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HBN | July 2021 | Newsletter
Whether you've been a fan of HBN for a long time or you have just been introduced to our work, there’s a good chance you might have come across our HomeFree program. This brief primer will get you up to speed with our latest resources and actionable steps you can take to bring material health into your project.
HBN | July 2021 | Newsletter
Please welcome HBN’s newest team member: Rena Miu, Data Systems Analyst! She comes to us with a Master of Public Health from George Washington University and a BS in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
HBN | May 2021 | Newsletter
Earlier this year, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) awarded Healthy Building Network a grant to work alongside a community-based organization called Renters United for Justice to reduce toxic chemical exposures among vulnerable individuals. Read about one tenant's story and how a new cooperative is making strides to create safer and healthier housing for all their neighbors.
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 | May 2021 | Newsletter
HBN is proud to announce that CEO Gina Ciganik was recognized this week as a 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership Award winner!
HBN | April 2021 | Newsletter
This Earth Month, we wanted to take the chance to highlight some great conversations that are happening in our ecosystem. We compiled a list of some of the articles and media HBN staff are reading and listening to that we think you should know about.
Teresa McGrath | March 2021 | Newsletter
HBN Chief Research Officer Teresa McGrath shares how doing her job and keeping her children safe go hand in hand. This article uses a personal story to discuss two groups (or classes) of toxic chemicals found both in household dust and children’s bodies, and shares recommendations for how we can collectively use our voices and buying power to shift the market towards safer products.
Roberto Valle Kinloch | March 2021 | Newsletter
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.
HBN | March 2021 | Newsletter
As Women’s History month is coming to a close, Healthy Building Network (HBN) would like to take a moment to amplify the voices of the next generation of environmental health leaders - the Agents of Change. If you are not following them, you are falling behind! Today, we will take a moment to highlight the work of one of those Agents, Dr. MyDzung Chu.
HBN | March 2021 | Newsletter
In the COVID-19 era, the building products industry has seen a notable increase in demand for materials containing antimicrobials. Antimicrobials, however, are typically not added to products to protect people from harm. Healthy Building Network partnered with others in the building products sector, the architecture and design community, and experts in academia to draft a joint statement clarifying what we know and don’t know about antimicrobials in building products, and calling for more research, transparency, and truth in advertising.
