A Health Product Declaration is a standardized document that reports the material contents of a building product alongside the health information associated with those materials. The format is governed by the HPD Open Standard, a voluntary technical specification developed collaboratively by manufacturers, architects, designers, specifiers, contractors, and scientists. The HPD Collaborative (HPDC), a non-profit member organization representing the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, manages and maintains the standard.
First introduced in 2012, the HPD Open Standard has evolved significantly. The current version — HPD Open Standard v3.0, effective August 2025 — reflects years of refinement and industry feedback. Today, over 14,000 HPDs have been published covering more than 40,000 building products from more than 800 manufacturers. That level of adoption signals one thing clearly: HPDs have become the industry standard for product transparency, not a niche compliance exercise.
An HPD is essentially a product’s material health resume. It discloses what a product is made of, identifies any hazardous substances present, and communicates that information in a consistent, verifiable format that architects and specifiers can rely on. The standard offers tiered disclosure options, meaning manufacturers can meet minimum reporting requirements or pursue full ingredient transparency depending on their supply chain capabilities and business goals.
What Does an HPD Actually Contain?
An HPD report follows a structured format defined by the HPD Open Standard. It captures the product’s material composition in a hierarchical way, listing materials and their constituent substances down to defined threshold levels. For each substance, the document records available hazard information, drawing on established chemical hazard screening lists.
The HPD also documents the intended product use, installation practices, and any conditions relevant to the health profile of the product. Importantly, the standard accommodates confidentiality. Manufacturers with proprietary formulations can use tiered disclosure options that protect trade secrets while still meeting transparency requirements. This flexibility has been critical to widespread adoption — even manufacturers with complex or sensitive formulations can participate in the HPD system.
An optional but increasingly important component is third-party verification. The HPDC Third-Party Verification Program allows a qualified verifier to conduct a desk audit of a completed HPD to confirm it fully complies with the Open Standard. This additional assurance layer is becoming more significant as green building programs raise their documentation requirements.
Which Building Product Manufacturers Need an HPD?
The short answer is: if your product is specified into commercial, institutional, or multifamily construction projects, you need an HPD. The longer answer depends on your target markets and the certification programs your customers are pursuing.
Products Specified on LEED Projects
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world’s most widely used green building rating system, and HPDs are one of the most efficient tools for contributing points within it. Under LEED v5, the MR: Building Product Selection and Procurement credit rewards project teams for selecting products from manufacturers who have disclosed sustainability information. HPDs contribute directly to the Human Health impact area of this credit, with compliant HPDs capable of earning 1 to 2 points depending on verification status.
LEED v5 applies this credit to a specific list of product categories including paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, flooring, walls, ceilings, insulation, furniture, composite wood, and plumbing fixtures. Manufacturers in any of these categories who are not providing HPDs are likely being passed over in favor of competitors who are.
Products for WELL-Certified Buildings
The WELL Building Standard focuses on human health and wellness in the built environment. HPDs are recognized under WELL as supporting documentation for material health, making them essential for manufacturers whose products are used in health-conscious or wellness-focused projects.
Products Specified by Major AEC Firms
Some of the most influential architecture and design firms in the world have made HPDs a prerequisite for product consideration. Perkins + Will, SmithGroup JJR, HKS, ZGF, and others actively require or strongly encourage building product manufacturers to provide HPDs before products are considered for specification. When firms of that caliber set expectations, the broader market follows.
Products for CHPS and mindful MATERIALS Programs
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and the mindful MATERIALS platform are additional programs that incorporate HPD data into their frameworks. Manufacturers targeting the K-12, higher education, or healthcare sectors — where indoor environmental quality is especially scrutinized — will find HPDs are increasingly expected, not optional.
The Business Case for Getting an HPD
Beyond compliance, HPDs represent a genuine business opportunity. Product transparency is becoming a differentiator. When two manufacturers offer comparable products and one has a published, verified HPD while the other doesn’t, the specifier’s path of least resistance points toward the transparent manufacturer.
The HPD Open Standard is harmonized with a growing ecosystem of green building programs including LEED, WELL, Cradle to Cradle, BIFMA, the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge, and others. A single HPD can satisfy documentation requirements across multiple certification systems simultaneously. For manufacturers, this means one investment in transparency yields returns across multiple market channels.
HPDs also support the broader sales and marketing narrative around sustainability. Manufacturers can publish HPDs to the HPDC’s public repository, where they become searchable and accessible to project teams around the world. Visibility in the repository means passive marketing reach to specifiers actively looking for transparent products.
Why HPD Development Is Harder Than It Looks
If HPDs are so valuable, why don’t all manufacturers have them already? The honest answer is that creating a compliant HPD can be technically demanding. The process requires manufacturers to inventory all ingredients in their products down to threshold levels, gather chemical hazard data for each substance, work through a multi-tiered supply chain to collect disclosure documentation, and manage the complexity of proprietary information through Non-Disclosure Agreements.
