The Pharos Project connects you to a network of building professionals and manufacturers committed to transparency as a core value on the path to sustainability. Pharos is not a certification or label, it is information: the critical health and environmental data about the manufacture, use, and end of life of building materials specified and used every day all delivered in an easy to use web based tool.

The Pharos Project is a project of the Healthy Building Network. HBN is:

In Vermont:
Melissa Coffin, Bill Walsh

In California:
Tom Lent

In Washington, DC:
Larry Kilroy, Sarah Gilberg, Sarah Pickell, Susan Sabella

In Maine:
Jim Vallette

LEED 2012 PROPOSES CONTENT DISCLOSURE & RED LIST CHEMICAL HAZARD AVOIDANCE

 
 “To increase the use of products and materials that disclose chemical ingredient data and reduce the concentrations of chemical contaminants that can damage air quality, human health, productivity, and the environment.” So reads the intent statement of a new LEED credit proposal released today by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The credit represents an important advance for the LEED system in bringing healthy materials to building projects, encouraging both content disclosure and screening for chemicals of concern. The new credit, entitled “Avoidance of Chemicals of Concern in Building Materials” would reward building projects with one point toward LEED certification if 20% of all building products and materials, by cost, have a publicly available list of ingredients and do not include California Proposition 65 chemicals in their contents.

The USGBC released the proposed credit today as part of the second public comment draft for LEED 2012. The draft LEED release includes other important advances in materials selection addressing Extended Producer Responsibility (manufacturers taking responsibility for proper recycling of products at the end of life), responsible sourcing (to start to bring some scrutiny to mining and other extraction practices), VOC emissions testing for many more interior finish products, and a number of the toxics credits that were introduced in LEED-HC (mercury reduction in lamps, lead/cadmium/copper reduction, furniture ). There are a few material credits that are likely to warrant some more careful attention in this public comment period, including one that rewards use of biobased materials without scrutiny to the sustainability of their harvest beyond screening for legality, and the continued effort to find the right way to bring LCA into LEED.  

Kudos to the USGBC for this major effort to tackle health and other important sustainability measures in material selection.  The USGBC is seeking public comment through September 14. We will be commenting further on these credits, suggesting ways to make them even more effective, as we assess them over the next few weeks. In the meantime, download the proposed new credits on the LEED 2012 Rating System Draft page. Find more analysis and join the discussion of these and more credits in LEEDUser and find out more on the comment process on the LEED Rating System Development page.

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FROM COMPOST TO COMPOSITES: INNOVATING WITH COW PIES

 
Earlier this month I was introduced to a new product for Pharos, a line of wall boards and panels made from a blend of cellulose sources – recycled cardboard, old newsprint, and something near and dear to my Vermont heart: bovine processed fibers.  Yes, BPFs as they’re known, are the fibers left over from the anaerobic digestion tanks used to harvest methane from cow manure.  Otherwise a waste product, these and other animal-processed fibers contain lignin and proteins that make them well suited for a variety of bio-based applications.  And, with 2 trillion pounds of manure generated on American farms each year, being creative about what to do with it is a good thing.

Noble Environmental Technologies Corporation has launched its ECOR® line of bio-based panels made from blending these various fibers with water into a “stew” which gets poured out onto a mold before the water is suctioned, pressed, and steamed out, leaving just the fibers behind.  Once dry, the board is lightweight and made strong by the complex matrix of fibers created in the blending process.  ECOR® comes in flat sheets, a corrugated wave pattern, or a honeycomb shape achieved by slicing strips of the wave boards and attaching them with a water-based adhesive in a particular pattern.   The panels can be painted, veneered, and laminated to construct furniture and cabinetry, or molded into almost limitless shapes.  A look through their product catalog had me daydreaming about decorating a home in my future with curvy, sleek, modernly styled furniture and architectural build outs, all made with BPFs.  Because of their versatility, we’ve added ECOR® to our MDF/Particle Board category in the Building Products Library.

ECOR® products scored well in Pharos (6-8 out of 10 in VOC and toxicity categories depending on the amount of adhesive used), due to their high percentage of renewable content and Noble’s ability to fully disclose all of the product’s ingredients.  The basic boards can be used as-is, or can be treated with additives, coatings, or other processes to suit a particular function or impart a specific quality.  These extras have their own environmental and human health considerations, so the company is experimenting with different options to maintain as much of their relatively benign product profile as possible.

