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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The Promise of Biobased Materials—and How to Use Them Now
Feature Article
There is a lot of hype about carbon storage and other benefits of natural materials, but their potential is real. Read about those that are ready for prime time—and the ones we hope will take off next.
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Wood: Is It Still Good? Part Two: Moving from Carbon to Climate
Feature Article
Mass timber at scale could make climate change worse. Instead of embodied carbon alone, “climate-smart” practices focus on our increasingly fragile forests.
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Wood: Is It Still Good? Part One: Embodied Carbon
Feature Article
The idea that wood is inherently carbon neutral has masked negative impacts. The climate stakes are too high for us to keep buying those claims.
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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.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Building Decarbonization: How LCA and EPDs Fit in
Explainer
Life-cycle assessment and environmental product declarations reveal embodied carbon and other impacts, but it’s important to know their limits.
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What Does It Mean to “Use Water”?
Explainer
The difference between consumptive and non-consumptive water use is like night and day in the world of policy and regulation.
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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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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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Spray-Applied Hempcrete
Product Review
Ereasy is a spray-applied method for applying hempcrete that significantly speeds installation, making it a more viable commercial product.
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BuildingGreen Announces Top 10 Products for 2024
Product Review
BuildingGreen’s Top 10 industry-transforming products this year include innovative heat-pump energy storage, electric construction equipment, PFAS-free textiles, healthier lighting, PV circularity, and more.
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A Standard for Managing Outdoor Lighting’s Negative Impacts
Product Review
Design Lights Consortium’s LUNA Standard balances verified energy efficiency and performance data with environmental concerns to help design teams select application-specific lighting.
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A New Glass-Infused Fire-Resistant Interior Lumber
Product Review
OnWood’s sodium silicate infused fire-retardant-treated-wood is a less hazardous alternative to standard products. The company’s future products will offer insect and rot resistance and hopefully FSC certification.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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New Climate-Smart-Wood Guidance and a Call for Pilot Partners
News Analysis
As more project teams question timber’s “carbon neutrality,” a growing coalition blazes a common-sense but potentially perilous path forward.
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PFAS Found in Paint but Not on the Ingredient List
News Brief
According to the Healthy Building Network, the paint you use might contain PFAS compounds, even if they are not disclosed on the ingredient list.
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A Bad Week for PVC: Toxic Spill, and Imports Halted Due to Forced Labor
News Brief
A train derailment released toxic vinyl chloride in Ohio, and due to forced labor concerns, U.S. Customs has stopped the import of PVC products from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, a major supplier of vinyl flooring.
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How to Identify—and Get Your Hands on—Climate-Smart Wood
News Analysis
The Climate Smart Wood Group is offering procurement guidance while simultaneously pushing toward better data.
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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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.
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Biobased Building Materials: the Hype, the Hope, the … Hemp?
Webcast
This webcast explores the promising future of biobased materials in commercial construction.
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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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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.
