Healthier Materials: Design and Specification

Jim Vallette works to understand and explain industry’s impacts on people and the planet. He has authored dozens of groundbreaking investigative reports, and his findings have supported major global policy developments (e.g., the Basel Convention ban on toxic waste trade and national and international finance bans on overseas fossil fuel extraction). As Research Director of the Healthy Building Network for the last decade, he helped develop its groundbreaking research about how building materials are made and their impacts on building occupants, construction workers, fenceline communities, and the global environment.

Mikhail Davis is Director of Restorative Enterprise at Interface, the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet. He is responsible for advancing Interface’s globally recognized Mission Zero and Climate Take Back commitments in the Americas by building internal leadership capacity and creating external partnerships. He also chairs the LEED Materials & Resources Technical Advisory Group for the US Green Building Council.

Previously, Mikhail served as environmental icon David Brower’s manager, and spent five years with Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting building sustainable business strategies for Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University and is a certified Biomimicry Specialist.

Martha Lewis is a senior architect and Head of Materials at Henning Larsen Architects, where she established an office-wide material database with the firm’s sustainability department and implemented material strategies for projects with a focus on healthy, ethically viable, and environmentally tenable materials. With two decades of professional experience in Copenhagen and Berlin, Martha is currently involved in establishing a Danish/Nordic material declaration, and was a member of the Buildings as Material Banks shareholders network, which has worked to establish an EU material passport. In 2016, she participated in the advisory group for the Danish Environmental protection Agency’s“Undesirable Substances in Sustainable Buildings”, and she has been involved in the Danish Green Building Council’s adoption of the German building certification system since 2011. Martha holds a MArch from Washington University and a BA from Vassar College.

henninglarsen.com

An experienced executive and community development leader with a proven track record of providing creative solutions to complex real estate, housing policy, and community health issues, Gina Ciganik is nationally recognized for advancing policy initiatives and producing healthy, high-performance affordable housing. Gina was previously Senior Advisor for Housing Innovation at HBN and created and led their healthy materials expansion into the affordable housing sector with the HomeFree initiative. Prior to joining HBN, she spent 18 years at a Minneapolis-St Paul area affordable housing development organization as the Vice President of Housing Development. Gina led the development of thousands of affordable housing units, culminating in the construction of The Rose, a 90-unit apartment in downtown Minneapolis that set a new national standard for healthy material use in affordable housing.

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.

As the leader of Vidaris’ Green Services department, John Amatruda specializes in environmentally conscious design and the evaluation of “green”materials and systems. He has worked as a consultant on over 100 LEED projects nationwide and internationally, using all variations of the LEED commercial program. He has also authored a number of green building studies and publications, including the GSA LEED Cost Study for the US General Services Administration, the NYC Department of Buildings’ Energy Code Compliance Study, the Green Material Selection Guidelines for the web-based Whole Building Design Guide, and the Carbon Reduction Study for the United Nations Headquarters Renovation.

Mr. Amatruda is accredited as an International Assessor under the United Kingdom’s BREEAM green building rating system, and has been a LEED Accredited Professional since 2001. He was the first LEED AP registered in the State of Connecticut, as well as one of the first 30 faculty members hired by the USGBC, and was named a LEED Fellow in 2013.

Suzanne is a Research Director in Perkins+Will’s San Francisco office, co-directing the firm’s Materials Performance Lab. The Lab is the conduit for healthy materials knowledge, research, firm-wide dissemination, and implementation into projects. Her career has focused on commercial interiors, specializing in creating healthy environments, and she draws on over two decades of experience to support client initiatives and environmental goals. Suzanne develops content for the Transparency site, and was instrumental in developing the current Precautionary List, and has Her book EcoSoul: Save the Planet and Yourself by ReThinking your Everyday Habits was published in 2013, and she co-authored three installments of the Healthy Environments whitepaper series, including Strategies for Avoiding Flame Retardants in the Built Environment, What’s New (and What’s Not) With PVC, and Understanding Antimicrobial Ingredients in Building Materials.

