Week 5: Material Content & Embodied Energy

1) The industry is moving from "cherry picking style labeling" to material ingredient disclosure in order to standardize how material ingredients are presented. Often times, through cherry picking ingredients, manufacturers are able to disclose the information that they want the public to see while hiding other aspects, such as harmful chemicals that may be part of their product. Through creating this standard list, the Health Product Declaration will more transparently show what is going in to each and every product and it will create a means to more clearly compare products (apples to apples).

2) Embodied energy is a part of everything we use in our day-to-day lives and in the United States, 6% of all energy consumed is used to manufacture and transport building materials. As architects and engineers continue to find and explore new materials that drive down the total energy used in buildings (building operations), embodied energy from the construction stage will become an increasingly larger percentage of the buildings total energy consumption over its lifetime. It will therefore be necessary to continue to innovate and find means to bring this number down as well.

3) If the BAC were to follow Google's example for healthy materials, I think it would be a multi-step process, however one that is feasible to accomplish.

     1. Compile a list of all building components currently in place at the BAC - ie. piping, HVAC equipment, lighting, wall types, etc.

     2. Using the above list as a base, explore alternative materials that could be used to replace the existing components.

     3. Reach out to architects and "green contractors" - ie. people within the building industry who are familiar with sustainability and have experience implementing it in the field.

     4. Document - it is of utmost importance to closely monitor and document all changes both during the construction phase and after. Many times contractors will cut corners to save money and it is important that they proceed according to the plan laid out in the design phase.

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