In addition to winning full points in my “best makeover” category, products made from BPFs have some other useful features:
•    They can be blended with other cellulose sources, including things like wood chips, to achieve the strength and performance profile needed for a given application.
•    Despite their humble beginnings, BPFs as part of a cellulose matrix are sanitary.  Researchers say heat and pressure from the manufacturing process kill any microbes that might be present, and as long as the board stays dry, it is no longer hospitable to microorganisms.  
•    Manure is a readily available waste product.  If a larger market for BPFs existed, sale of manure could someday represent a supplemental revenue stream for famers.  

For more information about BPFs, watch the short video Noble Environmental Technologies produced about the materials and processes used to manufacture ECORE®, or read this recent article in Biomass Magazine.

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A CHAT WITH PHAROS’ NEWEST TEAM MEMBER: MELISSA COFFIN

 
Greetings from Pharos headquarters in Washington, DC! We wanted to take the opportunity to introduce to our blog readers the newest member of the Pharos team, Melissa Coffin, who joins us in our Vermont office. I thought it might be nice for Pharos users to hear a little from her, as she is one of the main engines behind the Pharos Building Product Library.  In the spirit of our virtual work environment here at Pharos, I interviewed Melissa via Skype.  And in the spirit of transparency, which is what we’re all about here, I’ve left in some of the typos and other quirks that come with Skype conversations.

[7/13/11 3:17:37 PM]
susan.sabella: So, Melissa, you've been with the Pharos team for about two months now.  What's your role on the project?

[7/13/11 3:19:48 PM]
Melissa Coffin: My job title is Data Systems Project Leader, and my role is to shepherd products through the Pharos system, and assist manufacturers as necessary with questions they have about the process, the information being requested, and the addition of new products over time.

[7/13/11 3:20:39 PM]
Melissa Coffin: In-house I'm seen as a "data wrangler."

[7/13/11 3:20:58 PM]
susan.sabella: Nice -- a much better title than Data Systems Project Leader.

[7/13/11 3:22:32 PM]
susan.sabella: It sounds like you're engaging with manufacturers quite a bit.  And, I know you have considerable experience working with industry at your last position with the University of MA-Lowell -- how are you finding building product manufacturers to be?  Anything surprising?

[7/13/11 3:27:28 PM]
Melissa Coffin: It's really interesting.  I think companies are facing the same challenges with transparency no matter what sector they're in.  So far the manufacturers I've worked with have been great - strapped for time but committed to disclosing as much of their product ingredients as they can without jeopardizing their competitive edge.

[7/13/11 3:28:05 PM]
Melissa Coffin: No real surprises yet, but I'm just getting started!

[7/13/11 3:30:06 PM]
susan.sabella: What were you working on at Lowell?

[7/13/11 3:35:53 PM]
Melissa Coffin: I was the primary coordinator for a group of manufacturers, formulators, and retailers working to green their supply chains through the use of green chemistry.  The group is the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council, but we nic-named it the GC3 for short.  When I left Lowell it was a group of about 45 leading edge firms who were sort of peer-teaching each other some common lessons.  An approach that was successful for the apparel industry, for example, might also be exciting for the electronics sector, but the two may not have been in the same room before.  It was great to watch, and I learned a lot about finding creative ways to problem-solve.

[7/13/11 3:38:04 PM]
susan.sabella: Did each firm have a different focus in terms of greening its supply chain -- or did firm team up and work together on a particular issue or problem?  Were there any real successes?

[7/13/11 3:39:44 PM]
susan.sabella: I'll just note as well that 45 is a big number.  It sounds like the GC3 had some juice.

[7/13/11 3:43:45 PM]
Melissa Coffin: I think each company had its own twist on the supply chain work based on internal goals or corporate culture, or some other uniquity, but for the most part, everyone was struggling with the same problem: how can I ensure to my customer that my products are safe and environmentally preferable when I don't know what goes into my products beyond my immediate suppliers? Supply chains are global and very complex, and by the time you have a finished product, there's this web of ingredients and components and packaging, and it's a nightmare to understand all of these moving parts - but customers want you to understand them, and that's the challenge.

[7/13/11 3:44:39 PM]
Melissa Coffin: The GC3 wrote a guidance document to help manufacturers work with their suppliers to start collecting all of this information as a first step.

[7/13/11 3:46:31 PM]
susan.sabella: I think we see the same thing with the Pharos Project:  customers/Pharos users want to know what are in the building materials they are purchasing for their own projects or specifying for their clients.  This market's desire for transparency seems to really have taken hold.

[7/13/11 3:46:48 PM]
Melissa Coffin: Absolutely

[7/13/11 3:46:55 PM]
susan.sabella: Wow -- what's with my syntax today?  And my typing.  Sorry.

