Mycelium composite
Grown, not extracted.
graduate design research · healthy materials lab, parsons
Graduate research · ConceptHealthy, low-carbon materials are already here.The question is whether our processes will let them in.
Research capstone · Fall 2025 · Rishabh Salian & Henry Schroder
the frame
We have so many exciting materials. Why do they rarely make it past the exhibition wall?
Already real, already buyable
Hempcrete
Carbon-storing, breathable.
Straw panel
Ag by-product → insulation.
Buildings and construction are responsible for around 37% of global energy-related CO₂ emissions.1 Affordable housing is where healthier, lower-carbon materials could do the most good — and where cost pressure makes them hardest to keep. I spent a semester with the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons, a research and education center that promotes healthier building materials through its materials library, partnerships, and training.
This was a two-person capstone with Henry Schroder — the field visit, interviews, and synthesis were shared. My focus, and the part I'd build first, is the intervention this page ends on: Healthy Materials Packages.
Research question
How might we increase the adoption of innovative low-carbon materials in construction?
Mineral / technicalclay · mineral coatings · carbon-cured concrete
Non-standard bio-basedhemp · straw · cellulose · mycelium
Not lab prototypes — materials that meaningfully cut embodied carbon and can already be specified and bought today.
1 UN Environment Programme, Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction. · Material close-ups via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY / CC0); field photos are the author's.
the timeline
Fall 2025, start to finish.
Field research Expert interview Synthesis Milestone
What this is not: a longitudinal field study. One field visit and three practitioner interviews point to where adoption stalls — the contractor and manufacturer interviews are still ahead.
The research
Mixed-methods, and honest about scope: a desk-research spine plus four primary engagements — a materials-library field visit and three practitioner interviews — read for where adoption stalls, not to measure attitudes.
Primary · field engagements
Healthy Materials LabField visit · Parsons
Alison MearsDirector, HML
Omir MajeedProject manager, CBRE
Ricardo OrtizRegenerative architect
Secondary · desk research
Embodied carbon in buildingsUNEP · GlobalABC
Building codes & standardswhere novel materials stall
Enterprise Green CommunitiesNYC affordable-housing specs
mindful MATERIALS · HPDmaterial-health frameworks
BioFabricatebiomaterial classification
LEED · USGBClow-emitting materials
field visit
Inside the Healthy Materials Lab
A library you pull open drawer by drawer — every material catalogued, tagged, and ranked for health and carbon.
Hover to pause · tap a photo to enlarge
Field visit · Donghia Healthy Materials Lab, Parsons School of Design · Oct 2025.
what's actually blocking adoption
Four patterns came up again and again. The quotes are the evidence.
- Theme 1 · Policy, codes & standards
Without recognized codes or testing pathways, insurers won't insure, contractors won't install, and project managers won't specify — so teams default back to the familiar.
“In more novel systems like in the hemp area, there weren't any standard specifications in any of the building codes.”
Alison Mears, Director, Healthy Materials Lab - Theme 2 · Cost & market pressures
On most projects, cost overrides almost everything. Low-bid procurement and contingency fear make unfamiliar materials read as financial risk — even when owners hold climate or health goals.
“It's the cold truth of construction. They will never spend more; they will only do it if they have to.”
Omir Majeed, Project Manager, CBRE - Theme 3 · Process & supply
Supply chains for newer materials are thin and fragile — often a single supplier and long lead times. When a timeline slips, teams revert to whatever is readily available.
“Smaller markets don't have backup suppliers, which means lead times stretch and cost goes up.”
Alison Mears, Director, Healthy Materials Lab - Theme 4 · Awareness & education
Many decision-makers simply don't know which healthy materials exist or how to use them. High-level intentions get lost between design, specification, procurement, and the job site.
“If I'm not aware, I don't know to ask. If I'm aware, I create a market force that encourages better materials.”
Alison Mears, Director, Healthy Materials Lab
the turn
Adoption doesn't scale through individual persuasion. Decisions are made in a cascading order — and that's where the leverage points are.
- 01
Owner awareness & priorities
When owners ask for healthy materials early — in RFPs, standards, and goals — the whole team gets permission, and pressure, to prioritize them.
- 02
Standard creation & testing
Shared tests, details, and spec language turn “experimental” materials into normal options approvers and insurers are comfortable with.
- 03
PM training & planning
With simple tools, project managers can plan for healthy materials from the start and protect them from schedule, cost, and substitution pressure.
- 04
Contractor-controlled decisions
Contractors often choose the final products; training and substitution guidance can flip a common blocker into a key driver.
- 05
Supply transparency
Quick, trusted information on available, tested products makes healthy materials feel less risky and easier to pick.
from insight to intervention
Three concepts came out of this — each attacking a different point where healthy materials fall out.
Healthy Materials Packages
my focus · the one I'd build firstPre-assembled spec packages for common NYC interior scopes (unit renovation, corridor, lobby, bathroom) that swap in vetted healthier / lower-carbon materials, with a simple cost + maintenance + carbon comparison to “business-as-usual.” It attacks cost fear at the earliest spec stage and keeps healthy options as the default instead of being value-engineered out.
Builds on HML's curated collections and NYC's Enterprise Green Communities Criteria.
Supplier transparency & vetting dashboard
A simple dashboard where project teams see approved suppliers, product health/carbon data, lead times, and safe substitutions per material category.
Builds on mindful MATERIALS' Common Materials Framework and the HPD public repository.
On-site contractor training & material intro kit
Sample boards, step-by-step install cards, short safety videos, and a “substitution playbook” of pre-approved healthy alternatives for when something is out of stock.
Builds on HML's education programs and LEED low-emitting-materials guidance.
the intervention, made tangible
Healthy Materials Packages — a working slice.
The product I'd build first, running on illustrative data. Pick a scope, accept or reject each vetted swap, and watch cost, carbon, and health totals recompute. Flip on the cost-pressure lens to see which lines a value-engineering pass would attack — and the defense each one carries. The built-in assistant answers from the package you've configured, over a real model API.
Unit renovation
The flagship package: six swaps that hold first cost within ~3% while halving embodied carbon.
Flooringliving + bedrooms · 585 sf
VE-safePaintwalls + ceilings, 2 coats · 1,850 sf
VE-safeInsulationdemising walls, thermal + acoustic · 460 sf
VE-safeKitchen caseworkbase + wall cabinet boxes · 14 lf
VE watchCountertopkitchen + bath vanity top · 32 sf
VE watchAdhesives & sealantswhole-unit allowance · 1 lot
VE-safeConcept prototype · illustrative data — representative magnitudes, not measured quotes or verified EPDsassistant runs on a live model API via a server-side proxy
The packages tool above is live.
Real interactions on illustrative data: per-line swaps recompute cost, carbon, and health totals; the cost-pressure lens simulates a value-engineering pass; the spec sheet exports to CSV; and the assistant answers from your configured package through a real model API behind a server-side proxy — no key ever reaches the browser.
Open the prototype full-screenHealthy, low-carbon materials are here. The question is whether our processes will let them in.
A personal lesson from this one: stick to what you're good at, and focus on practical improvements rather than industry-wide disruption. If I take it further, I start with the packages — the smallest intervention aimed at the biggest blocker, cost fear, at the exact moment specs get written. Next: the contractor and manufacturer interviews, then the final affinity mapping.
With Henry Schroder · Healthy Materials Lab, Parsons School of Design.