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

Materials & processes

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification Part 17: GAF & Isolatek

By Sustainable Minds on September 27, 2020

Recorded September 24, 2–3pm

Welcome to our webinar series featuring building product MFRs making credibly greener & healthier products. Whether you're a MFR or an AECO you'll find value in hearing these product and marketing leaders share stories about their transparency journeys, strategies and innovations.

This week's stories are particularly interesting to hear together, one that's been investing in transparency for years and one that's more recently started.

Sustainable Minds Announces Transparency Catalog v3.0: Now with all Declare® labels AND all HPDs and environmental product declarations (EPD) for building products in North America, with even more powerful MasterFormat® filtering

By Sustainable Minds on September 14, 2020

Do even more in 1 click. Now with 1,500+ brands, across 25 CSI MasterFormat® divisions and 800 sections, Transparency Catalog v3.0 provides deeper and more useful integration of partner data plus new tools that make it even easier to work the way you want, to get the best results – fast.

Cambridge, MA, September 14, 2020 – Sustainable Minds today announced the availability of the Transparency Catalog v3.0, continuing the company’s commitment to deliver simple, easy to use and powerful tools. With this release, architecture, engineering, construction professionals and owners (AECOs) can now find all manufacturers and the Declare labels and Living Product certifications for their products in each CSI MasterFormat® division and section – in 1 click.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification Part 16: Excel Dryer on Air vs. Paper PLUS Transparency Catalog v3.0 sneak preview!

By Sustainable Minds on July 24, 2020

Recorded Tue, Jul 21, 2–3pm ET

Welcome to our webinar series featuring building product MFRs making credibly greener & healthier products. Both MFRs and AECOs will find value in hearing product and marketing leaders share stories about their transparency journeys, strategies and innovations.

For over 50 years, Excel Dryer has been manufacturing the finest American made hand dryers featuring the XLERATOR® Hand Dryer.
Visit the Showroom.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification, Part 15: National Gypsum & FLEXCO

By Sustainable Minds on June 25, 2020

Recorded Tue, Jun 23, 2–3pm ET

Welcome to our webinar series featuring building product MFRs making credibly greener & healthier products. Whether you're a MFR or an AECO you'll find value in hearing these product and marketing leaders share stories about their transparency journeys, strategies and innovations.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification, Part 14: Intl. Cellulose, ISE Logik & Unilock

By Sustainable Minds on May 19, 2020

Recorded Thu, May 14, 12–1pm ET

Welcome to our webinar series featuring building product MFRs making credibly greener & healthier products. Whether you're a MFR or an AECO you'll find value in hearing these product and marketing leaders share stories about their transparency journeys, strategies and innovations.

Join us to learn about

  • Which products have disclosures; what they learned and been doing to improve
  • Project & application stories
  • Using product transparency to make better informed specification decisions
  • How to use the Transparency Catalog – Do more in 1 click!

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification: Using the EC3 tool & Transparency Catalog to make lower embodied carbon decisions

By Sustainable Minds on April 8, 2020

Recorded Thu, Apr 2, 2–3pm ET

Using EPDs to make decisions about which products have better environmental performance isn't simple, but now there’s the EC3 tool.

Since going live at Greenbuild 2019, 5,000+ people have signed up for Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) accounts! The EC3 tool is a collaborative, open-source industry-led sustainability platform that helps professionals make better decisions about embodied carbon in construction, and enables supply chain accountability.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification, Part 13: BASF & USG

By Sustainable Minds on March 6, 2020

Recorded Wed, Feb 26, 2–3pm ET

Welcome to our webcast series featuring manufacturers making credibly greener and healthier products. Learn how they are working to understand and improve the environmental performance and material health of their products.
Check out the BASF and USG listings.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification: 2020 Product Transparency Trend Report

By Sustainable Minds on February 25, 2020

Recorded Tue, Feb 18, 2–3pm ET

From Early Mainstream to Specification Requirement

Today, there are 1,270+ MFRs producing thousands of transparency disclosures (EPDs & material ingredient) across 21 CSI MasterFormat® divisions.

Since the 2016 launch of the Transparency Catalog, Sustainable Minds has tracked the demand for, and creation of, product transparency disclosures. Increasingly, architects, contractors, engineers and owners have become more knowledgeable about what the disclosures mean. Environmental performance and material health are performance criteria. To design and construct actually higher-performing buildings, actually higher-performing products must be specified.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification Part 12: CIMA–CIMAC deliver the first industry EPD for Loose-Fill Cellulose Insulation, a carbon-storing material

By Sustainable Minds on January 22, 2020

Recorded Mon, Jan 20, 2–3pm ET | 11–12pm PT

Welcome to our webcast series featuring manufacturers making credibly greener and healthier products. Learn how they are working to understand and improve the environmental performance and material health of their products.

Transparency is the New Green in Product Selection and Specification: Introducing Transparency Catalog / EC3 tool integration and NEW lower cost, product and facility-specific EPDs

By Sustainable Minds on December 22, 2019

recorded Thu, Dec 12, 12–1pm ET | 9am PT

AECOs: The Transparency Catalog now includes EC3 tool results making it super easy to find lower embodied carbon products in every MasterFormat® section in 1 click.

Find all EPDs from a manufacturer with Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) tool results. Results link directly to the EC3 tool to enable comparisons within the category or to start modeling a project. Connecting the last mile: in the EC3 tool, manufacturer and EPD pages link to their Transparency Catalog listing for product and contact information to help get the product into the specification.