HEALTHY & TRANSPARENT BUILDING MATERIALS

October 29, 2020

how do we ensure the legacy of our designs are positive for both people and the environment?

It starts with leadership and commitment. How can we as product manufacturers, designers, and builders transition from commitments into action? That starts with communication and collaboration. Every architect, designer and contractor looking for healthy, sustainable materials knows how challenging it can be. Similarly, industry is evolving to meet demands for both better materials and increased transparency expectations for the disclosure of material and ingredient information in products. 

The Closing the Transparency Loop (CTL) movement was created to shine a light on the lack of communication and collaboration throughout the building industry and value chain. These gaps are preventing needed progress to transform the materials economy and adequately address the multifaceted issue of health in our building stock. The movement began organically in an effort to support a group of leading manufacturers, the Living Product 50, in making the business case for their transparency and sustainability investments. It quickly became clear that the struggle is shared by all members of the building industry, including architecture and design contractors, labor, MEP, and owners. Closing the Transparency Loop seeks to catalyze meaningful communication and collaborative action between all stakeholders to ensure we stabilize the business case for sustainability for everyone.

This virtual session will introduce attendees to the Closing the Transparency Loop movement and how various tools like the mindful MATERIALS database are driving industry transformation and supporting the improvements made to the Building Product Disclosure & Optimization credits in LEED v4.1.  

This Event is Part of GBA’s Health in the Built Environment Series:

GBA’s Health in the Built Environment Series seeks to draw connections between human health, buildings, and community design. This topic is more important now than ever and our series will explore a variety of research, implications, trends and tools for stakeholders and practitioners in the built environment.  Learn more about the series here.  

// ADDITIONAL

Architecture + Design Presentation - HERE

Green Building Alliance - Health in the Built Environment Series: Healthy and Transparent Building Materials