mindful MATERIALS: Ecosystem Health
Water, soil, air, biodiversity: all are essential to human well-being. And all are threatened by land-use decisions as well as the building materials used to expand and enhance human developments. Our resources look at forestry practices, environmental pollution, and other topics relevant to environmental performance. Restoring ecosystem health requires the use of products that renew air, water, and the biological cycles of life, encouraging more thoughtful supply-chain management and restorative company practices.
mindful MATERIALS: Ecosystem Health
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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What Makes a Product Green Today?
Feature
Lots of manufacturers call their products "green," but are they? Here's our guide to the high-performance attributes that matter.
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Wood: What’s Good?
Feature
Mass timber seems alluring because of its low carbon footprint, but not all wood is equally sustainable. We dig deep into the controversy over which types of timber are “climate smart.
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Native Landscaping for Biodiversity
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Removal of invasive plants and support of native plantings are critically important for maintaining healthy ecosystems.
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Keeping PFAS Forever Chemicals out of Building Products
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to negative health and environmental impacts. Getting them out of our building products is going to require work.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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The 12 Product Rules
Infographic
These 12 product rules provide a simple approach to selecting better, healthier, and more environmentally responsible building products and materials.
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PBT Chemicals: Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic
Explainer
You've heard of persistent toxic chemicals, and bioaccumulation, but what do these things really mean, and what do they do?
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Sand, a Surprisingly Limited Resource
Explainer
Demand for the basic raw material for glass and concrete is prompting illegal mining that’s leaving beaches and riverbeds bare.
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Hemp: A Durable, Low-Carbon Building Material
Explainer
This rapidly renewable material is excellent for textiles and non-structural concrete. (And no, it will not get you high.)
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Cables and Wiring
Product Guide
When possible, products should meet the European Union’s RoHS standards and be free of halogens and PFAS.
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Metal Coatings
Product Guide
These coatings have VOC levels below 50 g/l and contain no chromium, cadmium, or hazardous airborne pollutants.
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Composting Toilet Systems
Product Guide
Composting toilets are not for every project, but they do warrant consideration.
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Faucets
Product Guide
Bathroom faucets and aerators with a flow rate of 1.0 gpm or less, plus other unique water-saving tech
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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AIA Adopts Materials Pledge: Spec, and You Shall Receive
News Analysis
The AIA Materials Pledge, inspired by the 2030 commitment, looks at issues from carbon to social justice.
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Justice, Circularity Overhauled in Cradle to Cradle v4
News Analysis
The latest version of the Cradle to Cradle product standard also expands embodied carbon requirements and replaces the controversial “banned list” with a new approach.
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Trust, but Verify: How to Get the Most from Transparency Docs
News Analysis
Third-party verification of HPDs and Declare labels is a growing trend. Is it growing fast enough?
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EPA to Attempt PFAS Regulation
News Analysis
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced initiatives that will finally regulate the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer and building products.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Press Release: Major Green Building Orgs Team Up on Material Education
Blog Post
Mindful MATERIALS has partnered with BuildingGreen to expand knowledge of the Common Materials Framework across the building product manufacturing and AEC industries.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Native Landscaping for Biodiversity
Feature
Removal of invasive plants and support of native plantings are critically important for maintaining healthy ecosystems.
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The BuildingGreen Guide to Building Product Certifications and Ecolabels
Special Report
This BuildingGreen publication provides a no-nonsense guide to the world of green building product certifications to help designers, purchasers, manufacturers, and others in the industry to focus on what is significant and relevant so that market forces can work and the industry can focus on bigger issues.
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Choosing Certifications & Ecolabels: From Projects to Products
Webcast
The presenters, Brent Ehrlich and Paula Melton, share what they learned about today’s certification landscape while writing BuildingGreen’s Guide to Building Product Certifications & Ecolabels, distilling some of the information available in that guide to help attendees start to make sense of it all.
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LEED and Life-Cycle Assessment in Buildings
Webcast
Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a way of understanding the environmental impacts of something, starting with raw material extraction and ending at a landfill or recycling plant. You can use LCA to identify the hot spots—that is, the worst impacts of the thing you’re analyzing—so you can reduce or eliminate them.
