Course / Events on Demand

Exposing “Luxury” Vinyl Flooring’s Carbon And Toxic Impacts

September 13, 2022

Watch a discussion between leading experts on healthier building about recommendations and solutions for specifying healthier resilient flooring.

Hosted by Center for Environmental Health, this presentation focuses on the prevailing perception in the building industry that Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are the gold standard for material transparency and a proxy for environmental integrity. CEH’s recent study “Flooring’s Dirty Climate Secret” reveals a different story.

CEH’s supply chain analysis of vinyl flooring manufacturing in the U.S. and China uncovered gaps and underreporting in existing EPDs - revealing the carbon and toxic impact of “luxury” vinyl flooring.

Hosted by Center for Environmental Health


Speakers:

Leila Behjat, Architect & Senior Researcher in Design and Practice, Parsons Healthy Materials Lab

Anjanette Green, Senior Director of Product Transformation, Healthy Building Network

Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet, Vice President, Determined by Design

Rachael Wein, Director, Built Environment Program at Center for Environmental Health

Contributors

Leila Behjat

Leila Behjat

Director of Material Ecology

Full Bio

Leila D Behjat has worked globally in the fields of architecture, interior, and lighting design on both residential and commercial projects, developing expertise in material ecology and renovation with healthier building materials. In her previous role as Senior Researcher in Material, Design, and Practice she curated publicly available collections of healthier, low-embodied construction products and methods and consulted on projects to achieve healthier, sustainable, and more circular spaces. In an ever-evolving industry, she is currently furthering her education with the German Sustainable Building Council DGNB and is actively engaged in community building, and learning about creating vibrant and thriving neighborhoods. Leila holds a Diplom-Ingenieur (Masters) in Architecture from Hafencity Universität, Germany, and was also a 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow.  

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