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Even a slight shift toward more responsible materials is impactful and can effect change to the manufacturing industries and the products that designers specify. Using a resource library to effect change
A n abundance of materials are manufactured each year to construct the built environment; miles of gypsum wall board, tons of steel studs, yards of fabric, acres of carpet, to name just a few. The magnitude is enormous. Even a slight shift in “business as usual” is impactful and can effect change to the manufacturing industries and the products that architects and designers specify.
Ann Rolland
FXCollaborative recently had the opportunity to initiate such a shift. After more than 35 years in the same space, our recent relocation to new offices inspired us to rethink our materials resource library and use the move as a tool for meaningful industry change. To do so, we developed the Resource Library Manifesto, which provides designers with the information necessary to make well-informed decisions in specifying products and materials. It also serves as a call to action across the AEC industry to incite change. ■ ■ The motivation. The relocation meant packing and moving our architectural and design resource library – those products and materials that we select and specify to build buildings. Established in the mid-1980s, our resource library had accumulated a vast array of materials that spanned decades. While active and mostly up to date, the inevitable inertia that can come with
longevity had crept in and kept the library from evolving beyond just keeping up. The move was the perfect opportunity to cull out and reestablish a new, more meaningful library – one that had a deeper connection to our firm’s mission and core values. A daunting, but most welcomed task. ■ ■ The declaration. Our first step in planning the move was to purge the collection so we did not move outdated or unwanted products and materials. We asked ourselves how to decipher what we would take with us and what we would discard (return/recycle during a pandemic – a topic for another article). The Resource Library Task Force was established to develop criteria. The result was a Resource Library Manifesto that united our office’s resource library with FXCollaborative’s core values and beliefs. Our
See ANN ROLLAND, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 31, 2022, ISSUE 1426
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