Featuring












Jonsara Ruth



Jonsara Ruth is Co-founder and Design Director of Healthy Materials Lab (HML) at Parsons School of Design, where she is an Associate Professor and Founding Director of the MFA Interior Design program.



At HML, Jonsara brings creative leadership to the goal of improving the health of underserved communities through the transformation of design and material practices. Read more













Guest Host: Sarah Nugent



Sarah Nugent is a Sustainability Director at SWA’s New York City office, within the Sustainable Building Services (SBS) group. She oversees building certifications for high-rise residential and a variety of commercial building project typologies.



Sarah’s professional knowledge helps guide architects, owners, developers, and building management staff on green and high-performance building and site design strategies, healthy design strategies, cost-effective building system operations, and energy-saving maintenance practices.








At the baseline, “healthy” materials should not have a negative impact on people living or working inside of a building. Beyond that, there are materials that have a low impact on people and the planet throughout their entire lifespan—and then there are materials that can have a net-positive impact, such as those that absorb carbon from our atmosphere.



Jonsara Ruth, Co-founder and Design Director of the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design, joins this episode of the Buildings + Beyond podcast to discuss the spectrum of materials and resources available. Jonsara chats with guest host Sarah Nugent about how to phase out toxic ingredients and select materials that are healthy and affordable.



Episode Information & Resources



Sarah’s Buildings + Beyond podcast debut:




* Healthy Buildings, Healthy Humans with Sarah Nugent




Healthy Materials Lab:




* Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design



* Healthy Materials Lab | Material Collections



* Healthy Materials Lab | Education




Affordable, healthy housing:




* Health Product Declaration (HPD) Collaborative



* Healthy Materials Lab | Affordable Housing




Robin Guenther:




* The New York Times: Robin Guenther, Architect of Healthy Hospitals, Dies at 68



* Perkins Will: Robin Guenther (1954-2023)



* Back to Episodes