Suzanne has 20 years of experience in design research and fashion, including being an early pioneer and proponent of biotechnology in textiles. She started growing microbial materials in 2003 and went on to establish Biocouture, the first biocreative consultancy. In 2014 Suzanne founded Biofabricate, a now annual summit uniting design, biology, and technology. She is a graduate of the celebrated design school Central Saint Martins in London, and her work has been featured widely in the media and exhibited globally. She is the author of Fashioning the Future: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe, and has been named a TED Senior Fellow and a Launch Material Innovator.

Anasa Laude leverages her background in higher education to provide rare insight and analysis to pressing community needs, serving as a research consultant on economic opportunity and climate change impact studies at the Urban Technical Assistance Project. For over 10 years, Anasa served in teaching and leadership roles in higher education including the graduate Strategic Design and Management at Parsons The New School University program, and the Environmental Economics Program at the City College of NY (CCNY).

Anasa was the director of fellowships at the Colin Powell School, where she also served as Leader in Residence. She was the co-founder and Managing Director of Greenproofing, Inc. a sustainable business consultancy, founded in partnership with faculty at the City College of NY.

Anasa has served as an advisor to several entrepreneurship hubs including Juntobot, the Zahn Innovation Center. She received a BA in Economics and an MA in Finance from CCNY. She sits on the board of NY Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Anasa is a certified LEED Green Associate with the US Green Building Council.

Jeff Frost is a Project Manager at Brightworks Sustainability, a consulting firm that helps clients in over 25 industries establish and implement sustainability programs. He is recognized as a national subject matter expert on a wide array of material issues affecting the built environment.

Jeff is the co-founder of the national mindful MATERIALS program, an industry-led initiative to make it easier for building professionals to select products with health and environmental attributes. He is an invited member of the American Institute of Architects Material Knowledge Working Group and the Health Product Declaration Collaborative, where he co-chairs the Content Inventory Technical Sub-Group, tasked with improving the content and structure of the HPD. He will be joining the USGBC’s MR TAG starting in 2018.

A GreenBiz 30 under 30 sustainable business leader, James Connelly provides strategic leadership for the ILFI’s corporate and manufacturing initiatives, including the Living Product Hub, Living Product Challenge, Just, Declare, and the Handprint Label. James leads the Institute’s strategic consulting for corporations and conducts technical consulting for high profile Living Building Challenge projects both in the US and internationally.

Prior to joining the Institute in 2012, James received a Fulbright fellowship to conduct research on green building rating systems in China. James is a frequent national and international speaker on regenerative design, sustainable business, ecological manufacturing, and affordable housing. He is an avid writer, and his research and commentaries have been featured in news outlets such as China Dialogue, Trim Tab, BuildingGreen, GreenBiz, and Engineering News Record.

Frances leads the Sustainable Materials Consulting practice for the Americas region of Arup. She serves on the HPDC Technical Committee and recently served as vice-chair of the Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group of USGBC. She also contributes to the AIA Materials Knowledge working group and the Cradle to Cradle and Carbon Leadership Forum. Frances holds a Masters in engineering from UC Berkeley.

Rhys joined MSR in 1992 as a student intern, and in 1993 as a full-time staff member. His work at MSR has touched a broad range of projects, including libraries, cultural facilities, spaces for nonprofit organizations, and affordable housing. For Rhys, design goes much deeper than just a building. While building trust and a rapport with clients over the last decade, he has sought to establish a strong and vibrant design language for affordable housing, and has developed a passion for exploring the balance between equity distribution within the affordable housing industry and critical thinking. Rhys has a deep interest in data-driven design, and has been a guest lecturer at numerous national and international conferences. His work has received several awards, including an Urban Land Institute Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award for the Rose, a mixed-income housing project in downtown Minneapolis.

