The Health Product Declaration (HPD), an increasingly used disclosure tool for reporting product content and associated health information for building products and materials, continues to evolve and will reach an important milestone in the next two months.

HPD Collaborative announced the new HPD v2.0 online platform will be available for use in March, while the collaborative’s Manufacturers Advisory Panel (MAP) will begin beta testing the new version on February 2.

Key elements of the HPD v2.0 and the online platform, according to the collaborative, include:

• Streamlined inventory thresholds for intentional ingredients and residuals;
• New characterization of disclosure;
• Integrated approach to content and hazard summaries;
• Use of materials as a basis for organizing inventory; and
• Improved online functionality to match the updated format:
  • Document simplification, language modifications;
  • Process for complex assembly products;
  • Revised approach to ‘Hazard Summary;’
  • Review of ‘Priority Hazard Lists’ and associated screenings; and
  • Best-practice guidelines for generic commodity materials.

According to HPD Collaborative executive director John Knott, more than 1,100 accounts exist in the online platform, with 939 published HPDs from 185 different manufacturers.

Guardian Industries, for example, is one of the first float glass manufacturers to offer HPD information. The company had been in the process of developing it in 2014 and announced this month its HPD includes a range of its flat glass and coated products.

“Guardian supports architects and designers that want to be environmentally and socially responsible with the products they specify, and are incorporating energy efficiency and sustainability in their designs,” says Chris Dolan, director of marketing, North America, Guardian Industries Corp. “We’re offering the Guardian HPD for our commercial exterior, interior and residential product families.”

Architectural glass industry companies such as View, Viracon and Safti-First have also adopted HPD practices as a result of an increase in demand from designers.

One glass fabricator told DWM it had previously been concerned that the process of creating a single HPD for every one of its products—which count in the thousands—could be too exhaustive and expensive. When asked about that concern, HPD Collaborative technical liaison Jennifer Atlee explained that products with materials of similar compositions could be combined on one HPD. Also, the tool used to create the HPD is free, so any added cost would come from the internal gathering of information in the supply chain or later third-party verification of the HPD, but not the actual creation of the HPD itself.

Knott adds that the involvement of the MAP, which was established in late 2013, has been key in making adjustments to the HPD over time, as it includes input and assistance from manufacturers across a broad range of sectors in the building industry.

“The volunteer-led MAP has been an invaluable resource as we navigate the waters of improving our online platform to ensure it is easy to use, clarifies conflicting transparency terminology and provides value to the producers, designers and specifiers who will review and evaluate the product content across the global supply chain,” he says.

“The HPD version 2.0 online platform is a significant improvement from earlier versions but we understand that additional questions must be answered and policies addressed, if we are to continue growing manufacturer comfort in disclosure and confidence in the HPD as a transparency platform,” adds Dwayne Fuhlhage, MAP co-chair and sustainability and environment director at PROSOCO. “That’s why we will continue to meet and discuss these critical topics even as all manufacturers with accounts in the online platform will be able to start publishing HPD v2.0 for their products in March 2015.”

Additionally, Atlee stresses that the HPD isn’t intended to be used as a supplement for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) but rather in addition to EPDs, as the HPD was designed to fill a certain niche to compliment the EPD. Atlee says that once the second version of the HPD is released and in full use, the collaborative will focus on HPD education via various resources, including online webinars. In the meantime, the Collaborative continues to make real-time adjustments as it gathers feedback from manufacturers.