Virtual Session
12:00 - 1:00 PM
According to the EPA, prior to the current health crisis, Americans spend more than 90% of our time indoors. Our working, healing, commercial, and living spaces are filled with toxic chemicals found in the building materials that make up our environments. These chemicals may be released into our interior spaces where they can be inhaled, absorbed and ingested. Scientific studies show that exposures to these chemicals can adversely impact human health and have dangerous health effects on our families. In this presentation, we look more closely at this problem and share design strategies we have developed, to change practice and ensure that healthier materials are installed on your projects.
About the Presentation:
Learn about how to engage all stakeholders, set health criteria and create frameworks that can be implemented so that the process of specification and design innovation produces the best and healthiest built work.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the relationship between human health, building materials, chemical toxicity, and environmental exposures
- Identify the health and environmental impacts that building products can have throughout their life cycle
- Identify products that are likely to be healthier options and evaluate them against your own criteria.
- Understand materials in a wider environmental and human health context, compare products, assess variables and constraints, and make more informed decisions.
About the Speakers:
Catherine Murphy, Senior Researcher, Parsons Healthy Materials Lab
Trained as an artist and designer, Catherine is dedicated to making physical spaces healthier, in every way, for everyone. Catherine has led educational programming at the Lab for five years. She also teaches at Columbia GSAPP and The New School. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design. Her undergraduate degree - Fine Craft Design (UU, Belfast) - specialized in Embroidery.
Leila Behjat, Senior Researcher, Parsons Healthy Materials Lab
Leila holds a Dipl. Ing. (Master) in Architecture from the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg, Germany. She has worked on projects including interior design and light design in the EU, Africa and in the U.S. Working for a Build - Design & Retail Company in Texas has allowed her to gain rich experience in remodeling with healthy materials, a true merge of dear to heart disciplines.
Presenting Organization: Parsons Healthy Materials Lab
Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design is dedicated to a world in which people’s health is placed at the center of all design decisions. We are committed to raising awareness about toxics in building products and creating resources for the next generation of designers and architects to make healthier places for all people to live.
We are an interdisciplinary, international, and professionally diverse collective of graduate students, alumni, and faculty with backgrounds in media, architecture, design, community development, education, and business.
