By Grey Lee
Over 130 members of our green building community came together on Friday 11/14 to learn and share knowledge about healthy materials in buildings.
We gathered at Google's Kendall Square (Cambridge) office – in their new “bridge space” on the fifth floor. They have an extensive audio-visual set up and we enjoyed filling up the entire theater.
The Sustainable Design Leaders of New England organized the entire program and Blake Jackson of Tsoi/Kobus Associates (a Chapter Sponsor) served as the MC.
We heard brief presentations from a panel of six experts on various aspects of healthy materials choices in the design and operation of buildings – from the owners' side, manufacturers and advocates. Below is Nadav Malin from BuidlingGreen and to the left are:
- Bill Walsh from the Healthy Buildings Network
- Heather Henriksen of the Harvard Office for Sustainability
- Denis Darragh from Forbo Flooring
- Melissa McCullough from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Scott Tobias of ASSA ABLOY
We had a great turnout of many of the leaders of the green building industry in Massachusetts and beyond. The “unconference” aspect was especially engaging. This program was made possible by the contributions of many, especially the sponsors:
- Premium Sponsors:
- A Better City
- Armstrong
- ASSA ABLOY
- Bergmeyer
- Forbo Flooring
- Knauf Insulation
- Nelson
- USGBC MA
- Sponsors:
- Boston Society of Architects
- Gensler
- Goody Clancy
- Hydrotect
- Sasaki
- Sustainable Minds
The entire group broke out into three rooms and pairs of the speakers toured around, 30 minutes with each group, participating in a crowd-derived conversation. A lot of specific exploring occurred. How can manufacturers declare their EPDs w/o losing market share due to “first-declaring penalty?” How can builders start to look at the longevity of their products? What is the trade off between longevity and toxicity? Maybe some products could actually be designed for shorter utilization periods and not have to be so durable, in the way durability efforts generally drive more and more complex and potentially dangerous chemistry…?
Hat's off to the Sustainable Design Leaders of New England, Healthy Materials Summit Organizing Team!
Congratulations to Arjun Mande of Goody Clancy, Mihir Parikh of A Better City, Anastasia Huggins of Gensler, [me] and Blake Jackson of Tsoi/Kobus!
I'm sure we're already looking ahead to next year's Summit!
Global Head of Sustainability, Superior Essex
Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates
PE | Associate, LeMessurier
Vice President, AEW’s Architecture & Engineering group
Interior Designer, Jacobs, Boston
Senior Vice President, Market Transformation and Development U.S. Green Building Council
AIA LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, Gensler Boston 
LEED Fellow, WELL AP | Founder and Principal, Ecoworks Studio
AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP
LEED AP BD+C | Environmental Sustainability Manager, Armstrong World Industries
Assistant Professor of Exposure Science | Director of the Healthy Buildings program
Managing Director, Harvard University Office for Sustainability
Principal & Director of Certifications and Consulting, Epsten Group, Inc.
Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Jamestown
Director of Sustainability Programs, DASNY | LEED AP BD+C
Associate Principal, BuroHappold Engineering
Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation
Co-Founder, Facilitator at The Laurentia Project | LEED AP BD+C, LFA
Vice President of Sustainable Development, Shaw
Founder and President, Board of the Healthy Building Network
Building Technology Director, Kingspan North America
LEED® AP ID+C, BD+C, USGBC Faculty, WELL® AP, WELL Faculty and Fitwel Ambassador
Workplace Strategy Expert and Researcher, EYP
Principal, Integrated Ecostrategy
Senior Vice President, International WELL Building Institute
Principal, Bruner/Cott
Architect, Associate, and Sustainability Design Leader, Stantec Architecture and Engineering
FAIA, LEED Fellow, Long Green Specs
Products & Materials Specialist, BuildingGreen
Director of Acquisitions and Development
Director of Restorative Enterprise, Interface
Sustainability Manager, Consigli Construction Company