The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) and Healthy Materials Lab (HML) have formalised a collaboration to strengthen their shared focus on sustainable, non-toxic materials and healthier built environments. Both organisations advocate for nature-based solutions, indoor environments free from toxic materials and equitable access to healthy places and spaces: healthy homes = healthy people.
Challenges and opportunities
Key areas of concern include the current hesitancy to use mass timber and bio-based products (particularly post Grenfell in the UK), and the importance of reducing formaldehyde and removing various toxic chemicals such as PVC, PFAS, phthalates, from building products and advancing the adoption of nature-based products and systems.
Supportive tools
HML operates a materials library (physical and online) with vetted products and an extensive database, aiding design professionals in making sustainable choices. Similarly, ASBP’s EPD database serves as a resource for architects and specifiers, supporting efficient decision-making with reduced research time.
Future focus
Both ASBP and HML are keen to further promote and enable wider use of bio-based construction products to deliver improved health and well-being outcomes, and advocate for government and industry to support this. This partnership seeks to align efforts, resources, and knowledge to facilitate increased adoption of healthier, sustainable building practices while addressing pressing industry and environmental challenges.
In conversation with… Alison Mears, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Healthy Materials Lab
As a precursor to the collaboration announcement, and as a way to introduce each organisation to the others network, ASBP Director Debbie Ward facilitated a conversation with ASBP CEO Simon Corbey and HML Co-Founder Alison Mears. The conversation was wide ranging, covering topics such as nature-based solutions, the link between healthy buildings and healthier people, the importance of good indoor air quality, materials libraries, transparent and good quality data sharing, timber construction, and how regulation and policy can drive change.