News

Posted on Aug 19, 2016

Brief: Post-Consumer Flexible Polyurethane Foam Scrap Used In Building Products

Carpet cushion (that soft layer installed between a sub-floor and a carpet) is made from flexible polyurethane foam (FPF). Generally that foam is recycled scrap from the manufacture of furniture, such as couch cushions, or old carpet cushion itself. Healthy Building Network’s research into current recycling practices for FPF indicates that most post-consumer foam is contaminated with highly toxic flame retardants.

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Posted on Aug 10, 2016

A Primer on Interior Paint

Interior paints can cover enormous amounts of a building’s surface area in a building. Walls and ceilings, as well as moldings and casings can all be painted surfaces. Selecting a palette of paint products that have the fewest hazards possible for a given project can therefore have a magnified impact on occupants.

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Posted on Jul 14, 2016

HBCD-free Styrofoam™ Insulation Coming to USA -- by Jim Vallette

Good news in the insulation world. By 2018, extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation will be available in North America without the extremely toxic flame retardant, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD).

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Posted on Jun 17, 2016

On Tire Wastes in Playgrounds -- by Jim Vallette

"The tire industry has thrived in a regulatory void." HBN's Jim Vallette explains how tire waste came to America's playgrounds.

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Posted on Jun 13, 2016

Filled with Uncertainty: Toxic Dirt in Building & Construction -- by Jim Vallette

What's the latest dirt? Jim Vallette finds a lot to uncover in construction fill and playground mulch.

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Posted on Jun 1, 2016

HomeFree -- by Gina Ciganik

Welcome to HomeFree, the Healthy Building Network’s new initiative that supports affordable housing leaders who are improving human health through the use of healthy, high-performing building materials.

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Posted on May 31, 2016

How Common Product Profiles Help Inform Product Decisions

On the Products section of HomeFree -- in addition to individual products -- visitors will now see Common Product Profiles (CPs for short). These CPs inform material selection in construction projects by allowing users to model the potential human health impacts of their material choices prior to installation.

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Posted on Apr 12, 2016

Carpet Padding and Flame Retardants

Building occupants, particularly crawling children, can be exposed to flame retardants released from carpet pad. This blog, and accompanying white paper, delve deeper into this issue.

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Posted on Nov 18, 2015

New Research Shows Formaldehyde No Longer Used in Residential Fiberglass Insulation -- by Jim Vallette

New research shows the light density residential fiberglass insulation industry in the U.S. and Canada has finally eliminated the use of formaldehyde-based binders in its manufacturing. Formaldehyde is a human toxicant with a long history of use in residential insulation, but it—like 62,000 other chemicals— was grandfathered in and is unregulated by the federal government under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

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Posted on Nov 13, 2015

Rapid Change Sweeps Flooring Industry -- by Jim Vallette

Resilient floors and carpets made today are quite different than those made just a few years ago. On Monday morning, I will join flooring experts from manufacturing firms, architecture and design firms, and hospitals, to discuss these changes at the Healthcare Design Conference in Washington, D.C.

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