The availability of ESG investor financing seems to motivate companies to respond, partly by using their money to construct more environmentally friendly buildings and operate those buildings in a more socially acceptable manner. For example, in their 2022 Environmental Report, Alphabet (aka Google) shares: “At our Charleston East campus, we’re working to achieve the Living Building Challenge Materials Petal (which includes Red List Free materials and net-zero waste).”
When companies commit to buildings that are healthier for people, they turn to architects and consultants who are expected to design buildings that meet their ESG goals.
Architect-led Materials Sustainability Demand
As the community of architects seeks to prioritize clients’ growing ESG requirements, the AIA has published a series of documents and research reports to educate the community on various ESG-related topics. In How materials transparency affects your practice (AIA, 2022), AIA discusses their “influential role in reducing negative human health, social, and environmental impacts by way of better building product selection.” In that document, AIA defines Materials Transparency as the “disclosure by manufacturers of the environmental, health and social impacts of their products,” which serves as the definition for this article.
AIA also exerts social pressure by being more vocal about their desire for greater contractor support in implementing the healthy and sustainable products specified. According to The Architect’s Journey to Specification (AIA, 2022), well over half of architects want contractors to do their part in implementing sustainable solutions. This desired response suggests dissatisfaction with the common practice of substituting other solutions that may not meet the project’s sustainability goals, often under the guise of reducing the project’s first cost.
Architects seldom specify all of the products used in a building – they often turn to consultants, including mechanical engineers.
The Engineering Community Responds
In the October 2020 article Material Concerns For HVAC Products (McConahey, 2020), the author pointed out that the architecture community is widely aware of materials transparency due to the materials transparency requirements of LEED, the Living Building Challenge, and WELL, but that ASHRAE “has been relatively silent on materials used in HVAC products.”
McConahey tabulated some potentially hazardous chemicals that are typical ingredients in various HVAC components. So while HVAC engineers commonly design systems to address airborne hazardous substances in indoor environments, the HVAC system components specified may add to the hazardous chemical concentration in the building.
ASHRAE, recently issued statements on the topic of occupant health. ASHRAE’s Multidisciplinary Task Group for Health and Wellness in the Built Environment, in their January 2022 Report (ASHRAE, 2022), made several recommendations to ASHRAE, including:
- Recognize that the principal purpose of most buildings is for human occupancy and that the health and wellness of occupants must be a priority.
- Acknowledge that energy, resource conservation and other aspects of the ‘carbon footprint’ of a building are legitimate concerns for ASHRAE members. However, these concerns must not override concerns about the health and wellness of occupants.
- Realize that the design, construction, operation, and occupancy of buildings have tangible impacts on the health and wellness of building occupants.
Eventually, the recommendations of the report are expected to result in further action by ASHRAE to prioritize occupant health. Presumably a new ASHRAE Standard would be developed to address various occupant health issues, including selection of materials with
ingredients that do not pose hazards to the occupants.
