Perkins + Will have revealed a tool, that has been recently updated, on their Transparency website. The idea behind the tool is to highlight the dangerous building materials and motivate architects to choose better alternatives for their line of work.
The Precautionary List of hazardous materials was established by Perkins + Wills in 2008. Then, it was followed by the Transparency website in 2011. The website, now, includes a database to enable the designer to easily look for materials and their healthier options. The search is quite easy thanks to filters like product type, project type, and environmental and health effects.
New data has been incorporated into the entries, which are mentioned under subtitles, depicting the use of the materials in addition to its effects on both environment and health. The database also shows the ways of how personnel can be endangered to such materials as well as the government restrictions and the industry evaluation system.
Two lists have been recently incorporated into the website, one of them is the ‘Watch List”. The ‘Watch List’ lists the items that are assumed to be harmful, but still, no sufficient research was done to support such a claim. The second list is the ‘Sunset List’, and that one lists items which were previously on the Precautionary List but are not abundantly used anymore.
“Our goal is to spur further industry transformation so that, one day, we can have peace of mind that all materials used to build and furnish our homes, workplaces, schools, hospitals, and other places are healthy and safe,” Mary Dickinson commented, who is a senior associate at the architectural firm and a co-chair of the Perkins + Will Material Performance Research Lab. “With our updated Precautionary List and Transparency website, we’re helping fellow designers take note of new, emerging, and known health hazards so that they can make more informed product decisions.”
You can learn more about the Transparency Website Update here.
Also, you can also check out the new features of the website at https://transparency.perkinswill.com/
