One Framework. Five Impact Areas. Infinite Potential.
Sustainable materials shouldn’t be confusing. Seriously. But today, designers, manufacturers, and project teams are stuck navigating a fragmented landscape of standards, certifications, and data—wasting time and money reinventing the wheel, duplicating efforts, and building bespoke solutions just to make sense of it all. Alex Muller captured the frustration perfectly in this blog post, which, unfortunately, still rings true.
The CMF changes that. Built by and for the industry, the CMF maps sustainability information contained within the most commonly referenced building product certifications in North America to the five core impact areas of the AIA Materials Pledge.
It’s not another rating system or certification. It’s a connective framework that translates technical product sustainability data into understandable impact—so you can compare, communicate, and make better decisions about building materials.
The CMF 101 Video Series
This four-part video series is a high-level exploration of the CMF—why it was created, how it’s structured, and how it can be used today and into the future.
Built for Clarity, Designed for Action
The CMF is structured to make complex information usable:
The broadest category of impact, i.e. Human Health
Each of the five areas of health called out in the AIA’s Materials Pledge have been referred to as ‘buckets’ within the CMF. Why? Because they’re broad categories containing a lot of data points to organize and unpack within each.
Organizing the ‘buckets’ by function, i.e. Substances within in Human Health
The data points within particular bucket can vary wildly (Human health looks at volatile organic chemicals, as wel as manufacturing practices). So going 1 step deeper, we identify functional categories of impact. Across the 5 buckets, there are 18 sub-buckets, and these take into account not only the considerations of product-specific impacts, but in some cases company-wide impacts as well.
This level starts to get at whether you’re simply disclosing, or taking action
The next level of the CMF is perhaps the most important when it comes to understanding where a product or company is in its journey toward fostering a regenerative environment. This level is referred to as a spectrum, because it represents a range of achievements, from the most basic level of disclosure to the much more difficult level of optimization.
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Transparency: [Public or third party] disclosure of the data.
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Assessment: Deeper investigation of those impacts.
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Commitments: Company has stated publicly, via a third party, intent and plan to improve health profile of product.
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Optimization: Product has demonstrated or exceeded a particular level of achievement or improvement vs. baseline, as designated by a standard.
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The Factor is the question that ultimately leads to the data point/metric. Metrics are what is quantifiable and measurable based on the Factor.
Below each step on the TACO spectrum are factors that are used to determine the specific nature of a product’s reporting/metric availability.
For example, for human health transparency — a factor within this category is “percent disclosed” in which the metrics “ would be the answers of 100% disclosure, or another percentage of disclosure.
It simplifies complex, technical information—allowing certifications and product data to be broken down into more granular insights that can be searched, compared, and acted on with confidence.
Adopted by Leaders, Designed for Everyone
The CMF is already in use by the AIA, USGBC, ILFI, and IWBI to guide updates to LEED, Declare, WELL, and other programs. It’s also being embedded into platforms across the ecosystem—including Acelab, BuildingEase, Ecomedes, Material Bank, Materially Better, Sustainable Minds, and more.
Whether you're specifying materials, pursuing certifications, or building new tools, the CMF creates a common foundation for impact-driven decisions.
Meet Our Tech Partners
Our Technology Partners are bringing the Common Materials Framework (CMF) to life—embedding it into the platforms where material decisions happen every day. These partnerships reflect alignment in vision and intention, but execution varies. Being a Technology Partner doesn’t mean a platform has fully integrated every aspect of the CMF or that all data is complete and interoperable. It’s not a stamp of approval or endorsement of technical functionality. Rather, it’s a shared commitment to building a more connected, transparent materials ecosystem. From product search to impact analysis, these tools are helping translate the CMF into real-world action—step by step.
Acelab
BuildingEase
Ecomedes
Material Bank
Materially Better
Sustainable Minds
We’re always looking to grow our network of Technology Partners. If you're building solutions that support better material decisions—whether through design workflows, risk assessment, or beyond—and want to integrate the CMF, let’s talk. Email us at outreach@mindfulmaterials.com.
