Perspectives on greener product development and manufacturing from Sustainable Minds, our partners, customers and contributors.

  • First Program Operator Consortium Launched for Environmental Product Declarations Market at Greenbuild 2015

    by Sustainable Minds on November 17, 2015

    WASHINGTON, November 17, 2015 — On Wednesday, four key green-building stakeholder organizations (ASTM International, ICC Evaluation Service, NSF International and Sustainable Minds) will launch the first Program Operator Consortium in the industry. The signing will take place at Greenbuild 2015 at the ASTM International booth (#3313) at 10:30 a.m.

    The consortium will serve as an expert resource and advocate for creating product category rules (PCRs), reviewing life cycle assessment (LCA) reports, and verifying and publishing environmental product declarations (EPDs). The consortium members will pool resources, leverage existing relationships, jointly conduct outreach, marketing, education and communications, and promote the overall use of PCRs, LCAs and EPDs in the marketplace.

    Manufacturers, design professionals and others will begin to see co-branded, verified EPDs from the consortium members, providing value to decision makers when specifying materials and products while helping manufacturers gain greater visibility for their product transparency work.

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Certifications & labeling, Green Economy, In the press, Innovation, Life cycle assessment, Manufacturing, Marketing, Materials & processes, Standards & regulations

  • Creating SM Transparency Reports using any PCR

    by Sustainable Minds on November 16, 2015

    Recorded Thur, Nov 12 | 2pm ET/11am PT

    Liberating manufacturers from having only one EPD option: a technical disclosure

    Our compatibility process enables manufacturers to create SM Transparency Reports, our brand of EPD, using any PCR in any industry ensuring the LCA rules are the same, only the Type III environmental declaration is different.

    SM Transparency Reports are strategic marketing tools that showcase both functional and environmental performance in a concise, easy to understand format for decision-makers to make informed greener purchase decisions.

    1. They describe what manufacturers are actually doing to make products greener.
    2. Add material assessment results & interpretation for comprehensive reporting.
    3. They're in the cloud, freely available and in one click, connect buyers and sellers.

    Leverage your investments in product transparency and help your customers earn LEED v4 credits by making LCA, environmental performance & material health information understandable and meaningful.

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Life cycle assessment, Manufacturing, Marketing, Materials & processes, Webcast

  • The SM Material Health Overview – The Launch | Green Circle Certified and Clean Production Action

    by Sustainable Minds on October 17, 2015

    Partner Webcast Series, Fourth of 4
    Recorded Tues, Oct 13 | 2pm ET/11am PT

    Join Terry Swack, Sustainable Minds Founder & CEO, Annie Bevan, Certification & Operations Manager at Green Circle and Mark Rossi, Interim Executive Director at Clean Production Action to learn about the differences and benefits of the material health evaluation programs and how the Manufacturer Inventory and Green Circle Certified LEED v4 compliant certification can help manufacturers meet their material transparency needs.

    Learn about each program's differences and benefits and how assessment results can:

    • Help make better PRODUCT design decisions
    • Help make better PROJECT design decisions
    • Be used to create an MHO to transform disclosure into brand value by integrating product transparency into product marketing and value by integrating product transparency into product marketing

    The webinar will also help you to:

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Webcast

  • Webcast: The SM Material Health Overview – The Launch | Standardizing material health reporting to drive healthier building product purchase decisions

    by Sustainable Minds on October 17, 2015

    Partner Webcast Series, Third of 4
    Recorded Tues, Oct 6 | 2pm ET/11am PT

    Join Terry Swack, Sustainable Minds Founder & CEO and Stacy Glass, VP of Built Environment at Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute to learn about the differences and benefits of the material health evaluation programs and how Cradle to Cradle product certification and Material Health Certificate can:

    1. Help manufacturers understand the disclosure and rating system options, the differences and benefits of the various material health evaluation programs and how to choose what's is right for them.

    2. Introduce the SM Material Health Overview, the next in our suite of Transparency Products. The MHO is an innovative cloud-based marketing tool that makes material evaluation data understandable and meaningful by distilling the essential technical information from a disclosure and describing in plain language what it means and what the manufacturer is doing to improve.

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Webcast

  • Webcast: The SM Material Health Overview – The Launch | Health Product Declaration (HPDC)

    by Sustainable Minds on October 5, 2015

    Partner Webcast Series, First of 4
    Recorded Thur, Sept 24 | 2pm ET/11am PT

    Join Terry Swack, Sustainable Minds Founder & CEO and Wendy Vittori, HPDC Executive Director to learn about the differences and benefits of the material health evaluation programs and how HPD results can:

    • Help manufacturers make better PRODUCT design decisions
    • Help AEC professionals make better PROJECT design decisions
    • Be used to create a Material Health Overview to transform disclosure into brand value by integrating product transparency into product marketing.

