1. MEDIA ADVISORY December 21, 2011
Leading Firms Endorse Health Product Declaration Open Standard Reporting Format
Contact: Bill Walsh, Executive Director Healthy Building Network (802)-380-9519
bill@healthybuilding.net
Nadav Malin, President BuildingGreen, Inc. (802)-579-4891
nadav@buildinggreen.com
Brattleboro, VT. The draft HPD (Health Product Declaration) Open Standard, a format for the reporting
of product content and associated health information of building products, has now been endorsed by
more than 40 leading firms across the building industry. The draft HPD Open Standard was endorsed by
24 “Founding Endorsers” when first announced at Greenbuild 2011 by the HPD Open Standard Working
Group, a voluntary association of experts from the community of building designers, specifiers, owners
and users convened by the Materials Research Collaborative, a joint initiative of the Healthy Building
Network and BuildingGreen, Inc. Today’s announcement brings the total number of endorsing
organizations to 45, representing architecture and design firms, building owners and developers,
construction firms, workflow management software developers, and influential non-profit
organizations.
“We’re very excited about growing support for the HPD Open Standard as a means for sustainability
leaders to more easily make informed decisions about the products they purchase and their impacts on
human health.” Said Bill Walsh, Director of the Materials Research Collaborative and Executive Director
of the non-profit Healthy Building Network.
The endorsers announced today include The Related Companies and Jonathan Rose Companies of New
York, which join The Durst Organization and Google in the building owner/developer category. Turner
Construction Company and Skanska join Pankow Construction as endorser from the construction
industry. Fifteen additional architecture, design and engineering firms have also endorsed the HPD Open
Standard since its introduction in October: Arup, BNIM, Boulder Associates Architects, Cook + Fox,
[eco]impact, Envision Design, GreeNexus, InsideMatters, Mazzetti Nash, Lipsey Burch, NBBJ, Oh planning
and design architecture, SEI, Terrapin Bright Green, WHR Architects & ZGF. The HPD was also endorsed
by GreenWizard, a product management software company, and Health Care Without Harm, an
international coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups,
health-affected constituencies, labor unions,environmental and environmental health organizations and
religious groups.
HPD Open Standard Founding Endorsers were: boora architects, Cannon Design, Center For Maximum
Potential Building Systems, Durst Organization, FXFowle, Gensler, Google, HDR, HLW, HKS, HOK,
International Living Future Institute, KMD, Mary Davidge Associates, Mithun, Pankow, Builders,
Perkins+Will, Sasaki Associates, SERA, Smith Group, Specifications Consultants, Symmes Maini & McKee
Associates, White+GreenSpec, Yost Grube Hall Architecture

2. “The response from leading design firms for this Open Standard shows how eager they are to have
consistent reliable information on product ingredients and health hazards,” said Nadav Malin, president
of BuildingGreen, Inc. “Many of them contributed actively to its development, and even more have lined
up to endorse it on very short notice.”
The HPD Open Standard will be administered by the HPD Open Standard Working Group, a voluntary
association of experts from the community of building designers, specifiers, owners and users. The HPD
Open Standard Working Group was convened in July 2011 by the Materials Research Collaborative, a
joint project of the Healthy Building Network and BuildingGreen, Inc.
The HPD Open Standard Working Group is currently developing a Pilot Program to test and refine the
Draft HPD Open Standard in preparation for the Version 1 release in mid 2012. More information about
the Pilot Program will be released in January 2012, including a list of 24 participating manufacturers.
An “Open Standard” is one held in the public domain, with its use intended to be freely licensed to all. It
is intended to be developed, maintained and evolved in an open process, encouraging widespread
industry participation and adoption.
More information about the Health Product Declaration (HPD) Open Standard is available at
www.hpdworkinggroup.org