Looking Back on the Living Product Expo 2018: A Photo Essay

Monday, September 10

There’s much to prepare for at the Expo and the Living Product Challenge team busies itself with obtaining key supplies and dancing.

Tuesday, September 11

It’s the start of the 4th Living Product Expo, and we kick it off with a day full of summits and meetings with energized participants. The Trade Show floor is being set up and attendees are filing in to register.

The Human Health and Materials Summit brings together leaders from manufacturing, architecture, consulting and more to talk about how we catalyze a future with healthy products for everyone.

The trade show floor is where you’ll find some of the most exciting conversations at any Living Product Expo. It’s easy to find that Red List Free product you need for your project or a conversation to kick off a new partnership.

Jessica Green from the University of Oregon and Phylagen illuminates the complex microbial ecosystems of our built environments in the Expo’s Opening Keynote.

Wednesday, September 12

We talked a lot about Closing the Loop on product transparency at the Expo this year. How do we make sure products that are transparent and environmentally responsible make their way into buildings? To illustrate this concept, we had an incredible interactive art installation with materials donated by 3Form and LightArt to allow attendees to demonstrate their commitment to making, specifying and installing healthier products for everyone. Tarkett’s mini-pentagonals formed a mosaic of these commitments that spelled out everyone’s passion.

Our 2018 Public Day Opening Plenary was kicked off by Randy Fiser, CEO of the American Society of Interior Designers, who discussed the critical role that the interior design profession has in this movement to bring beautiful and healthy materials into the places we live, work and play. Our Keynote Panel featured three Living Product manufacturers (Mohawk, Humanscale and LightArt) in conversation with moderator Avinash Rajagopal, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis Magazine. The panel talked about taking on the Living Product Challenge, and how it is changing how they do business. Featured on the stage is Temper + Grit’s Tantrum coffee table, which has a Red List Free Declare label and participated in the Pittsburgh Living Product Hub’s partnership with Monmade, a craft business accelerator with more than 60 producers in the greater Pittsburgh region.

It’s time to head to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for the after party! We all filter into the lovely conservatory through lush greenery. We are serenaded by Her Ladyship, eat paella, and unwind with beautiful vistas and an exploration of Phipps’ campus (including two Living Building Challenge projects and counting!)

And the 2018 Manufacturers Visionary Award award goes to…Annie Bevan of Superior Essex! [Ed. note, check out her Trim Tab article, also in this issue] Annie is chuffed to receive her beautiful butterfly made by the local Seattle company LightArt as recognition of her incredible vision and work toward creating a future with Healthy Products for all, and her leadership of the Living Product 50 group. 

Thursday, September 13

Sam Klein from Thread International kicks off the morning with 10 Minutes of Inspiration on how to make a better backpack. (Hint: by sourcing plastic bottles recovered from streets in Haiti and Honduras to create waxed canvas made from 100% recycled polyester.)

The Living Product Expo wouldn’t be possible without the help of our amazing volunteers! 

Thank you to everyone who made the Expo a smashing success this year! Hope to see you next October 8-10, 2019 at our new location in Nashville at Music City Center for the fifth Living Product Expo. Want to get involved? Submit your LP19 Speaking Proposals until January 31, 2019!

Alex Co and Alex Muller

Alex Co supports the Living Product Challenge and the Pittsburgh Living Product Hub, working with manufacturers to envision and create products that give back more than they take, in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Alex draws from training in chemistry, toxicology and life cycle assessment alongside business and non-profit consulting experience that contributes to a vision of environmental justice through the right to healthy and regenerative products for all. Alex Muller works on both the Declare and Living Product Challenge programs. For Declare she works with manufacturers interested in pushing ingredient transparency in the building products industry. Her role as the Living Product Challenge Manager allows her the opportunity to engage with manufacturers interested in creating products that give, rather than take. Alex enjoys learning from the individual and collective experiences of manufacturers piloting Living Products, while helping to guide them through certification.

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