FROM THE EDITOR

In an ideal world, high-performance buildings would always be constituted from high-performance building products. But what does “high-performance building product” mean? A roof that lasts longer than it’s competition? A more energy efficient chiller? A paint that doesn’t off-gas? A flooring product with a particular green certification?

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Especially in the last several years, and with the advent of LEEDv4 and its controversial new credits on selecting building products, the already strong opinions about what really is a high-performance building product have gotten stronger…and louder.

When it comes right down to it, however, a high-performance building product is exactly what you think it should it be. That’s not a cop-out, it’s a truth. If your organization is worried about its supply chain, and therefore the raw materials and embodied energy in products, then those two criteria will be part of your high-performance definition. If your organization is working on inventorying its greenhouse gas emissions, and as part of that,  emissions required to produce products entering its facilities need to be calculate, well, then finding that information will be a priority. For many organizations, good old stalwarts like cost and performance are the hallmarks of high-performance. And that’s fine too.

More and more resources are available these days to help facility managers make more informed decisions about. You’ve probably been hearing about Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Health Product Declarations (HPDs) for awhile now. These “nutrition labels for building products” are a great way to help weigh different product criteria against each other.

For a long time, EPDs and HPDs had been the victim of the “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” type issue — manufacturers weren’t subjecting their products to be tested and certified for EPDs because no one in the industry was asking for them, and no one in the industry was asking for them, because they understood that very few manufacturers had them available.

That’s changing very quickly, as LEEDv4 now offers points for collecting EPDs and HPDs for building products. All you need to do find out how quickly this has changed is to make a stroll through any building products exhibit hall these days. You may be surprised how many manufacturers really do have EPDs and HPDs available, and how proud they are of having completed them.  

Therefore, many more in the industry — both architects and end users — are incorporating the information included in HPDs and EPDs into their product selection process.  As always, I'm interested to hear from you. What factors do you consider when looking for high-performance building products? Have you requested EPDs or HPDs from manufacturers? What was that process like?

Cheers,

Greg Zimmerman, editor  

 

HIGH-PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Why Environmental Product Declarations Are Important

This story explains what EPDs are, and why they’re becoming the new normal for product selection criteria.

 

IN THE NEWS

LEEDv4 Offers Points for HPDs and EPDs

This guide from USGBC helps explain the new credits that give points for using products for which EPDs and HPDs have been developed.

 

HIGH-PERFORMANCE MULTIMEDIA

Sustainability Improvements Require Organizational Buy-In

In this short video, Carlos Santamaria, vice president, engineering services for Glenborough, LLC, explains why nothing gets done unilaterally in an organization, especially when it comes to sustainability.