Lesson 1 from GreenBuild 2014: Apprehension and Concern |

Lesson 1 from GreenBuild 2014: Apprehension and Concern Posted: Nov 2014 Posted by: Mats Inc.

Many of the discussions regarding transparency seemed to reveal that there is still a great deal of apprehension and concern on nearly all fronts. In general, manufacturers seem to be lacking resources, designers are concerned with liability, and the ingredient disclosure programs leading the way are also still learning.

It was of little surprise when only three days after the GreenBuild2014 conference, the USGBC granted the extension for LEED users to register projects under the LEED 2009 rating system until Oct. 31, 2016.

Gearing up for LEED v4 is a major transformation. The pervasive demands to meet a wide variety of disconnected protocols with overlapping requirements have been extremely difficult for manufacturers to navigate. In the session, I’m Just a Bill, the panel of experts, Lisa Barnard from BASF, Paul Bertram of PRB Connect, Thomas Gloria from Industrial Ecology Consultants and Jennifer Princing from Dow Corning Corporation, discussed the challenges facing manufacturing companies as demand for transparency increases. During these past 2 years, manufacturers have spent a great deal of time and money gathering data, hiring consultants and producing documentation to prepare for the first phase of transparency. The panel expressed frustration around market confusion, the lack of PCRs available to develop proper documentation and the tremendous resources that are invested to produce HPDs and EPDs while they are not or cannot be utilized. They also voiced reluctance to disclosing proprietary information with worry about competitiveness. The good but not new news from this session is that the USGBC and Google have funded the harmonization project intended to eliminate marketplace confusion and lower the cost of disclosure by creating alignment between platforms including the Health Product Declaration, Cradle to Cradle, GreenScreen, and the Living Building Challenge. Over the upcoming 18 months, the harmonization team will work toward developing a new platform that will not combine the programs but instead establish compatibility.