Material Transparency
Material transparency allows building professionals to research hidden product impacts like embodied carbon, toxic ingredients or byproducts, and social responsibility in the supply chain.
Manufacturers may release many types of documents in order to facilitate transparency. These include:
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Environmental product declarations (EPDs), which show the environmental impacts of producing and disposing of a product
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Health product declarations (HPDs), which disclose ingredients and their toxicity profiles
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Corporate sustainability reports, which look at the overall environmental impacts of a whole company
Material Transparency
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Five Ways Project Teams Are Using HPDs
Feature Short
An architect, a specifier, and a building owner walk into a bar. Then they talk about how ingredient transparency informs their work.
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In Search of High-Quality Hazard Data: HPDs Have Promise, but Most Aren’t Helpful Yet
Feature Short
HPD version 1.0’s promise of greater material transparency didn’t always deliver, but version 2.0 should provide accurate reporting.
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Dances with Hazards: How Real Experts Pull Human Health into Design
Feature Short
John and Catherine prove that designers can work successfully with HPDs, especially if they have a toxicology consultant to support their multi-faceted selection process.
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What’s an EPD? Environmental Product Declaration FAQs
Feature Short
We answer FAQs on EPDs, which allow manufacturers to disclose a product’s carbon footprint and other impacts.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Health Product Declaration Matures with New Feature
News Brief
HPD version 2.2 integrates reporting options for suppliers of parts that go into building products, and for managing multiple versions of a product.
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Manufacturers Find Their Voice with the Living Product 50
News Brief
What began as a group of those pursuing the Living Product Challenge is now a wider platform for community and communication.
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Health Product Declaration Collaborative Teams Up with USGBC
News Brief
A strategic partnership between HPDC and the U.S. Green Building Council aims to scale material transparency.
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Manufacturers to Architects: Buy Greener Products or They May Go Away
News Analysis
Designers asked for transparency and got it. Now they need to follow through with specs, say producers.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Finding HPDs: How We Do It At BuildingGreen
Op-Ed
There are several ways you can find Health Product Declarations. Here’s a look at them, including what BuildingGreen offers.
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Opinion: Transparency Is Just the Beginning—How Manufacturers Can Use HPDs
Op-Ed
Ingredient inventories and assessment are important. But ultimately, we need to design for an indefinite future.
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Opinion: EPDs Are One Small Step for Design Professionals, a Giant Leap for Industry
Op-Ed
Uptake of life-cycle assessment will produce huge amounts of data that designers can use to reduce whole-building impacts.
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Opinion: Orwellian EPDs Ignore the Worst Impacts of Wood, Vinyl
Op-Ed
Although life-cycle assessment has great promise, in the wrong hands it can be used for greenwashing.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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