[7/13/11 3:51:52 PM]
Melissa Coffin: I think Pharos does a great job of providing some of that supply chain/web information to its users.  The CML allows you to look up an ingredient and find out what it's feedstocks are - and are any of those chemicals something I should be paying attention to?.  That's really invaluable, I think, to be able to track back and find out that the reason a finished product might have a low score in a particular attribute is because of one ingredient that's sourced from a problematic place, or is manufactured in a way that creates a toxic waste, or uses something as a catalyst that's been banned in Europe.  Pharos' research staff is really top notch and the CML is a reflection of a systems view of production.  I learn something new with every product I see, for sure.

[7/13/11 3:55:02 PM]
susan.sabella: I agree:  the CML (Pharos Chemical and Material Library) is an amazing tool with many applications.  It can be used in any sector, really.  If you care about chemicals, and the environmental and health impacts of chemcials, the CML is an incredible resource.

[7/13/11 3:55:14 PM]
susan.sabella: Of course, it helps to be a bit of a geek.

[7/13/11 3:55:30 PM]
Melissa Coffin: Yeah, and I've got that base covered.

[7/13/11 3:55:49 PM]
susan.sabella: You do indeed!

[7/13/11 3:56:06 PM]
susan.sabella: As you know, you're in good company here -- lots 'o geeks!

[7/13/11 3:56:20 PM]
Melissa Coffin: Yes, I feel quite at home here.

[7/13/11 3:57:22 PM]
susan.sabella: Which is great -- because you are a welcome addition to the Pharos team.  Is there anything else you want to share before we draw this to a close?

[7/13/11 3:58:34 PM]
Melissa Coffin: Thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself.

[7/13/11 3:59:00 PM]
susan.sabella: Yeah -- this has been fun.

[7/13/11 3:59:08 PM]
Melissa Coffin: I'm looking forward to many more building product category openings!

[7/13/11 3:59:22 PM]
susan.sabella: Woo-hoo!

[7/13/11 3:59:25 PM]
susan.sabella: Talk to you later.

[7/13/11 3:59:42 PM]
Melissa Coffin: Bey

[7/13/11 3:59:47 PM]
Melissa Coffin: Bye

[7/13/11 3:59:56 PM]
susan.sabella: Nice recovery!

[7/13/11 4:00:14 PM]
susan.sabella: DONE

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THE NO-FLY-ASH ZONE: ALTERNATIVE RECYCLED MATERIALS IN CARPET BACKING

 
A few weeks ago on the Signal blog, we examined some of the tradeoffs in choosing a carpet for its recycled content, particularly with regard to carpet backings made with coal fly ash, a coal combustion waste product which has been found to contain mercury and other hazardous heavy metals.  Pharos allows subscribers to evaluate not only complete carpet styles but also individual carpet components (fibers and backings), because we find a lot of innovation and differentiation at the component level.  Our research on carpet products and their components for the Pharos Building Product Library has led us to some interesting alternatives, including carpet backings that achieve high scores for recycled content without fly ash.

Tandus Flooring, for example, uses post-consumer recycled polyvinyl butyral (PVB) in ethos™ backings used in Powerbond resilient sheet flooring and modular carpet styles.
 
When we asked Tandus why they chose to develop this alternative, they attributed the choice largely to demand from a major customer.  Ross Leonard, Director of Marketing for Tandus Flooring, explained, “About ten years ago, Tandus Flooring was asked by Kaiser Permanente to collaborate with them in the development of a new type of floorcovering for their facilities.  Among the key criteria for this new floorcovering was that it had to made without chlorinated polymers, had to contain high levels of post-consumer recycled content that could be third-party certified, be fully recyclable using currently existing technology and processes and meet Kaiser Permanente’s demanding performance requirements.”
 
The decision to use PVB in particular was a result of over two years of exploration and evaluation by Tandus’ Research and Development Division.  “At the time, polyvinyl butyral (PVB) was a widely used plastic (primarily as the clear film laminated between glass in automotive windshields and other types of safety glass) but not as a floorcovering,” Leonard explained. “Better still, there appeared to be a healthy supply of post-consumer PVB since there are millions of cracked and chipped windshields that are replaced every year.  While the recyclers are equipped to recycle the glass components of windshields, there was no commercial use for the PVB flake that resulted as a byproduct until Tandus Flooring developed its innovative process.”

In Pharos, Tandus’ Powerbond ethos cushion backing earns a relatively high score of 6 in renewable materials for its use of 100% post-consumer PVB, and its ethos backing for modular tile earns a score of 3 for its mixed use of post-consumer and pre-consumer PVB.  Both of these products earn scores of 5 in user toxicity and in manufacturing and community toxics, the highest of any carpet backing evaluated in Pharos to date.

