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Blogs

Take an inside look into emerging markets and trends. Gain valuable new perspectives from HBN experts and our partners. Be inspired to know better.

The Illusion of Plastics Recycling: Neither Just Nor Circular

HBN | May 25, 2021 | Tools

The production and use of plastics is predicted to soon be the largest driver of world oil demand. While plastic building products are often marketed in ways that give the illusion of progress toward recycling and a circular economy, the reality is that virtually no plastic building materials are recycled. Today our only choices for plastic waste are to burn or landfill most of it. And expanding plastics production and incineration is a conscious decision to perpetuate well documented inequity and injustice in our building products supply chain.


HBN’s Top 5 Healthy Product Innovations of 2017

James Vallette | December 18, 2017 | Tools

When the world seems stranger than ever, it is helpful to keep in mind the bright spots. The Healthy Building Network research team found that increased manufacturer transparency and informed customer demand has produced many signs of hope in the building industry this year. Here are our top 5: Formaldehyde-free mineral wool in...


The Road to Optimizing Asphalt Pavement Recycling

Wes Sullens | March 29, 2017 | Tools

Today the Healthy Building Network and StopWaste released the sixth and final report in our Optimizing Recycling initiative: Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in Building & Construction. Reclaiming and reusing asphalt has many benefits, including waste prevention, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and lower lifecycle impacts compared to virgin...


Healthy Building Network and Google Announce Portico, a First-of-Its-Kind Building Materials Analysis and Decision-making Tool

Larry Kilroy | October 05, 2016 | Tools

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Healthy Building Network and Google Announce Portico, First-of-Its-Kind Building Materials Analysis and Decision-making Tool

Los Angeles, CA (October 5, 2016) - Building Industry Leaders Perkins + Will, Georgia Institute of Technology, The Durst Organization, Harvard University, and HomeFree Affordable Housing Coh...


Quartz Common Product Profiles Now Available in Pharos

Melissa Coffin | August 01, 2016 | Tools

Since 2009, the Pharos Project’s Building Products Library (BPL) has been a resource for those seeking disclosure of the chemicals and materials used to formulate and manufacture building products.  More than 1,600 individual building products appear in the BPL, representing 15 different product categories (adhesives, flooring, etc.). Co...


Hazardous Chemicals in Products Easier to Identify with GreenScreen® V1.3 + Pharos

Tom Lent | March 08, 2016 | Tools

Clean Production Action (CPA) released the next version of the GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals Hazard Assessment Guidance, adding detailed information for using the GreenScreen® List Translator as a first step in identifying hazardous chemicals in products.  GreenScreen List Translator is a tool for readily identifying known chem...


Process chemistry update gives more information on how chemicals are produced and what residuals may be present

Michel Dedeo | December 18, 2015 | Tools

Those of you interested in chemical residuals should take note: we just overhauled our process chemistry system for reporting the upstream chemicals in manufacturing processes and this affects the chemicals we flag as residuals.

As most of you know, the Pharos Chemical and Material Library consists of almost 38,000 chemicals and their hazards. L...


CompAIR: HBN Launches New Tool For Comparing VOCs

Bill Walsh | November 10, 2015 | Tools

Next week at the Greenbuild Conference and Expo in Washington DC (November 18-19), HBN will launch CompAIR, a new feature in the Pharos Project that provides the most accurate and reliable comparisons of the chemicals offgassing from paints, coatings and similar products. By providing the weight of all volatile substances that are released into the...


Flux, HBN, thinkstep and Google Collaborate to Launch the Quartz Database at VERGE 2015

Quartz Project | October 27, 2015 | Tools

Product transparency is more than just an ingredient label. It is a catalyst that triggers greater collaboration among manufacturers and their customers. It is the renewable energy of a continuous and increasingly open innovation process that is the key to addressing the sustainability challenges we face. The database of 100 "common product pr...


Powerful New Open Data Project Gets Rave Reviews

Rebecca Stamm | October 16, 2015 | Tools

Now in our 15th year, the Healthy Building Network has been busy as beavers, felling more obstacles, building more useful infrastructures, with more partners, than ever. In the coming weeks, we will be unveiling many of these initiatives with Healthy Building News readers and the world at large. Front and center among these is a collaboration calle...