Documents in this section illustrate strategies and best practices for designing with human and environmental health in mind, by using protocols developed exclusively by the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons.

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2. Include All Teams, Stakeholders, and Contractors in the ProcessStart discussing material health early. Make sure the entire team is familiar with the health goals and will help to implement them throughout the length of the project.

1. Start Considering Material Health EarlyConsider ways to direct the design toward healthier options. Before you start exploring specific products, research broader material categories so you know where to focus later on.

4. Specify Both Proprietary Products and Health Criteria to Avoid SubstitutionsIncluding health criteria in your specifications will help to reinforce your goals, and to ensure that the construction team won’t substitute healthy materials with less healthy alternatives.

5. Simplify the Materials PaletteAvoid unnecessary materials that could potentially introduce hazards. Ask yourself “do I need this?” or “can the material remain unfinished?” The healthiest product is often no product at all.

3. Engage the Users or Occupants Before, During, and After ConstructionA building is only as healthy as the people who use it.

7. Consider How Design Intentions Impact Material DecisionsHow do visual, aesthetic, and performance-based considerations further narrow your field of healthier options?

6. Know What to AvoidSome unhealthy materials are not necessary and are not worth considering. Avoiding these will let you focus your effort on researching the health of more nuanced material categories.

Designing with health in mind is complicated. With so many variables, how do you begin approaching healthier design? These principles can act as a starting point, explaining key elements that can help you be most effective in achieving your health goals.

10 PRINCIPLES FOR ACHIEVING HEALTHIER DESIGNS

8. Detail to Avoid Adhesives and Sealants Wherever PossibleNot only are adhesives commonly high in toxic chemicals, but using mechanical joinery makes it easier to disassemble materials at the end of their usage, allowing them to be reused or recycled.

10. The Building Is Not Done When Construction Is Complete, It Is BornConsider a building’s performance through its occupation and maintenance. Upfront design decisions will have effects in the building’s long-term life.

9. Detail to Prevent Mold and Pest InfestationIncorporate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles and moisture-control measures into the design process.

FIRST PRINCIPLESHealthier Materials & Sustainable Buildings | C3: Healthier Materials Design & Specification

Set Goals

Healthy Materials Lab, 2018

CitationsAmatruda, John, and Suzanne Drake. “First Principles.” Presentation for Healthy Materials Lab online course, New York, NY. 2018.

Spring 2019

Prioritizing the importance of health as well as factors like budget and schedule can be an unfamiliar process. Below are a few of the primary obstacles that you may face, as well as strategies to help overcome them.

5 MAJOR OBSTACLES IN ACHIEVING HEALTHIER DESIGNS

Challenge: Clients often prioritize budget and schedule over interior environments.

Strategy: Explain quantifiable benefits (like fewer sick days, more productivity, and better performance).

Challenge: Clients that aren’t fully on board with health goals

Strategy: Take a positive approach. Discuss the benefits of a healthier building instead of the problems you can solve. Strategy: Categorize goals by their feasibility, and focus on the products that require more research time and not more money.

OBSTACLE: PRIORITIES

OBSTACLE: PROCUREMENT

Challenge: Healthier materials can be harder to get than less healthy alternatives.

Strategy: Identify your highest impact materials. Examine this list for any materials that may be difficult to procure, and bring these to the attention of the contractor as early as possible so they can get them to the site.

Challenge: Many contractors are not yet familiar with prioritizing health goals.

Strategy: Sit down with your contractor and subcontractors at the outset of the project and make your goals clear.

Challenge: When the pressures of construction are high, contractors typically default to the most straightforward material options, which are not usually the healthiest ones.

Strategy: A meeting early on in which you review materials procurement, protocols, and potential roadblocks an help ensure that contractors aren’t scrambling later on in the project.

Challenge: The research required to find healthier material options can be incredibly challenging

Strategy: Make a road map for product evaluation that standardizes data collection.

OBSTACLE: RESEARCH TIME

OBSTACLE: MATERIAL ADDITIVESChallenge: So called “natural,” “simple,” and “pure” materials often contain the additives, sealants, and finishes to enhance their performance properties.

Strategy: Embrace the aesthetic and properties of natural, unfinished materials, and use them when possible.

