Webinars

Environmental Justice in the Built Environment

Date: 06.09.2022
Why do materials matter? How are architecture firms, building owners, managers, developers, and tenant organizations working to avoid toxic products in the built environment? What tools are available to support the industry in making healthier material selections? This webinar includes strategies, case studies, and tools that can help transform the materials market into safer solutions.

Healthier Materials Seminar (introduction, English version)

Date: 04.26.2022
This high-level, 10-minute recording can be used to educate the general public about the importance of avoiding toxic products. It breaks down myths and misconceptions around the perceived hazards and safety of natural and synthetic chemicals and discusses how toxic products impact individuals and families, especially children, along the lifecycle of products.

Seminario de Materiales Saludables (introducción, versión Español)

Date: 04.26.2022
Este seminario se puede utilizar para educar al público en general sobre la importancia de evitar productos tóxicos. Abarca mitos y conceptos erróneos sobre los peligros y/o sobre la seguridad de los productos químicos naturales y sintéticos, y describe cómo los productos tóxicos afectan a las personas, especialmente a los niños, a lo largo del ciclo de vida de los productos.

Webinar: Meeting Enterprise Green Communities 2020 Criteria with HomeFree

Date: 12.17.2020
Learn how to select healthier building materials and accrue points to meet the new 2020 Enterprise Green Communities certification from our guest panel including an architect, a developer, and research experts. You'll get first-hand insight about the criteria and our new set of HomeFree resources specially designed to support your efforts, including templates, product databases, and diagrams to help you navigate transparency documents and certifications. You'll also hear from early adopters who will share what challenges to expect and how to overcome them.

Selecting Athletic Turf You Can Feel Good About

Date: 10.28.2020
When choosing turf for your athletic field or recreation area, choices go far beyond synthetic turf versus natural grass. Even if health and the environment are at the forefront of the decision-making process, it can be difficult to identify safer options.

Selecting Healthier Flooring with HomeFree

Date: 05.27.2020
Safer and affordable flooring? Yes, it is possible! In this webinar you will learn how to select affordable flooring products that are safer for human health and the environment. This session will arm housing owners, operators, and developers with simple, science-based information to choose less toxic materials across portfolios and projects. You will hear firsthand from leading practitioners about their experiences choosing safer flooring.

HBN HomeFree Webinar Series 3 - In Practice: Integrating healthier materials in your projects

Date: 01.14.2020
Engage, explore and act with HBN in our 3-series webinar on healthier building materials! Webinar 3 - In Practice: Integrating Healthier Materials in Your Projects Integrating healthier materials in to projects can seem complicated. Gaining insight from people who have done it can demystify the process and give you a leg up on implementing healthier options in your next project. Join us for this webinar and learn firsthand from HomeFree pilot project team members and leading practitioners.

HBN HomeFree Webinar Series 2 - Why Healthier Materials + Selecting Healthier Paint with HomeFree

Date: 12.10.2019
Engage, explore and act with HBN in our 3-series webinar on healthier building materials! Webinar 2 - Why Healthier Materials + Selecting Healthier Paint with HomeFree Taking action! Step up your paint selection to a healthier option. Join us and build your capacity to make informed decisions related to healthier paint products offered to affordable housing owners, operators, and developers. Step by step vetting process to quickly and easily move up to healthier paint products for use in unit turns and new construction.

HBN HomeFree Webinar Series 1 - Welcome to HomeFree: Why Materials Matter

Date: 11.12.2019
Engage, explore and act with HBN in our 3-series webinar on healthier building materials! Webinar 1: Welcome to HomeFree: Why Materials Matter Whether you are new to the healthier materials conversation or simply want to deepen your understanding, join us and boost your knowledge and capacity to choose healthier products for your projects. Participants will learn the essentials of healthy building materials including health impacts, US regulation, and how to get started and take action.

When is it “green”? Preventing the toxic effects of spray foam insulation

Date: 08.23.2017
Spray polyurethane foam insulation (SPF) is presented as a highly-effective and versatile product that meets high R-value needs for professionals and DIYers alike. But there are widespread and legitimate concerns about the health effects of its ingredients (particularly isocyanates). After reviewing its chemistry and life cycle impacts, and where and how isocyanates are used in building products, this presentation reviews the historical and current ingredients and uses of SPF in buildings. We present health concerns about these uses raised by fenceline communities, occupational and environmental health studies, fire fighters and fire investigators, and others along the life cycle of this product -- with a focus on the toxic ingredients in SPF. Those concerns include reports from a Syracuse occupational health clinic about the experiences of work crews and building occupants, supplemented by concerns and questions from building scientists, occupational and environmental health agencies and researchers, and other important sources over the years. We present examples of less toxic substitutions by application for SPF and discuss how a precautionary green chemistry framework meets the goal of sustainable buildings that are healthy and safe for all. Featured speakers include: Greg Siwinski, certified industrial hygienist with the Occupational Health Clinical Center (SUNY Upstate Medical University); moderator Rebecca Stamm (Healthy Building Network's lead researcher on insulation and sealants); and, HBN research director Jim Vallette.