For manufacturers without in-house environmental science expertise or dedicated sustainability staff, navigating the HPD Open Standard can be overwhelming. The standard itself is rigorous by design — that rigor is what makes HPDs credible and valuable — but sometimes requires guidance.
Common challenges manufacturers face include: obtaining complete and accurate ingredient data from suppliers who may be reluctant to disclose; interpreting chemical hazard screening results correctly; determining the right disclosure level for proprietary substances; meeting the documentation requirements for LEED compliance; and keeping HPDs updated as formulations change over time.
How Elixir Environmental Helps Manufacturers Navigate the Process
This is where working with an experienced, specialized HPD consultant pays dividends. Elixir Environmentalis an HPDC Approved Preparer with deep expertise in the HPD development process. The firm works exclusively in the sustainability and transparency space, helping building product manufacturers achieve their HPD and green building documentation goals with efficiency and accuracy.
Elixir’s client roster speaks for itself. The firm has developed HPDs for major manufacturers including National Gypsum, Caesarstone, Rodda Paint, DuPont, CEMCO, Fibo, and others — spanning categories from gypsum wallboard to quartz surfacing to coatings and metal framing. That breadth of experience means Elixir brings category-specific knowledge to every engagement, anticipating supply chain challenges and regulatory nuances that a first-time HPD preparer would not.
End-to-End Project Management
Elixir manages the entire HPD project from start to finish. This includes identifying all ingredients in the product, working directly with the manufacturer’s supply chain to collect required information, obtaining data through Non-Disclosure Agreements where necessary, reviewing and evaluating supplier-provided data for accuracy and completeness, and ultimately publishing a LEED-compliant HPD. Manufacturers don’t need to become HPD experts themselves — Elixir handles the technical complexity so that internal teams can stay focused on their core business.
Supply Chain Expertise
One of the most difficult aspects of HPD development is obtaining accurate, complete information from upstream suppliers. Elixir Environmental has developed proven workflows for engaging supply chains, negotiating NDAs, and gathering the necessary chemical data even when suppliers are reluctant or unfamiliar with the process. For manufacturers who have previously attempted HPD development and stalled at the supply chain stage, this capability alone can be transformative.
LEED Compliance Assurance
Most building product manufacturers pursue HPDs specifically to support LEED credits for their customers’ projects. Elixir ensures that HPDs meet the specific requirements of LEED, including the documentation thresholds and verification standards required for credit achievement. Getting this right matters — a poorly prepared HPD that fails to satisfy LEED requirements wastes everyone’s time and can damage relationships with specifiers.
Third-Party Verification Coordination
For manufacturers seeking the highest level of credibility and the maximum LEED point value, Elixir coordinates the HPD third-party verification process. Working with HPDC-approved verifiers, Elixir prepares the documentation package and facilitates the desk audit to confirm full compliance with the HPD Open Standard. A verified HPD signals to the market that the manufacturer’s disclosure has been independently reviewed and validated.
Team Education and Capacity Building
Elixir Environmental doesn’t just complete the HPD and move on. The firm educates manufacturer teams on the process, equipping internal staff to maintain and update HPDs as formulations evolve. For manufacturers looking to integrate HPD development into their AIA or USGBC continuing education programs, Elixir can also help incorporate HPD content into CE course development — reinforcing the manufacturer’s position as a sustainability leader in front of architect audiences.
Getting Started With Your HPD
The market for transparent building products is growing, and the window to differentiate through early HPD adoption is narrowing as more competitors publish their own disclosures. Manufacturers who act now can establish credibility, satisfy current specifier requirements, and build the internal infrastructure to keep their product documentation current as standards evolve.
The path forward doesn’t require building HPD expertise in-house from scratch. Elixir Environmental has created what they describe as the most cost-effective and user-friendly HPD development process in the industry. From initial ingredient identification through supply chain engagement, hazard screening, LEED compliance review, and third-party verification, Elixir handles the complexity so manufacturers can focus on what they do best — making great building products.
If your building product is specified into commercial or institutional projects, used in LEED or WELL-certified buildings, or sold through channels where major AEC firms have influence over product selection, an HPD is no longer optional. It is the cost of doing business in the modern building materials market — and with the right partner, it is an investment that pays for itself many times over in unlocked specification opportunities.
Conclusion
Health Product Declarations have transformed from a niche sustainability initiative into a core element of how building products are evaluated, specified, and purchased. With over 14,000 HPDs now published and recognition embedded across LEED, WELL, CHPS, mindful MATERIALS, and major AEC firm procurement policies, the industry has spoken: transparency is the new baseline.
Manufacturers who haven’t yet developed HPDs for their products are not just missing a compliance checkbox — they are leaving specification opportunities on the table every day. The good news is that expert help is available. Firms like Elixir Environmental have done this work across dozens of product categories and hundreds of manufacturers, and they can guide your team through the process with the accuracy, efficiency, and LEED expertise your business requires.
The question is no longer whether your building product needs an HPD. The question is how quickly you can get one published.