    Sustainable Minds, the first cloud software provider and program operator to focus on simplified and understandable environmental reporting, has introduced the SM Material Health Overview (MHO) — the next in its suite of Transparency Products.

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Webcast

  • Webcast: The SM Material Health Overview – The Launch | International Living Future Institute

    by Sustainable Minds on October 5, 2015

    Partner Webcast Series, Second of 4
    Recorded Thur, Sept 24 | 2pm ET/11am PT

    Join Terry Swack, Sustainable Minds Founder & CEO and James Connelly, Director of the Living Product Challenge at the International Living Future Institute to learn about the differences and benefits of the material health evaluation programs and how Declare label can:

    • Help manufacturers make better PRODUCT design decisions
    • Help AEC professionals make better PROJECT design decisions
    • Be used to create a Material Health Overview to transform disclosure into brand value by integrating product transparency into product marketing.

    Also, Kristen Girts, Assoc. Quality Engineer at TOTO USA will discuss her process and experience of doing LCA and material health evaluation concurrently.

    ---

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Webcast

  • TOTO Is The First Plumbing Manufacturer To Earn The International Living Future Institute's Prestigious Declare Label And Offer Sustainable Minds' New Material Health Overview

    by Sustainable Minds on September 16, 2015

    Company Continues to Set the Standard for Plumbing Product Transparency and Material Health Evaluation

    MORROW, Ga., Sept. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Committed to transparency in the manufacture of products that contribute to a healthy, sustainable environment, TOTO announced today that it has achieved another plumbing industry first by offering material health evaluations for an initial six high-efficiency toilets (HETs). TOTO is now the only plumbing manufacturer whose products have earned the International Living Future Institute's (IFLI) Declare label and are listed in the Declare Products Database.

    Declare Labels
    Often compared to the nutritional labeling found on packaged food, Declare labels focus on specific information important to consumers and building industry professionals by offering a transparent platform for the disclosure of materials, chemicals and elements known to pose risks to human health or the environment. After a thorough investigation of their constituent materials, TOTO's initial six HETs have been listed in the Declare database as Living Building Challenge Compliant or "declared."

    Continue reading >
    Categories: In the press

  • New SM Material Health Overview standardizes material health reporting to drive healthier building product purchase decisions

    by Sustainable Minds on September 12, 2015

    Announcing Partnerships with Leading Material Health Evaluation Organizations

    (Cambridge, MA) SEP 14, 2015 – Sustainable Minds, the first cloud software provider and program operator to focus on simplified and understandable environmental reporting, has introduced the SM Material Health Overview — the next in its suite of Transparency Products. The SM Material Health Overview (MHO) is a strategic marketing and lead generation tool for building product manufacturers to inform safer and healthier purchase decisions. They make material health information understandable and meaningful by distilling the essential technical information from a disclosure, providing plain language interpretation and describing what the manufacturer is doing to improve. Based on the award-winning SM Transparency Report™, an innovation in environmental product declaration (EPD) design and delivery, the SM Material Health Overview also includes functional performance information and product specifications.

    Continue reading >
    Categories: In the press

  • Webcast: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 10: Making Scalable Solutions

    by Sustainable Minds on June 26, 2015

    On May 28th, we held the tenth in a series of webcasts featuring educators from leading colleges and universities demonstrating how Sustainable Minds is being used in education. Modeling product concepts is the start of a journey to scaling production. Environmental performance can be included every step of the way. Learn from educators with diverse backgrounds, how they are working with students to advance and inform product design through life cycle thinking. They will share how they use Sustainable Minds to engage students in the essential conversation about measuring and interpreting results.

    Continue reading >
    Categories: Innovation, Life cycle assessment, SM in education, Webcast

  • Sustainable Minds Transparency Report Program™ Earns Top Product of the Year Award from Environmental Leader

    by Sustainable Minds on April 24, 2015

    CAMBRIDGE, MA, APRIL 2: Sustainable Minds®, a B2B cloud provider of environmental product transparency applications, data and services, today announced that the Sustainable Minds Transparency Report™ Program received a Top Product of the Year Award in the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards. Judges considered it to be an exemplary product.

    The Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards is a program recognizing excellence in products and services that provide companies with energy and environmental benefits, or in projects implemented by companies that improved environmental or energy management and increased the bottom line.

    “We had more entries than ever this year, and competition was tough. The winners showed innovation and the ability to help transform the fields of energy and sustainability management,” says Paul Nastu, publisher of Environmental Leader. “Entries that were awarded Top Product or Project of the Year are those that should be carefully considered by companies seeking to improve operations and boost the bottom line.”

    Continue reading >
    Categories: In the press