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OBSTACLES & STRATEGIESHealthier Materials & Sustainable Buildings | C4: Executing a Healthier Project

Set Goals

CitationsDorf, Aaron, and Dennis Rijikhoff. “Major Obstacles in Practice Today.” Presentation for Healthy Materials Lab online course, New York, NY. 2018.

Healthy Materials Lab, 2018

REFERENCE: AIA WHITE PAPER:MATERIALS TRANSPARENCY & RISK FOR ARCHITECTS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ADVANCING PROFESSIONAL ETHICS WHILE MANAGING PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY RISKS

INTRODUCTION, QUOTED FROM THE AIA

The information revolution is changing societal and professional dynamics; information that was once con-sidered confidential or simply hard to find is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. As a result, what might once have seemed like an unrealistic expectation—that suppliers should share information about the ingredients in their products—has been turned on its head. Now the question is more often, “Why shouldn’t suppliers share all product information?” and “What can I do with this information now that I have it?”

This white paper covers:

• the evolving landscape of transparency in product contents• the opportunity these changes represent for architects to help expose and thereby reduce hazardous

substances, and to position themselves to serve their clients proactively• the actual and perceived risk of added exposure to legal liability that comes with that opportunity• strategies for communicating with clients, modifying contract documents, and collaborating with technical

experts to manage the risks involved.

Within the realm of product content transparency, this White Paper aims to provide the context and back-ground needed to engage intelligently with basic legal and practice questions. But it does not aspire to educate the reader on how to interpret an ingredient disclosure document, nor how to assess the impact of the hazard warnings that such a document might contain. As architects should explain to their clients, such interpretations and assessments should be performed by qualified material scientists, toxicologists, or industrial hygienists, according to the Materials & Risk Task Group of AIA’s Materials Knowledge Working Group.

LINK TO WHITE PAPER

https://www.aia.org/resources/7956-materials-transparency-and-risk-for-architect

Construct RISK AND LIABILITYHealthier Materials & Sustainable Buildings | C4: Executing a Healthier Project

CitationsMalin, Nadav and Candace Pearson. Materials Transparency & Risk for Architects: An Introduction to Advancing Professional Ethics While Managing Professional Liability Risks.

Washington DC: AIA. 2016.

Healthy Materials Lab, 2018

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) works to foster well-designed, operated, and maintained school facilities. In their Best Practices Manual (BPM), CHPS provides guidelines for achieving high performance school designs. As with other guidelines and standards, the criteria for high performance schools can act as a model for achieving healthy, sustainable projects of any type.

DESIGNING PROJECTS BASED ON HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOLS

Set goals early. Outline design goals with the entire team as early as possible, no later than the programming phase.

Choose and develop the site wisely. Consider possible hazards, orientation, and ecosystem preservation.

Design with the whole building in mind. Optimize performance and cost by involving all disciplines in planning.

Protect indoor air quality. Eliminate and control sources of con-tamination and provide adequate ventilation.

Optimize acoustics. Consider acoustics during design, particularly in designing the building envelope and locating HVAC systems.

Incorporate daylighting. Daylit spaces can lead to higher occupant performance and reduced energy costs.

Install high performance lighting and controls. Using effective and less electric lighting can save a lot of energy.

Protect indoor air quality. Optimize performance and consider ease of control.

Choose materials wisely. Consider the ma-terials’ potential effects on the indoor air quality as well as environmental impact.

Conserve water. Control and reduce water runoff from the site, consume fresh water efficiently, and recover and reuse gray water.

Commission the school. A commissioning agent will assess the proj-ect to ensure that building systems are operating as they are meant to.

Use sustainable construction practices. Minimize C&D waste and protect IAQ and the site during construction.

BEST PRACTICESAdapted from The Collaborative for High Performance School’s “Best Practices Manual”

Set Goals

CitationsCollaborative for High Performance Schools. “Volume I: Planning” in Best Practices Manual. 2006.“What We Do.” Collaborative for High Performance Schools, https://chps.net/what-we-do.

Use efficient portable classrooms. Though popular due to their low intial cost, some compromise health and money with low-quality designs.

Train the staff and maintain the building. Maintenance and operations play a key role in a building’s continued health.

For more information, see Volume I: Planning of the CHPS Best Practices Manual.

Healthier Materials & Sustainable Buildings | C3: Healthier Materials Design & Specification

Healthy Materials Lab, 2018