As designers at ARC, we create spaces with people in mind. This means among other things, we prioritize resilient, flexible, and long-lasting construction and value the health and well-being of building occupants. We achieve the latter by providing access to natural daylight, specifying healthy materials, and avoiding harmful ingredients or processes that we know do harm to the world around us.

As we learn more about the effects that red-list ingredients have on humans and ecosystems alike, we turn our attention to our materials library and specifications with a keener eye to focus on products and finishes that prove to be both durable and safe for our clients.

One of the tools we’ve been using is the AIA Material’s Pledge Starter Guide, and we are actively and constantly refreshing our materials library to prefer materials that meet stringent standards for VOC’s, red-list chemicals, transparency, climate health, and ethical manufacturing.

While the AEC industry has a lot of work to do, it is making progress. We feel that the AIA Materials Pledge is the next step in our collective journey to nudge the industry towards a regenerative future that values and nurtures human life, ecosystems and climate health; this is why ARC recently became a signatory to the AIA Materials Pledge.

We joined the AIA 2030 Commitment 12 years ago and Architects Declare 3 years ago because they addressed the biggest concerns at the time – energy. But more and more we recognize that all of the elements of design and construction are interrelated.

The AIA Architecture & Design Materials Pledge was the next clear step in our commitment to our clients and design excellence not only because it aligns with our own design ethos here at ARC, but also because it is important to us that we join the many other designers in demanding that our industry and its many manufacturers become more transparent and show that they also value human health and well-being. There are more and more products and materials that meet these criteria every year, and we’re excited to see what’s to come!