This fall, Healthy Materials Lab convenes partners across design, manufacturing, policy, farming, and research to examine what healthier, carbon-smart building looks like in current practice. From two events at Greenbuild NYC to the next installment of our From Field to Form series, this season’s programming follows biobased materials from field and forest to the sea. Registration details will follow in the coming weeks; for now, we invite you to save the dates.
HML AT GREENBUILD NYC
Healthy Materials Lab will be on the ground at Greenbuild NYC for multiple gatherings. These conversations bracket the questions we care about most: what materials are made of, what happens to them after use, and how we can continue to advance a healthy materials future.
RECYCLING AT SCALE
October 20-23, 2026, Greenbuild NYC
In partnership with Hydro, we will host a series of workshops focused on recycling at large scale; what it takes to keep permanent materials in circulation, and how recycled content improves the health and carbon story of a building product. Expect participatory sessions, new research, and materials you can hold. Full schedule coming soon. Register through Greenbuild.
GROWN IN GOTHAM
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 7:00 PM, The Taystee Lab Building
Following Greenbuild’s opening reception, and in collaboration with RMI, Gotham Foundry, BBMC, ILFI and others, we will convene architects, engineers, material innovators, and others working to advance bio-based construction and transition to a post-petroleum future. Featuring short talks and hands-on opportunities to explore hemplime, mycelium, mass timber, and other materials, the evening will look at what is being built today and what it takes to bring bio-based materials into wider use. This event is invite only, and space is limited.
MARINE MATERIALS
LIBRARY EXHIBITION: MARINE MATERIALS
October 16 - November 11, 2026, Donghia healthier Materials Library, New York, NY
Opening October 16th in the Donghia Healthier Materials Library, Marine Materials explores how seaweed, algae, and other marine-derived materials are reshaping healthier design, from textiles and natural dyes to bioplastics, construction, and insulation. From drifting sargassum and eelgrass meadows to mussel byssus threads, crustacean-derived chitosan, and the shells washed up along our shores, the exhibition traces how life from the ocean floor is being reimagined as the building blocks of tomorrow’s materials. The exhibition runs through Field to Form: Marine Materials on November 11th, when the featured materials will be on display alongside conversation with the makers and researchers behind them. Free and open to The New School community and library visitors.
FROM FIELD TO FORM: MARINE MATERIALS
Wednesday, November 11, 2026, 6:00 PM, The New School, New York, NY
Oceans regulate the climate and shelter immense biodiversity. They are also a source of possibility for eliminating plastics from the built environment: sargassum can become blocks for construction, seagrass has long served as thatch and now as insulation panels, and kelp farms could supply biobased products at scale. In the next installment of From Field to Form, hosted in collaboration with The Architectural League, we convene experts in ocean farming and sourcing alongside manufacturers and designers to ask how we can learn from, repair, and build with the world’s oceans. Registration coming soon.
This season’s programming shares a common premise: materials that are healthier for people are often better for the climate as well. Many Plastic-free materials are available to specify and build with today. Across a trade show floor at the Javits Center, a gathering in Harlem, and a public conversation at The New School, we will examine these materials and how they’re moving into standard practice.
We’ll announce registration links and full schedules in the coming weeks. We invite you to save these dates and join us.
In the meantime, explore our expert-led online courses, our research on climate, chemicals, and human health, and our vetted material collections.
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