Three Lenses of Health & Materials

LENGTH

1 hour

COURSE NUMBERS

AIA - CE-U94694       IDCEC - CEU-114136       GBCI - 0920023550

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explore the public health impacts of the life cycle of buildingproducts, including in the supply chain and at end of life
2. Use a holistic framework of Green Chemistry, Circular Economy and Embodied Carbon (Climate) to evaluate building materials
3. Learn questions and criteria that shift the marketplace toward materials that are healthier for everyone, including building occupants
4. Discuss balancing the pursuit of multiple sustainability criteriain product selection, relying on a cohesive Three Lenses framework

COURSE SUMMARY

This course is packed with information that will further the participants' understanding of sustainability criteria. Taking a full life cycle approach to building products, from design to end of life, the course discusses a holistic approach to evaluating a product’s sustainability attributes. The Three Lenses framework goes beyond product certifications. The first lens, Embodied Carbon, focuses on the product’s impact on climate change; the second, Green Chemistry, looks at the product’s impact

on human health; and finally Circular Economy evaluates the product’s impact on resource use and waste. This approach can allow specifiers to find creative solutions that improve the health, safety and welfare for the product, material, occupants, and the built environment.

What makes a product or material “healthy” or “sustainable?” This presentation offers a more holistic approach to material evaluation – the Three Lenses of Health & Materials. Each lens examines a key impact of building products on our health and the environment: embodied carbon, green chemistry, and circular economy. In addition to identifying these impacts, this course offers questions we can ask to move the market toward better products for ourselves, our clients, and the world.