Pharos users can now view other cutting-edge, high-recycled-content carpet backing alternatives. Manufacturers submitted data for each of these backings. After rigorous data quality review processes, we have added these products to our product library in recent weeks:

• ECORE International, in partnership with Nood carpets, has developed the itstru Technology backing (a.k.a. TRU) made almost entirely (at least 97%) from post-consumer recycled styrene butadiene rubber (SBR).  This content earns it the maximum score of 10 for renewable/recycled materials. However, ECORE has not yet identified the balance of this product’s ingredients.  According to ECORE International, the formula for this new-to-the-market backing is proprietary; therefore, Pharos is unable to fully evaluate this product’s toxicity.  We do know that integral components of SBR are styrene, which was recently listed by the National Toxicology Program as a suspected carcinogen, and 1,3-butadiene, which EPA, IARC and other agencies have long listed as carcinogenic.  ECORE is also seeking Green Label Plus for Nood carpet styles that use this backing.

• InterfaceFLOR’s GlasBac RE backing earns a score of 7 in renewable materials. Over 73% of the backing is made from post-consumer vinyl carpet tile crumb. It also incorporates some post-industrial carpet fiber. However, the presence of diisononyl phthalate – an EPA-listed Chemical of Concern – in the vinyl crumb detracts from the backing’s manufacturing and user toxicity evaluations (4 and 3, respectively).

• Shaw Industries, Inc. has developed a custom carpet backing, EcoWorx PX, an alternative to its regular EcoWorx. Instead of post-industrial fly ash, Ecoworx PX contains post-consumer glass and/or residues derived from Shaw’s carpet recycling processes.  These residues are primarily calcium carbonate.  This content earns the backing a Pharos evaluation of 4 in renewable materials.  The manufacturing toxicity score for this product, however, fares no better than the standard EcoWorx (2), due to the use of Triclosan.  The State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality lists Triclosan, a widely used antimicrobial, as a Tier 1 Priority Persistent Pollutant.

Tandus, Shaw, and Interface fully disclosed the material content of these innovative backings. Their data provides Pharos users with all the information they need to evaluate and compare these products’ environmental attributes.

Subscribers to Pharos can view the full profiles of these carpet backings and many more in the Building Product Library.  Pharos’ multi-attribute scoring allows users to weigh the costs and benefits of these products’ environmental and health impacts for their project needs.  We choose not to provide an overall score or ranking for these products because we know that our subscribers may prioritize these values in different ways.  One person’s recycled gold may be another’s poison.

We are continuing to engage with many carpet manufacturers. The Pharos platform has generated consumer / manufacturer discussions which will improve the recycled content and reduce the health impacts of carpet backings.  

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THE NINE TYPES OF GREENWASH

 
Greenwash, the practice of deceptively or falsely portraying products as environmentally friendly, is pervasive in the building materials market.  Sometimes it slaps you in the face, but other times, it takes a more discerning eye to find it. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an excellent webinar presented by BuildingGreen’s Jennifer Atlee on Green Building Product Certifications.  Part of this presentation, which appears in BuildingGreen’s detailed certifications report, presents an expert breakdown of the “Nine Types of Greenwash.”  Here’s a hint: it’s not always in the label.

“The Nine Types of Greenwash,” coauthored by Atlee and Tristan Roberts, highlights not only the clearer examples of vague or unsubstantiated labeling and green associations, but also some more nuanced distinctions. For example, it lists “Forgetting the Life Cycle aka The Red Herring” as the practice of touting one environmental benefit while ignoring other harmful impacts.  We see this effect often in products that may, for example, have high recycled content but release toxic chemicals in their manufacturer or use.  Greenwash can also be found beyond the level of the product itself, manifesting in the policies and standards that a company chooses to fight or support.  For example, a company may publicly endorse environmental measures while privately lobbying to resist or weaken them – this type of greenwash is nicknamed “The Reluctant Enthusiast.”

The full list and description of the “Nine Types of Greenwash” is now available on BuildingGreen.com, as is a recording of the full certifications webinar.

A big part of our work here at the Pharos Project is promoting transparency, and we work to provide a complete picture of products’ environmental and health impacts so as to cut through the greenwash.  Unspecific or unproven claims are not rewarded in Pharos scores for a product, and progress in one impact area, while admirable, does not make up for poor performance in another.  This helps our subscribers to more carefully weigh the true impacts of products, and to pick out the true market leaders from the sea of green-marketed products.

