Greening the Supply Chain Series: 2014: An Opportunity For Hospitals To Reduce Toxic Exposure To Flame Retardant Chemicals, Reduce Expenses And Help Transform The Marketplace

Overview

Session Description

In 2014 furniture suppliers can meet a new flammability standard without harmful flame retardants. Gain helpful tools to help minimize toxic exposure and reduce expenses.

Learning Objectives

Understand the environmental and public health impacts of flame retardant chemicals.
Learn how the changing regulations impact healthcare and what positive changes can be achieved.
Learn how to work with your supplier to identify environmentally preferable products and how to specify products that meet the new regulation without flame retardants.
Learn how you can help transform the marketplace for safer furniture products.

Presenters

Judy Levin, Pollution Prevention Co-Director, Center for Environmental Health

Judy works to shift Bay Area hospitals to environmentally preferable purchasing practices, particularly for electronics. Before coming to CEH, she was the co-founder of Family Support Services of the Bay Area and has worked in the non-profit arena for 25 years. Judy received her B.A. degree in social work from the University of California at Berkeley and her Masters Degree in social work from the University of Michigan.

Jean Hansen, FIIDA, LEED Fellow, AAHID, EDAC, CID, Sustainable Interiors Manager, HDR's San Francisco office

Jean is the Sustainable Interiors Manager for HDR Architecture’s Sustainable Design Solutions team and firm globally; based in San Francisco, California with 30+ years of experience in interior design, planning and sustainable design. She is responsible for advancing HDR’s sustainability initiatives in research, internal standards development and in project work for healthcare, commercial and institutional environments globally. She has worked on the development of many nationally recognized sustainable resources, including BIFMA’s level and e3, Green Guide for Health Care and was a core committee member in the development of the USGBC’s LEED Healthcare rating system and more recently a committee member in the development of the Health Product Declaration (HPD). She is now a board member on the HPD Collaborative Board. She also served on Kaiser Permanente’s (KP) High Performance Building Committee for ten years and was involved in the development of KP’s national sustainable design standards. Jean is working on or has worked on over thirty LEED projects, developed sustainable guidelines for organizations, and a number of manufacturers, provided sustainable training for a variety of clients, and integrated sustainability into multi-million dollar projects

Rachel L. Gibson, JD, MPP, Director of Safer Chemicals Program, Health Care Without Harm

Rachel Gibson, JD, MPP, is Director of the Safer Chemicals Program for Health Care Without Harm (HCWH). In this role, she coordinates HCWH’s efforts to advance public policies to strengthen chemical safety in the United States and to shift the market toward safer chemicals through institutional purchasing and policies in the health care sector. She currently serves on the steering committee of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition. Rachel previously directed the environmental health program for Environment California, a statewide advocacy organization, where she led numerous campaigns, including one to pass first-in-the-nation legislation restricting the use of phthalates in children’s products. In this position, she authored “Toxic Baby Bottles: Scientific Study Finds Leaching Chemicals in Clear Plastic Baby Bottles” and “Moving Toward a Green Chemical Future” and co-authored “The Right Start: The Need to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals from Baby Products” and “Toxic Baby Furniture: The Latest Case for Making Products Safe from the Start”. Prior to joining Environment California, Rachel worked as an environmental litigation associate at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where she specialized in federal Clean Air Act litigation. She previously clerked for the Honorable Michael R. Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Rachel received her J.D. from UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and Master in Public Policy from Harvard University.