Our lives are full of risk. While we know that risks are unavoidable, we can take steps to mitigate health risks as best we can. In this series, experts apply this approach to building. You will learn about the hazards hiding in building materials, risks of exposure to toxic chemicals, and strategies to reduce those risks.
Contributors
Mike Manzi
Specifications and Document Quality Manager, Bora Architects
CSI, CDT, LEED BD+C
Full Bio
Mike Manzi is an Associate Principal at Bora Architects, and manages specifications and document quality. He helps design teams select, specify, and detail materials and systems that contribute positively to human and ecological health. Mike has been involved with the creation and ongoing development of the Health Product Declaration as a founding HPD Collaborative Board member, and currently chairs the Technical Committee, overseeing the continuing evolution of the HPD open standard.
Bill Walsh
Founder and President, Healthy Building Network
Full Bio
Bill Walsh is the Founder and President of the Healthy Building Network (HBN). He is a Visiting Professor at Parsons The New School for Design, and a founding Board Member of the Health Product Declaration (HPD) Collaborative. In 2012 Bill received the US Green Building Council’s Leadership In Advocacy Award and was named a Fellow at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts. In 2013 Bill was awarded the Healthy Schools Hero by the Healthy Schools Network. Previously he served as a national campaign director at Greenpeace USA, and held staff attorney positions with the US Public Interest Research Group and the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center. He holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and LLM in Public Interest Advocacy.
Laura Vandenberg
Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director, University of Massachusetts School of Public Health and Health Sciences Department of Environmental Science
Full Bio
Laura Vandenberg is an Assistant Professor and the Graduate Program Director for the Environmental Health Sciences Department at University of Massachusetts Amherst's School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Her research explores how early life exposures to chemicals can predispose individuals to diseases that manifest later in life, and on how current risk assessment practices can be improved in the study and regulation of endocrine disruptors. She was a Center for Research on Family’s Research Scholar in 2015-16, and has published many articles on endocrinology and toxicology in peer-reviewed science journals. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. She holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from Cornell University and a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology from Tufts University School of Medicine.