Health Product Declarations: A New Era of Product Transparency
Bill Walsh, Executive Director, Healthy Building Network
ABSTRACT
Health Product Declarations are the first open standard format for reporting contents and chemical
hazards in building products. Its proponents believe it will make buildings healthier, and the building
materials supply chain more innovative and transparent. There is a rapidly growing movement within the
building products industry to embrace transparency and avoid using toxic chemicals. Programs like the
Health Product Declaration (HPD) are empowering consumers to demand transparency and creating new
platforms for manufacturers to communicate. This session will provide an overview of the initiatives
driving the movement, explain how the Health Product Declaration works, and how as market leading
companies are embrace the HPD, it will reduce chemical hazards in green buildings and building
materials.
BIOGRAPHY
Bill Walsh is the Founder and Executive Director of the Healthy Building Network (HBN). Since 2000
HBN has been defining the leading edge of healthy building practices that increase transparency in the
building products industry, reduce human exposures to chemicals in building products, and create market
incentives for healthier innovations in manufacturing. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Health
Product Declaration (HPD) Collaborative. The HPD is the first open, standard format for reporting building
product contents and associated health hazards. In 2012 Bill received the US Green Building Council’s
Leadership In Advocacy Award and was named a Fellow at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
at the University of Massachusetts.