2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 79

Information Sources on Materials
In the past, it was challenging to find information
about the environmental and human health
impacts of materials, but that is quickly changing.
Today, free databases and product libraries
are coming onto the market to help teams
source and compare products. A few of these
are the following:
Architecture 2030 Carbon Smart Materials
Palette: The Materials Palette helps teams
explore " carbon-smart " (low-carbon) alternatives
to traditional high-impact materials. The
company's interactive website provides in-depth
information about embodied carbon emissions
for common products.
EC3: The Embodied Carbon in Construction
Calculator, commonly referred to as EC3,
was one of the first online databases of environmental
product declarations (EPDs) for
products. An EPD provides information about
a product's environmental impact, including its
global warming potential (embodied carbon).
There are now EPDs for 111,000 products in the
database.
into a mineral and locked into the concrete,
where they cannot add to global warming.
Insulation is another product category
where bio-based alternatives are becoming
popular. Mycelium, the thin root fibers of
fungi, are packaged between wooden panels
where they create airtight insulating walls.
Free from petroleum-based substances, the
mycelium panels are nontoxic and recyclable
and perform just as well as traditional insulation
products.
These products and others hold the promise
of a regenerative materials economy that
supports the health of people, communities,
and ecosystems around the globe.
Construction and operations. Microsoft and
its contractors Skanska Balfour Beatty, Sellen
Construction, and GLY Construction worked
together to track and reduce carbon from
material transportation and construction activities
for Microsoft's Redmond, Washington,
campus modernization project, which involves
the construction of 17 buildings and roughly
3 million square feet (278,700 sq m) of new
workspace and amenities.
The team discovered that the emissions
from construction activities contribute to
about 10 to 20 percent of the project's total
mindfulMaterials portal: The mM portal is
a free online materials library based on the
Common Materials Framework, an industrycreated
system that organizes material impacts
into five " buckets " of sustainability: human
health, climate health, ecosystem health, social
health and equity, and circular economy. Users
can search, identify, and evaluate materials
based on the Common Materials Framework.
Healthy Building Network's Product Guidance:
HBN's Product Guidance ranks and
color-codes product types by their hazardous
chemical content with guidance for 13 common
product categories. HBN also recently launched
Informed, a free online tool that helps project
teams conduct materials modeling and product
screening at all stages of design.
embodied carbon emissions, more than
double their original estimate. Seeking alternative
modes of transport, using alternative fuels,
or using all-electric vehicles can support the
reduction of on-site carbon emissions.
During operations, developers and managers
can encourage tenants to leverage the
material libraries mentioned previously and
specify healthy, low-embodied carbon materials
for fit-outs and equipment replacements.
Office furniture, carpet tiles, and ceiling panels
can be reused many times before reaching
the end of their useful lives, saving carbon
emissions and reducing waste.
With the global building stock expected to
double by 2060, addressing embodied carbon
and material health is essential for achieving
net zero targets and ensuring healthy and
equitable communities for generations to
come. By reusing materials; specifying healthy,
low-carbon products; and seeking opportunities
to reduce carbon and chemicals at each
stage of development, the real estate sector
can create buildings and places that are good
for people and for the planet. UL
VICTORIA OESTREICH is a senior manager at the Urban
Land Institute, where she supports a wide array of programming and
research focused on the intersections of sustainability, health equity,
and the built environment.
SUMMER 2023
URBAN LAND
79
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2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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