The CMF, Unpacked
The CMF Reference Guide is your deep dive into how the Common Materials Framework works. It breaks down the structure, impact areas, data points, and logic behind the framework—so you can see exactly how material sustainability information is organized, compared, and used across the industry.
Common Materials Framework FAQs
Have questions about the CMF? You’re not alone. We get it, it’s a lot. Here’s what you need to know about how it works, why it matters, and how to get involved. See a term you’re not familiar with? Visit the CMF Glossary to learn more.
A: The CMF is an industry-developed structure that brings order to commonly referenced building product certifications, disclosures, and standards and connects them to holistic life cycle impacts: Human Health, Climate Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Health & Equity, and Circular Economy. Originally informed by the AIA Materials Pledge, the CMF creates a shared structure for comparing, communicating, and improving material sustainability.
Right now, definitions of sustainability vary from person to person and platform to platform. That inconsistency slows progress and confuses the market. The CMF brings alignment to the industry by creating a common language and structure for evaluating sustainability attributes of building products. It reduces the need to memorize version differences or manually compare certifications. As the CMF becomes integrated into workflow tools and product databases, it enables more efficient product filtering and better alignment with pledges, policies, and project goals.
A: No. The CMF is not a certification. It’s a framework that organizes existing certifications, disclosures, and standards to make them easier to understand, compare, and use. It does not rank or score products but instead provides the structure for interpreting sustainability data in a consistent, actionable way.
A: The CMF is for anyone making decisions about building materials. That includes architects, designers, manufacturers, contractors, owners, engineers, certifiers, educators, and technology providers. Whether you're specifying products or developing tools, the CMF helps you connect intent to action.
A: The CMF is already partially digitized within various tech platforms and data providers. Explore these platforms →
A: The CMF is partially digitized within various tech platforms and data providers. Meet our tech partners →
A: Different platforms represent the Common Materials Framework (CMF) differently because each Technology Partner is at a different stage of implementation. While all partners share a common vision—to support better, more transparent material decisions—how they integrate the CMF varies based on their platform’s structure, focus, and technical capacity.
Being a Technology Partner doesn’t mean every piece of the CMF is fully built out or that data is complete and seamlessly interoperable. It’s not a stamp of approval—it’s a signal of intent. Each partner is translating the CMF into action in the way that makes the most sense for their users.
This variability is part of the process of building a truly connected data ecosystem. As more platforms adopt and align to the CMF, the level of consistency, connectivity, and impact will continue to grow.
Curious what we mean when we say “connected data ecosystem”? Click here to learn more.
A: The CMF was built through a collaborative, cross-industry effort. Originally released in ____, the Framework was shaped by many of the same industry leaders who contributed to the AIA’s Materials Knowledge Working Group, which later developed the AIA Materials Pledge. As a neutral, certification-agnostic entity focused on building industry-wide alignment, mindful Materials facilitated meetings of key stakeholders and strategic partners to review the most commonly referenced standards and certifications to develop a structure that captured the full picture of a product’s life cycle impacts. Currently, the ongoing evolution of the CMF is guided by mindful MATERIALS’ Forums, which will be developing a governance structure and methodology for routine updates into the future.
A: The CMF is designed to evolve with the industry as new standards—and new baselines—are developed and established. mindful MATERIALS gathers feedback from its Forum members and partners (Owners, AEC professionals, Manufacturers, Certification Bodies, and Tech/Data Partners) to identify new or updated ecolabels, standards, and data points that should be added. Currently, the ongoing evolution of the CMF is guided by mindful MATERIALS’ Forums, which will be developing a governance structure and methodology for routine updates into the future. If you’d like to be a part of shaping the future of the CMF, consider joining one of our Forums. If you have a certification you would like to submit for consideration to be included in a future update, please let us know.
A: Start by becoming a mindful MATERIALS member and joining one of our Engagement Groups—whether you’re part of the A+D community or a Building Product Manufacturer. From there, explore opportunities to contribute through our Forums, which are driving the alignment, tools, and systems behind the Common Materials Framework.
Become a Member: https://www.mindfulmaterials.com/membership
Explore the Forums: https://www.mindfulmaterials.com/the-forums