phthalates, metals, vinyl chloride, and ethylene dichloride are largely unique to PVC, which is the only major building material and the only major plastic that contains chlorine or requires plasticizers or stabilizers.” Although many architecture and design firms, health care systems, product certifiers, and building owners have red listed PVC since Dr. Thornton’s report, global production of PVC continues to rise. This industry’s impacts are growing.

Phase 1 of our Chlorine & Building Materials Project updates Dr. Thornton’s analysis of the impacts of PVC production, from ozone layer depletion to the global distribution of bio-accumulative toxicants, from ocean pollution to fenceline community disasters. In a recent webinar hosted by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), I described our findings and their relationships to building products.

Careful Insulation Selection and Installation Can Protect R-Value and Health

Oct 9, 2018

Proper installation techniques as well as protection during installation are key to achieving optimal product performance and to protecting both workers and residents during and after insulation is installed.

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