Presenters:

Tom Lent, Director, Healthy Building Network, Berkeley, CA

Jack Geibig, Director, Center for Clean Products, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Convener:

Thor Peterson, Research Director, Cascadia Region Green Building Council, Seattle, WA

Click Here to download the presentation from this session!

Help shape the definition of green building materials. In this session you will get a sneak peak at the Pharos Framework under development by the Healthy Building Network, University of Tennessee and Cascadia. Addressing questions on health, environmental and social issues, we’ll explore how the Pharos Framework defines the ideal for green building materials and provides a way of scoring the progress that real products are making on the path to that ideal. We will then use that framework to map out some of the most widely used green marketing labels and certifications to better understand what they do and do not tell us about the materials we put in our buildings. In the breakout sessions you will get the opportunity to discuss an aspect of this map in more depth, provide feedback on the Framework and explore the implications for the future of green labeling and certification.

Presenter Bios

Tom Lent
Tom Lent is Policy Director for the Healthy Building Network. He has thirty years of experience with energy and environmental issues primarily focused on healthy and resource efficient building technologies and the environmental impact of buildings, materials, and energy. His career has been diverse, ranging from energy flow studies of row house attics to environmental critiques of war in Iraq to employment impact analyses of national energy investments to health analyses of PVC backed carpets, to coordinating a national solar and biodiesel fueled rock concert power system tour. Tom has helped coordinate development of the Green Guidelines for Health Care (GGHC), LEED™ for Healthcare, Sustainable Bioplastic Guidelines and now the Pharos Project. He is a recipient of the US EPA IX Environmental Award for Outstanding Achievement for his work transforming the building materials market. His house is solar powered, but not his flight to Living Future.

Click here to listen to Tom Lent's presentation podcast.

Jack Geibig
Jack Geibig is the Director of the Center for Clean Products at the University of Tennessee.  Jack has over 15 years of experience focused on the evaluation and promotion of clean materials, products, and processes that restrict the use of toxic materials and reduce system impacts to both human health and the environment.  Jack is a leader in the development of environmental product and material standards, materials-based research, and the application of life-cycle principles and other tools and approaches leading to sustainable material and product systems.  Current research efforts include the development of Pharos- an innovative materials rating system for green building, building green modular housing in the gulf coast, and improving the sustainability of stone manufacturing operations through the Natural Stone Council. Jack currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Cleaner Production, and is a guest lecturer on life-cycle assessment, sustainable materials and green engineering at UT.  Jack holds degrees in both chemical and environmental engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Click here to listen to Jack Geibig's presentation podcast.

Thor Peterson
Thor Peterson is Research Director for the Cascadia Region Green Building Council. Prior to Cascadia, he was with the City of Seattle for nearly 8 years, where he most recently served as the Residential Expert on the City of Seattle Green Building Team. In that capacity, Thor worked closely with architects, builders, developers and homeowners to help increase the environmental and human health performance of Seattle's residential building stock. Thor is the primary author of the City of Seattle's Green Home Remodel guides, a resource for homeowners that aims to leverage the remodel process to effect positive environmental change. The guides have since been reprinted by the City of Chicago, King County, and the Washington State Department of Ecology.

To listen to the Q&A period for this educational session click here.