HPD Open Standard Simplifies

As you can see in this slide, there are three levels of reporting that are important with the HPD Open Standard. By clearly specifying the process and content at each level, the use of the HPD Open Standard greatly simplifies the reporting process for manufacturers, and also for those using this information.

• Reporting
  • Each piece of information – each “data element” – is specified. A manufacturer does not need to figure out what information to report when asked about the human and environmental health of their products. Instructions for exactly what and how to report this information are clearly spelled out. The end result is accurate, reliable and consistent reporting is made possible by following the specification of the HPD Open Standard.
  • Consistency is perhaps the most important aspect. Because all products use the same reporting standard, it is possible to compare different products – for example: a carpet tile, drywall and roofing – as to the chemical contents and human and environmental health attributes.
• Disclosure
  • Manufacturers can select the level of disclosure that they provide about a product. For example, there may be confidential business information, where it is not possible to disclose a formula. Another situation that may arise is that there are contents of the product that are not known by the manufacturer, for example, because of commodity purchasing or unknown suppliers.
  • The HPD Open Standard anticipates these situations and provides various disclosure options.
• Transparency
  • There is increasing interest – and benefit – in making the information in an HPD report available to the public. Many in the architecture and design community want to understand this information about the products they select and specify to put into their building projects.
  • By making this technical information about product specifications public, manufacturers support transparency.
  • When the information about products is public, open, collaborative innovation is spurred through the identification of common solutions for healthier and safer products.
  • HPD Collaborative supports transparency for product reporting through the HPD Public Repository. Manufacturers officially “publish” their HPD reports into the Repository, ensuring that they are compliant with all requirements of the HPD Open Standard.