Chris Hellstern is an author and the Living Building Challenge Services Director with The Miller Hull Partnership in Seattle. His recent book, Living Building Education, chronicles his work and the story behind the Bertschi School Living Building. Chris served as a Cascadia Branch member and Living Building Ambassador for ILFI, founded Seattle 2030 Roundtable, and co-founded the Healthy Materials Collaborative. A Living Future Accredited professional, Chris has been a guest speaker at numerous conferences and universities across the country, and he mentors students about sustainable practices and advocacy. He also publishes articles and volunteers with local school groups.

Jonsara Ruth is co-founder and Design Director of Healthy Materials Lab (HML) at Parsons School of Design, where she is an Associate Professor and Founding Director of the MFA Interior Design program. At HML, Jonsara brings creative leadership to the ambitious goal of improving the health of underserved communities through the transformation of design and material practices. Drawing from over a decade as a designer in the furniture and interiors industries, Jonsara brings her understanding of manufacturing, supply chains, labor practices, and a penchant for democratic design to her roles at HML and Parsons. She draws from her artistic practice to creatively lead, motivate change, and inspire new methods for making and imagining futures.

She founded Salty Labs, a design collective, to experiment and implement ideas of circularity with healthy, low-carbon materials and strategies, working closely with local artisans to design interiors, furniture, and experiences. With Q Collection Junior, she designed the world's first Greenguard Certified crib for children. Her work is seen internationally in numerous publications, exhibitions, and people’s homes. Jonsara’s lifelong creative goal is to serve society and culture through her work.

Jonsara graduated with a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, and currently serves on the board of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.

Together with Alison Mears, Jonsara was awarded the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award.

Paul has 26 years of professional experience and holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Texas-Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tulane University. As a registered architect and MSR principal, Paul shares leadership of the firm’s focus on creating highly sustainable and healthy living and work environments. His design work has achieved notable recognition, including an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota/McKnight Foundation Affordable Housing Design Award for the Trolley Quarter Flats project and an AIA Minnesota Honor Award and Environmental Initiative Award for the Rose mixed-income housing project with Aeon. Paul received the 2013 AIA Minnesota Louis Lundgren Award for his exemplary volunteerism. He actively donates his time, including serving as president of the East Downtown Council and president of the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Museum of American Art.

Jack Dinning is a designer and research strategist committed to making healthier environments for vulnerable populations, specifically through the elimination of toxic building materials.  As Director of the Donghia Healthier Materials Library, he led educational initiatives aimed at making concepts of material-health and toxicology more approachable to designers, providing frameworks for evaluating materials and their environmental impacts, and advised on architectural strategies for “designing-out” potential hazards. Through collaborations with firms such as LTL Architects and Bernheimer Architecture, his work advocates for the populations most vulnerable to exposures, from young children who are likely at critical stages of development to seniors in affordable housing who may have already faced a lifetime of exposures.

Jack holds a B.A. in Architectural Studies from Middlebury College and a Masters in Architecture from Parsons School of Design.

As Director of the Healthy Materials Lab, Alison leverages her practice-based experience as an architect and her knowledge and experience as a long-term academic leader to confront one of the more serious and often overlooked environmental challenges of our time: the health of the built environment. How do we make profound and long-term changes to everyday design practice to create truly healthy buildings, especially for those in the most need of affordable housing? HML creates resources, educational programming, and prototypical innovative housing models for a new post-petroleum world. Alison is co-Principal Investigator of the Healthy Affordable Materials Project (HAMP). The Project is a long-term coalition of four organizations that work together to remove harmful chemicals from the built environment. She is also the recipient of multiple grants that support the work of the Lab.

Alison’s work draws from the long tradition at The New School University’s commitment to promoting community-based sustainability, social engagement, and environmental justice, especially in her teaching in architectural design studios at Parsons. She lectures widely disseminating current thinking within the field of material health.

Alison Mears and Jonsara Ruth were awarded the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award from Architectural Record and co edited the 2023 publication “Material Health: Design Frontiers”.