mindful MATERIALS: Human Health
Some chemicals used in our buildings can harm factory employees, people in fenceline communities, and jobsite workers. After construction, many types of products can benefit occupants—or put them at risk. Our resources help you leverage ingredient knowledge, wellness insights, and certain certifications for human health-focused decision making. By preferring products that support and foster life throughout their life cycles, practitioners drive efforts to eliminate the use of hazardous substances.
mindful MATERIALS: Human Health
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
-
Keeping PFAS Forever Chemicals out of Building Products
Feature Article
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.
-
Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Feature Article
Sustainability doesn’t have to cost more—and no one knows that better than affordable housing experts. But every project type can benefit from these 12 cost-reducing ideas that support people and the planet.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
-
Wallboard
Product Guide
Wallboard with high recycled content and Greenguard Gold certification
-
Metal Coatings
Product Guide
These coatings have VOC levels below 50 g/l and contain no chromium, cadmium, or hazardous airborne pollutants.
-
Interior Paints
Product Guide
These coatings meet the highest industry standards for both indoor emissions and durability.
-
Interior Stains and Clear Coatings
Product Guide
These stains and finishes are below SCAQMD standards for VOCs and contain no heavy metals, phthalates, or aromatic solvents.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
Amid a Silicosis Surge, We Need to Rethink Countertops
News Analysis
Engineered stone countertops may be causing a spike in silicosis, with cases seemingly tied to the material’s unique properties. Find out what design and construction teams should do.
-
PFAS in Building Products Ubiquitous, Says Report
News Brief
The Green Science Policy Institute details how common PFAS compounds are in our building products.
-
Energy Star Removes Gas Appliances from “Most Efficient” List
News Brief
Gas appliances are no longer eligible for Energy Star’s “Most Efficient” designation.
-
Continuous IAQ Monitoring: Wins and Pitfalls
News Brief
A BuildingGreen Peer Networks white paper dives into continuous air-quality monitoring, helping make the technology and practices accessible to more projects.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
-
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.
-
The BuildingGreen Guide to Building Product Certifications and Ecolabels- Discounted
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.
-
Selecting Optimized Products for LEED Projects
Webcast
This pragmatic webinar walks you through the v4.1 version of the three Materials & Resources credits that encourage product-related disclosure and optimization.
-
Keeping PFAS Forever Chemicals out of Building Products
Feature Article
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.
