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Current Newsletter:
Read This Book (May 7, 2008)
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Read This Book
For nearly a decade, the chemical, plastics and timber industries have been attacking efforts by the US Green Building Council to establish LEED™ credits that would discourage the use of materials such as vinyl and unsustainably harvested timber. A new book will change your perspective on these enduring controversies.
In Doubt Is Their Product, Dr. David Michaels, a former Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health under President Clinton, exhaustively documents the rise of the product defense industry and its strategy of using scientific discipline to establish controversies rather than establish facts, as a means of frustrating efforts to address public health risks from asbestos, benzene, aspirin (Reye's syndrome in children) global warming and vinyl. The book casts a new light on the long campaign by chemical, plastics and timber industries opposing LEED™ credits that discourage the use of vinyl and unsustainable timber products.
Certification Manipulation
This issue of the Healthy Building News examines a controversial effort by the PVC industry to weaken Underwriters Laboratories' performance standards for PVC pipes. This case illuminates many of the concerns we have about trade association manipulation of green product standards and certifications, but at a distance that we think offers readers an informative perspective and context for the issues we face in the green building movement. We asked attorney Pamela Gilbert, formerly Executive Director of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, to explain what is at stake.
Looking Forward to 2008
First things first -- Thank You to our readers for the encouragement and support you have given to the Healthy Building News. Your ongoing interest in and support of our work is one of the reasons why the past five years have been a success.
GREENBUILD 2007, FROM A to Z
Earlier this month, the Healthy Building Network (HBN) attended Greenbuild, the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) annual conference and exhibition in Chicago, Illinois. As in previous years, we could be found at our non-profit tabletop on the exhibition floor, where the real networking happens, rumors swirl, and you get a feel for the state of the green building movement. With apologies for its extended length (it was a big conference) here are the perspectives we gained, from A to Z, from our post at Tabletop 18, the HBN exhibit at Greenbuild 2007.
Schwarzenegger Bans PVC Additive In Toys
Seven years ago, the Vinyl Institute claimed to the USGBC Technical Science Advisory Committee investigating PVC building materials that health concerns about vinyl additives known as phthalates, which are used to make vinyl soft and flexible, are "completely untrue." This month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation prohibiting the use of phthalates in childcare products designed for babies and children under three years of age: "To protect the health of our state's children."
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