AEC/O Common Ask & Give Guidance | CMF Implementation Toolkit

Supporting AEC/O: Using the Common Ask & Common Give

Asking for information in the same way will escalate a clear market signal to scale data availability to streamline your workflows of the future.

When it comes to requesting sustainability information from manufacturers, inconsistency leads to confusion, inefficiency, and—let’s be honest—the kind of frustration we’ve all felt when facing duplicative forms and unclear requirements. That’s exactly what the Common Ask resources were designed to solve.

After you align your Materials Requirement program and/or as you seek to design or build to LEED, WELL, Living Building Challenge, grounded in the Common Materials Framework (CMF), the Common Ask Templates provide a shared structure for collecting the product data we all need. They simplify workflows, cut down on repeat requests, and build confidence that the information being collected is consistent and usable across the industry.

Here’s how to put them to work:

By aligning around a single, open-source approach, we can simplify workflows, reduce noise, strengthen trust, and accelerate the use of sustainability data to drive impact at scale.

Adopt the Common Ask as the foundation of your material decision-making criteria.

Leverage the draft request language provided here to make your asks clear, consistent, and aligned.

Use the Common Give to guide manufacturers in how best to respond and share data.

Why a Common Ask

While every program has its own priorities, the core sustainability information and data points we need from manufacturers are the same.

By adopting this unified approach, you help:

Reduce manufacturer confusion by cutting down on requests for similar information, in a slightly different way.
Send a clear market signal to accelerate automation so manufacturer sustainability investments and data can seamlessly demonstrate compliance with material requirement programs.

The Common Ask isn’t just another form—it’s the first step toward a more connected, less duplicative future where programs, manufacturers, and AEC/O teams can all work from the same playbook.

Advocacy

This common way of communicating will only reduce duplicative requests if a majority of the industry is using the CMF and adopting these Common Ask and Give templates. If a manufacturer you work with has not yet adopted the CMF (transitions take time!), there’s an opportunity for you to advocate for its use and alignment. Sample outreach language is available for you and your teams to utilize.

Use the Common Give

The Common Give is the flip side of the Common Ask—a resource built to guide manufacturers in how best to respond and share their product data. It provides a clear, consistent process that reduces confusion and ensures responses can be put to work across multiple programs.

To save time and reduce friction across the industry, mindful MATERIALS worked with Forum partners and industry leaders to develop standardized processes and data collection forms—ready for anyone to use.
“Givers” can choose between three simple paths.

Option 1: Digital Questionnaire

Using a Digital Questionnaire option enables manufacturers to submit product sustainability information once and have it be recognized and/or checked against anyone's material program digitally across platforms. By considering a digital response, you will future proof your sustainability communications into the future.

Two digital options to consider:

BuildingEase's CMF Questionnaire
Coming Soon: HPD Builder CMF Module

Check back as these options will be updated as more become available in the industry

Option 2: Static Spreadsheet

For teams not yet ready for a digital approach, a manual spreadsheet is also available.

Download the spreadsheet.
Complete your version.
Share your link back as a response to all inquiring about your sustainability information.

Option 3: Workflow Tools

Many manufacturers are already working with a Technology Partner (like many of mM's Tech Partners) to support the management of their data. As you select a digitization workflow tool, confirm that data can come from a myriad of different sources and inputs to ensure the most data is available in workflow.

Whether you use the digital or static path, the goal is the same: clear, consistent requests that cut down on duplicate work and give both manufacturers and designers better access to the data that matters most.

By pairing the Common Ask with the Common Give, we create a shared loop—requests that are clear, responses that are actionable, and a system that saves everyone time.

Important Note: At this time, the industry still needs an analog or ‘static’ version of the common ask & give templates to support in a transition period until the industry is fully digital in information exchange. As more firms and manufacturers digitize their data and materials assessment protocols it is likely the spreadsheet format of this ask & give will discontinue. It is only after the majority of the industry is digitized will this be a possibility.

Accelerating a Clear Market Signal

Adopting the Common Ask is just the start—showing alignment accelerates industry-wide change. To help, we’ve developed example Signaling Language (see Step #1 of Toolkit) you can use verbatim or adapt for your own communications.

Applications include:

Inclusion in materials program documentation or action plans (See AEC/O Guidance Documents here)
RFP language (sample language from the mM team coming soon!)
Specification language (sample language from the mM team coming soon!)

As a next step, consider your firm’s digitization strategy to accelerate material vetting automation. See guidance and insights on ways to approach this digitization strategy here.

This shared language not only makes adoption easier but also sends a strong, consistent signal to manufacturers and stakeholders—reinforcing trust and scaling alignment across the ecosystem.