
What’s the most difficult aspect of designing: Resolving client issues? Space planning? Inspiration? For many designers, the hardest part is sourcing materials that are healthy, budget-friendly, beautiful and high-performing. Budget-friendly laminate, for instance, comes in myriad colors and textures, but its binders and adhesives may contain urea-formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen. While a material safety data sheet (MSDS) offers some information about a product’s components, it doesn’t tell the complete story of human and environmental impact.
Juggling health, aesthetics, performance and cost for every product in a project can be time-consuming and complicated, but the Materials Research Collaborative, funded through the ASID Foundation, is making that onerous task more manageable. The professionals at Healthy Building Network and BuildingGreen have joined forces to examine the ingredients of building materials and FF&E, and promote transparency in the manufacturing process. The results of their research are being presented in a series of webinars that will give designers the tools to create healthier interiors.
The second webinar in the series, “Avoiding Chemicals in Building Products,” will be conducted on June 3. It will outline the process for recognizing, assessing and avoiding materials that contain chemicals of concern. The webinar will demonstrate how to identify the most common hazards, understand their risks, and develop a customizable set of priorities for specifying materials that contain toxic substances. The big take-away from this webinar is the ability to apply a rigorous protocol from independent, trusted sources when vetting a product’s ingredients and environmental impact. Click here to register!
Visit the ASID Foundation website for more information about the full series of webinars.
The June 3 webinar features sustainability “rock stars” who will share valuable lessons learned from their own practice, in order to help designers create healthier, more environmentally-preferable interiors:
- Bill Walsh – Founder & Executive Director at Healthy Building Network
- Nadav Malin, LEED AP – President at BuildingGreen
- Penny Bonda, FASID, LEED AP – Partner at Ecoimpact Consulting
Webinar Info
Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Commercial Building Products
Monday, June 3, 3 – 4:15 p.m. EDT
$39.99 (ASID members) | $64.99 (non-members)
0.1 IDCEC HSW CEU
Register now!