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About Us |
An Interview with Bill Walsh
BW: In 2000 I founded HBN in an effort to build a network of non-traditional allies dedicated to accelerating the use of healthier materials within the multi-billion dollar building and materials market. Because the building industry is largest materials economy in the US, and one of the largest sources of overall pollution, the careful selection of healthy building materials can improve the health of workers on the job, the individuals and families who live and work in buildings, and the communities that are impacted by the manufacture and disposal of building materials, far from the location of the building itself. GF: What do you mean by non-traditional allies? BW: We work with green building professionals such as architects and builders, environmental and health activists, socially responsible investment advocates, governments, corporate purchasing departments, affordable housing developers and others who are interested in promoting healthier building materials as a means of improving public health and preserving the global environment. For instance, we’ve worked with the State of Washington and the City of San Francisco to create purchasing policies for healthier building materials. We worked with representatives of the health care industry to create the first healthy, green building guide for health care institutions called the Green Guide for Healthcare (www.gghc.org). One of HBN's core principles is that environmentally friendly and healthy buildings must be available and accessible to all people, so we are working with developers of affordable housing to help them select healthy materials for their construction. GF: How does HBN decide what materials are healthier? BW: We identify the materials with the worst impacts and try to eliminate their use in favor of safer alternatives. The United Nations and environmental health advocates around the globe have identified certain Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBTs) as the chemicals that make the worst environmental impact. These chemicals disrupt chemical processes within the human body and many have been proven to be carcinogenic. They are highly toxic in small quantities, do not break down readily through natural processes, and accumulate up the food chain in the fatty tissues of animals, passing their toxicity on from one animal to the next in accumulating levels. These chemicals create a toxic legacy that will haunt us for decades because they don’t go away. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based products, mercury thermometers, lead solders and roofing materials, and certain paints and finishes release POPs and PBTs. Of this group, PVC-based building materials – also known as vinyl - are by far the highest volume and most ubiquitous. GF: HBN is leading a campaign to phase out the use of PVC, or vinyl, from the building industry. Tell us about that. BW: PVC is the worst plastic from an environmental health perspective, posing major hazards in its manufacture, product life and disposal. Global vinyl production totals over 30 million tons per year, and 75% of PVC is used in building. PVC is responsible for a significant portion of the world's burden of PTPs and endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are now universally present in the environment and the human population. When vinyl’s entire life cycle is taken into account, it becomes apparent that this plastic is one of the most environmentally hazardous consumer materials produced. Across the world, governments and companies are taking action to reduce or eliminate the use of vinyl. In virtually all European nations, certain uses of PVC have been eliminated. Scores of communities have PVC-avoidance policies, and dozens of green buildings have been built with little or no PVC, including hospitals. Leading manufacturers have developed PVC-free product lines, and more PVC-free products are appearing in the marketplace every month. We’re working to accelerate that trend in the US . GF: HBN led a successful anti-arsenic campaign. Tell us about that.
BW: Arsenic is a poison, but for twenty years it was the most common preservative applied to wood used to build playgrounds and outdoor decks in the United States. As a result, these structures, where children and families play and eat, are the largest source of arsenic exposure for an overwhelming majority of Americans. This source of arsenic exposure will now be virtually abolished as a result of a major victory won by HBN and our allies. Our campaign against pressure treated wood spearheaded by led the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to halt the manufacture and sale of arsenic-treated wood for most residential uses as of 2004. GF: HBN is working with GreenFaith to develop green building guidelines for religious institutions. Why is this project – Building in Good Faith - important? BW: We believe that sectors of society like the religious sector and the healthcare sector can play an important role in transforming attitudes about the health of building materials in the US. Right now, lots of debates about healthy building materials get bogged down in arguments about increased initial cost versus protecting the environment. There are a lot of special interests like the vinyl industry that don’t want to see a shift to healthier materials. We believe that if the country’s spiritual leaders, joining with leaders in healthcare, make a public statement about the importance of healthy building materials, that will begin to shift public opinion decisively.
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