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who collect and maintain relevant data on products and materials to help us make informed product choices. ■ ■ The call to action. There is power in numbers. With implementation of our Resource Library Manifesto underway and the recent development of FXCollaborative’s Sustainability Action Plan, we felt accountable to the AIA’s Material Pledge and justified in signing on to this commitment. We appreciate platforms such as The Zweig Letter that help us get the word out to our industry colleagues so they may implement their own version of our Resource Library Manifesto. The more that adopt these criteria in materials selection and sourcing, the more we can collectively bring about change in manufacturing practices and policies. Read on for the full text of FXCollaborative’s Resource Library Manifesto. Ann M. Rolland, FAIA, LEED AP, is a partner at FXCollaborative. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
ANN ROLLAND, from page 3
manifesto declared that we would evaluate materials through three lenses: (1) the company’s commitment to issues of equity and social justice, (2) promotion of well- being and production of healthy, toxin-free materials, and (3) contributions to reduce climate change and the degradation of our planet. ■ ■ The execution. The purge reduced the materials we moved by almost half, and provided us with a well-curated base to build back. In implementing the Manifesto, we developed a scoring system for library materials, graphically similar to Consumer Report’s color-coded dots, which helps designers readily evaluate good, better, and best in material categories across the three primary criteria lenses: social justice and ethical sourcing, human health and well-being, and sustainability and the climate crisis. “Best in Show” materials, the top scorers, are given a prominent, high visibility location in our Resource Library. We are also looking to partner with industry resources
FXCOLLABORATIVE’S RESOURCE LIBRARY MANIFESTO Our resource library will reflect our values and commitment to issues of social justice, sustainability, and the health and well- being of our planet and the inhabitants of the environments we create. The re- sources we select must contribute to the creation of a healthier, more equitable future for humankind and the planet. As designers we can influence and look to our practice to insist on industry account- ability and change. By signaling to manu- facturers and product suppliers our firm values we send an important message and convey our sense of responsibility to collectively advance manufacturing practices and industry resources. Finding clear, simple, and transparent information about materials is difficult. Databases are incomplete, and the is- sues are often complex, technical, and can seem insurmountable. We rely on supplier information and industry re- sources which can be ambiguous and selective as they come with their own agenda or a specific focus. How can we make informed choices and advocate for better outcomes in our objective? This manifesto is our action plan for doing so. It is a time to reflect, edit, and reformu - late our resource library. Our goals are to cultivate an awareness in the AEC indus- try and to be advocates for change and to help designers make better informed decisions in selection of the products and materials that we specify. We will flesh out the implementation of this manifesto in the upcoming months.
First, we want to knowwhat we are spec- ifying. To do so we will ask manufactur- ers and product suppliers to divulge information related to their production and practices. Below is an outline of the criteria – three primary lenses we will use for evaluation: 1. Social justice and ethical sourcing: ■ ■ Ethically sourced supply chains: Confirmation that the products are created without the use of child and/or enslaved labor. ■ ■ JEDI initiatives and commit- ments: Strategies and educa- tional programs currently in place or an indication of specific timelines toward these goals. Public record against racism with actionable items to implement positive and restorative change. ■ ■ Corporate structure and leader- ■ ■ Anti-racism stance:
■ ■ Optimization of material ingre- dients: Efforts to reduce the number and quantity of prod- ucts with harmful content and to avoid using Red List and High VOC materials. ■ ■ Life-cycle health: Inclusion of effects in all stages of a materi - al’s life (extraction, manufactur- ing, installation, finish product, re-use, and disposal). 3. Sustainability and the climate crisis: ■ ■ Embodied carbon/global warming potential: Provide en- vironmental product declara- tions and use carbon reduction and sequestering practices. ■ ■ Recycled content: Maximize pre-consumer and post- consumer recycled content. ■ ■ Responsible disposal and re- use efforts: Provide materials and assemblies that can be disassembled and recycled. Offer take-back programs, and circular-economy activities. ■ ■ Local material sourcing: Pro- vide locations of raw material extraction and harvesting, and manufacturing of material com- ponents and finished products. ■ ■ Responsible sourcing: Utilize responsible sourcing certifica - tions.
ship: Report of current leader- ship, work force, and recruiting policies that promote equitable gender and diverse representa- tion.
2. Human health and well-being:
■ ■ Disclosure of material ingredi- ents: Transparent disclosure of material ingredients and health impacts using industry recog- nized standards such as Health Product Declarations, Declare, etc.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 31, 2022, ISSUE 1426
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