As another beautiful summer rolls around, it is, once again, the time for summer interns around the nation to populate corporate offices! I, Victoria Adams, am one of these interns; I am an architecture student and summer intern at HKS, Inc. in Dallas, Texas. I attend Texas A&M University where in the fall I will continue my second year on the path to obtaining a bachelors degree in Environmental Design. Part of my daily work at HKS includes contributing to the data entry for the Pharos Project, therefore acting as an active member of the Pharos intern team. A couple of HBN Pharos staff members have requested that I share some of my discoveries, points of view, thoughts, etc. related to the Pharos Project periodically throughout the summer; and so it begins!

Data entry for the Pharos Project was a seemingly monumental task at first glance. Material Safety Data Sheets, 10 part Specification Sheets, manufacturing facilities; so much information was to be comprehended and...

A two decade lobbying effort by industry has finally ended unsuccessfully with the US Department of Health & Human Service labeling formaldehyde as a known carcinogen. The congressionally mandated 12th Report on Carcinogens adds to assessments by a range of agencies from the state of California to EPA and the World Health Organization confirming the cancer-causing nature of this widely used chemical.  Formaldehyde-based compounds are widely used in building materials – most often as the glue that binds plywood, particle board, laminates, insulation and other products, but also as additives in drywall and treatments for fabrics. We’ve reported previously on efforts to ...

Our partners at BuildingGreen made a great video demonstrating how to use Pharos to choose a commercial carpet.  This 5-minute demo includes how to use our carpet assembler, how to drill down into the product data in a product profile, and how to use filters to narrow a product search.

Adhesives and sealants grip much of the building material marketplace.  Some binders hold cellulose particles in place in substrates; others forge gypsum slurries into wallboard and ceiling tile, fuse carpet backings, and encapsulate wood flooring.

The degree of scrutiny that adhesives and sealants receive can depend upon physical circumstances.  When adhesives are integral to a product - like formaldehyde-based resins in particleboard or casework - these chemicals are examined in the context of the product as a whole. But when the adhesive is separate from a building material until it is installed, even when manufacturers require its use, specifiers have faced an analysis gap.

The Pharos system makes its first attempt at linking evaluations of adhesives with the products that require them in today’s opening of the flooring adhesives category.  ...

We are pleased to announce the opening of our ninth category in the Pharos Building Product Library: decorative laminates.

While the term laminate can refer to any product with layers of material glued together (such as plywood), the laminate products currently covered in this section of Pharos are decorative laminates - specifically the "high pressure laminates" (HPLs) that are commonly used as water resistant, decorative surfacing for countertops, work surfaces, casework and paneling.  These are typically comprised of cellulose fiber (often Kraft paper) impregnated with thermosetting formaldehyde-based resins, and bonded via heat and high pressure.  Variations include the application of decorative paper, sometimes with fire-resistant or chemical-resistant additives.

Pharos evaluations of these products find wide variances in the amount of material content disclosure by manufacturers, indoor...