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REFLECTIONS OF AN INTERN

 
As another beautiful summer rolls around, it is, once again, the time for summer interns around the nation to populate corporate offices! I, Victoria Adams, am one of these interns; I am an architecture student and summer intern at HKS, Inc. in Dallas, Texas. I attend Texas A&M University where in the fall I will continue my second year on the path to obtaining a bachelors degree in Environmental Design. Part of my daily work at HKS includes contributing to the data entry for the Pharos Project, therefore acting as an active member of the Pharos intern team. A couple of HBN Pharos staff members have requested that I share some of my discoveries, points of view, thoughts, etc. related to the Pharos Project periodically throughout the summer; and so it begins!

Data entry for the Pharos Project was a seemingly monumental task at first glance. Material Safety Data Sheets, 10 part Specification Sheets, manufacturing facilities; so much information was to be comprehended and documented. Once I became acquainted with the process, I renounced my insecurities and realized all that is required is a careful sifting of information. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and other product data are often easily accessible on the internet, making this sifting fairly simple. With the recent movement in society to render manufacturing processes and product content transparent, acquiring the product documentation is not the issue. The content of the documentation or lack of content poses the challenge in this search.

A recurring problem is the absence of the material makeup of products in their MSDS. The MSDS is a continuously referenced document in information entry because of the specific chemical information that is supposed to be included. Many times the part of the Material Safety Data Sheet reserved for the material listing is nothing but a blank square inside a barren chart. The EPA Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) exemptions allow for these manufacturers’ elusive material listings. There is a section of the product information on the Pharos site that is dedicated exclusively to the material composition of the product meant for the transferring of this information. The product’s MSDS often leaves this initial entry very sparse. This chemical and material data is used to identify health hazards, purpose and use of product, etc.  Therefore, having this information is imperative to aid the informed consumer’s opinion of the product. This is only a little taste of one road bump on the highway to publicizing product information. Though the Pharos Project is generating swift progress towards driving the building product market to become transparent, there is still progress to be made because of setbacks such as these.

I feel that in the short month that I have been working on Pharos for HBN, I have seen much growth and progress within Pharos. Despite the setbacks, large or small, the HBN Pharos staff forges ahead and assists the less experienced (interns) in their trials as well; utilizing open communication and a positive attitude. I am very excited to continue to contribute to the Pharos Project and anxious to witness the growth that will come this summer.

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US AGENCY CALLS OUT FORMALDEHYDE & STYRENE FOR CANCER

 
A two decade lobbying effort by industry has finally ended unsuccessfully with the US Department of Health & Human Service labeling formaldehyde as a known carcinogen. The congressionally mandated 12th Report on Carcinogens adds to assessments by a range of agencies from the state of California to EPA and the World Health Organization confirming the cancer-causing nature of this widely used chemical.  Formaldehyde-based compounds are widely used in building materials – most often as the glue that binds plywood, particle board, laminates, insulation and other products, but also as additives in drywall and treatments for fabrics. We’ve reported previously on efforts to reduce formaldehyde emissions from composite wood, the concerns of formaldehyde based binders in insulation and the progress being made to put alternative insulations on the market. Pharos helps you avoid formaldehyde by explicitly flagging its presence in products and allowing filtering of any search results to screen out all products using formaldehyde-based compounds.

While the formaldehyde announcement got the most attention, the styrene listing is arguably at least as important.  Termed “reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen” in the report, this is the strongest authoritative assessment of the cancer potential of styrene to be published to date. Styrene already raised concerns for asthma, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption and other health issues, but in Pharos scoring this cancer listing moves styrene from an orange (high concern) to a red (very high concern) flag and may affect toxicity scoring on a range of styrene containing products. Styrene is a building block of EPS and XPS foam insulations which were already under attack for a range of other human and environmental health reasons. Styrene is also used in high performance coatings and may remain as a residual contaminant in the contents of a wide range of Pharos-listed floorings, carpet backings and adhesives that are made of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR).  Click to see Pharos listings of products containing SBR. Remember that you can find product containing any chemical of concern by looking up its record in the Chemical and Material Library and clicking the red "Show products that contain this material" button.

The only easing of pressure on industry from this report came from the slight downgrading of concern for glass wool fibers in insulation, noting that they are less durable and bio-persistent than special purpose fibers  and so less likely to cause cancer. Beware of the of glass wool fibers use in high-efficiency air filters and acoustical insulation, however, as those fibers are more likely to cause problems.

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VIDEO: CHOOSING COMMERCIAL CARPET WITH PHAROS

 
Our partners at BuildingGreen made a great video demonstrating how to use Pharos to choose a commercial carpet.  This 5-minute demo includes how to use our carpet assembler, how to drill down into the product data in a product profile, and how to use filters to narrow a product search.

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