our mindful philosophy

The mindful MATERIALS community exists to move building material sustainability further, faster by working together to solve common challenges. We are collaborative at our core and with our cross-functional community of stakeholders we offer the building industry a certification-agnostic home to learn, advocate and take action. We are dedicated to helping the industry optimize materials for health holistically for every building.

our levers of change

Everything we work on at mindful MATERIALS, in partnership with our volunteer community, is built by the industry, for the industry. What we build is designed to help built environment professionals stop redoing work, and start taking more mindful action to manufacture and select materials.

We like to explain the pillars of our organization as:

COLLABORATION HUB (page coming soon)

COMMON MATERIALS FRAMEWORK

DIGITAL PORTAL

a brief history of mM

 mindful MATERIALS was founded by HKS in 2014 as an initiative that made transparency and optimization information easily accessible to designers as they select products. The simplicity of the labeling system rapidly generated interest in the larger design community and HKS made the mindful MATERIALS resources publicly available to other design professionals and manufacturers.

A COLLABORATIVE move

In late 2015, education within individual design firms and city-wide networking events took place to encourage wider implementation of mindful MATERIALS. However, each effort was moving forward independently. Recognizing the confusion that multiple program variations meant to manufacturers, and seeing the opportunities associated with a common strategy, founding firms convened to form the mindful MATERIALS Collaborative, a unified national endeavor. The mindful MATERIALS website was launched in June 2016. The mindful MATERIALS Collaborative grew to over 600 user and manufacturer members by February 2017.

A Cloud-Based SOLUTION

With a growing materials list, the need to go beyond a spreadsheet became apparent quickly. So, in 2017 mindful MATERIALS, moved move its ever-growing product spreadsheet to a cloud database, creating a more efficient interface for manufacturers to share product information and for industry users to access it. The neutral platform changed the way the architecture & design professionals identified and searched for products across brands, product categories, and certifications. It also allowed for direct integration with certification databases, streamlining the process of entering and updating materials in the library.

A CONVENING FORCE

In 2021, mindful MATERIALS leveraged its role as a convener and its experience aligning the industry around a common ask to begin building the Common Materials Framework (CMF). The framework creates a common language for the industry based on consistent data points and supports signatories of Global Materials Pledges in producing and specifying products that support Human Health, Climate Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Health + Equity, within a Circular Economy. Cross-functional partners, sustainability experts and pledge representation on our Content Advisory Board and Content Working Group have been leading this work. The framework is intended for for digitization in the mM library in 2022 and broad connection to industry tools to drive mindful and consistent materials decision-making everywhere. Learn more about the framework and where it’s all headed on our blog.

A Digital Transformation

In 2022, mindful MATERIALS announced its ambitious plans to launch a new Portal that will digitize the Common Materials Framework (CMF), providing the industry with a consistent, connected framework for sustainability in decision-making. mM is collaborating with technology leader Ecomedes, Inc to power this new Portal and digitize the Common Materials Framework (CMF). mM is also facilitating a collaborative network of ecosystem partners, including Toxnot PBC and the Health Product Declaration Collaborative, to activate critical data, build missing data points to populate the CMF, and reduce redundancies and manufacturer supply chain outreach. mM became a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.