pledges: turning noise into signal

Making sense of building material data is complex, especially when it comes to Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) issues. The topic is as complex for building manufacturers as it is for project teams, seeking to make sense of the vast array of requests or responses.

Success and progress are only possible if we – as an industry – define a common language that helps us make sense of these complex material issues.

“When thousands of people and companies make different requests, they create noise. When they work together, they create a clear market signal.”

mindful MATERIALS (mM) is not only a data hub, it is also a global collaboration hub designed to bring the best and brightest minds in the built environment’s healthy materials economy together. Our purpose is to create the signal and drive holistic market change. The Material Initiatives listed below are stakeholder specific requests and commitments that bring together hundreds of companies - representing tens of thousands of individuals - around a common need to make sense of complex sustainable material issues in the built environment.

No matter which seat you sit in within the built environment, you have the opportunity to lend your voice to a commitment, and take action to ensure healthy materials are the norm and not the option on every project. JOIN US!

Sector Specific Materials Commitments

THE owner Initiative

Initiated by owners in the world’s largest construction market, the Owner Initiative is a commitment to include requests for ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) data of building materials in RFPs (Request for Proposals) and specifications. By using a common language the Owner Initiative creates a clear and actionable market signal for building material manufacturers, and the A&D, Contractors and/or Consultants that support them.

The initiative is designed to facilitate the design and construction of real-estate (infrastructure, architecture and interiors) that supports climate health (embodied carbon), human health, societal health, ecosystem health and product circularity.

THE Contractor commitment

Led by mM’s collaborative partner BuildingGreen, the Contractor Commitment, has been created to enable Contractors to eliminate barriers within the construction value chain. This commitment helps ensure that Contractors are enabled to use healthy materials on all projects as determined by their “good, better, best” methodology.

Architect & Designer Materials Pledge Initiative

Led by mM’s collaborative partner the American Institute of Architects, the Materials Pledge provides an industry definition for what it is architects are seeking when they say “we want healthy materials” by identifying 5 categories: Climate Health, Human Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Health & Equity, and Circular economy. Architects, Designers and A&D Firms seeking to commit to healthy materials action across all projects, not just those seeking green building certification, should sign on to this commitment.

INTERIOR DESIGN PLEDGE FOR POSITIVE IMPACT

The Interior Design Pledge for Positive Impact was built through collaboration from major associations such as ASID, IIDA, IDC, with partnership from Metropolis and input from leading firms and organizations. The Pledge sparks awareness and action by designers, and recognizes the critical connections that exist between every profession with a role and responsibility in sustainability in the built environment.

LIghting advocacy letter

The Lighting Advocacy Letter is an initiative by lighting specifiers to accelerate the sustainability of lighting products. Inspired by the AIA Materials Pledge, the letter is intended to inspire a collective dialogue with the lighting manufacturing community about how to align intent and action around a common framework for sustainability. If you are a lighting designer or specifier, this letter is your opportunity to publicly commit to making more informed material choices and specification changes and supporting an ongoing dialogue with manufacturers to reduce the impacts of the built environment.

Manufacturer Materials Pledge

Calling all building product manufacturers! Manufacturers can commit to continued investment in sustainability (as defined by the AIA Materials Pledge) and encourage customers to actually purchase sustainable materials - inspiring continued investment in the reduction of impacts of building products. Signatories publicly commit to ongoing dialogue with industry, and to working towards manufacturing holistically sustainable products, in order to drastically reduce the negative impacts of the built environment. Add your company and join the movement.

Museum Exhibition Materials Pledge

The Museum Exhibition Materials Pledge is an invitation to museums and museum exhibition designers to start a conversation about the definition of sustainability. Much of the language from the letter comes from 2019 A&D Materials Pledge supported by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Its intent is that defining “sustainability” for you and for your institution will lead to more specific actions. Many of the strategies are also integrated into the USGBC LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) categories: Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Energy & Atmosphere.

Overall Materials Initiatives

Antimicrobials Letter

Fielding mounting pressure to add Antimicrobials to building products in an effort to protect public health, concerned manufacturers reached out to green building experts and academic researchers to learn more about the science of Antimicrobials and what to do. The outcome of those conversations is this joint statement, co-authored by the Green Science Policy Institute, Healthy Building Network, the International Living Future Institute, Perkins + Will, the Health Product Declaration Collaborative and leading academic researchers. The statement is intended as a tool for education and a call to action for upholding a Precautionary approach and using evidence-based approaches to protecting human health, and is open to all industries to sign onto.