Blog Post

Press Release: Major Green Building Orgs Team Up on Material Education

Mindful MATERIALS has partnered with BuildingGreen to expand knowledge of the Common Materials Framework across the building product manufacturing and AEC industries.

the mindful materials logo on the left, a multiplication symbol in the middle, the building green logo on the right.
Mindful MATERIALS is partnering with BuildingGreen, a leader in green building knowledge, consulting, and communities, to broaden the building product manufacturing and AEC industries’ understanding of the Common Materials Framework (CMF). The CMF is a common language for sustainability data that will help databases and certification platforms speak to each other. This shared language will help users select the right materials to meet their environmental, social, and health goals.

“BuildingGreen is a critical resource for all of us at mindful MATERIALS—and I'd say for the industry at large—and it’s one of the first places we send people looking to learn, so this partnership just made sense,” says Annie Bevan, CEO of mindful MATERIALS. “We look forward to expanding knowledge, insights and updates in collaboration with our friends at BuildingGreen now and into the future.”

The partnership will broaden awareness and education within the building product manufacturing, architecture, engineering, and construction industries on the Common Materials Framework and how it can be used to scale the manufacture and adoption of sustainable materials.

“A common language is vital to delivering a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future,” says Nadav Malin, president of BuildingGreen. ”By delivering high-quality, unbiased, trusted and easy-to-digest information, we can support adoption of the Common Materials Framework and help everyone in the industry make product choices that are better for people and the planet.”

Educational content is being created by both mindful MATERIALS and BuildingGreen throughout 2023 and will be shared on both platforms—mindfulmaterials.com and buildinggreen.com. Mindful MATERIALS will be developing foundational education on the Common Materials Framework—how it is structured and how it can be applied in practice, both today and into the future.

The BuildingGreen knowledge base surfaces relevant content that supports the framework, including in-depth news analysis, feature stories, product reviews, webinars, and substantive guides, with many including CEUs both for architects and for LEED and WELL professionals.

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“We want to encourage project teams and manufacturers to deliver a healthier, more sustainable, equitable, and resilient built environment through more mindful materials choices, and that starts with education,” says Bevan.

More information on the collaboration and educational resources can be found at buildinggreen.com/mindful-materials and mindfulmaterials.com/mm-education 

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About mindful MATERIALS, Inc.

mindful MATERIALS Inc. (mM) is dedicated to reducing, and ultimately reversing, the embodied impacts of the built environment through our collective material choices. mM furthers its mission through a global cross-sector Collaboration Hub, convening to share learning and drive informed decisions around an industry-aligned, digitized Common Materials Framework (CMF) for health, sustainability, and resilience. Visit mindfulmaterials.com to learn more.

About BuildingGreen, Inc. 

BuildingGreen champions the changemakers in sustainable design and building, with consulting services; industry news, analysis and guidance; education; and peer communities. The company is a mission-driven certified B Corp trusted by thousands of AEC professionals for insight and guidance on sustainable design, resilience, social equity and health in buildings and communities. Learn more at buildinggreen.com

Published July 17, 2023

(2023, July 17). Press Release: Major Green Building Orgs Team Up on Material Education. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/blog/press-release-major-green-building-orgs-team-material-education

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Comments

July 18, 2023 - 1:05 pm

Barbra, your many hats are a testament to your personal mission to help this industry and this planet thrive. I'm also happy you haven't retired yet. :-)

July 18, 2023 - 11:10 am

It is amazing to finally see convergence around a unifying language for all stakeholders so we can really propel all of our efforts!
I wanted to add (with my mM BoD 'hat' on) that there is a direct link between the A+D Material Pledge and mM's CMF. The two orgs have a direct relationship with the Pledge being the original commitment, defining the scope and structure for firms to take action, and the CMF builds on that and expands the intial scope into a very detailed and actionable set of criteria and data so that firms can translate the concepts to actions! Firms will be responsible for tracking and self-reporting (very similar to the AIA 2030 Commitment) so this clarifying and detailed data 'mapping' is essential for the industry's success and (IMHO) has been done beautifully and in a clear and understandable way! One other differentiator between AIA and mM (which is great synergy) is the role mM Working Groups have - this is where the community - hundreds of professionals, come together to discuss, learn and continuously raise the bar as a community so we can all learn from each other and accelerate momentum.

Taking my mM BoD 'hat' off, and putting my BuildingEase (BE) 'hat' on, our new release coming in August (v2.0) has the CMF fully integrated and every firm using this free tool will automatically be tracking to the Pledge (and can export any reporting they want). This will enable firms to be strategic, track their progress - see which product classes are strong, which need attention etc. Firms will be able to use BE to easily set internal standards, based on the CMF and have automatic compliance checking for every team, no matter how large the firm is. BE is the first (and for now..) only workflow tool that knits all this together to support firms (and owners) on their journey to a healthy material future.

Hatless now - after 25 years of doing this, I have renewed inspiration (and much needed energy infusion) witnessing this unprecedented momentum and convergence of leaders in the field to make this a priority. The AIA's Pledge program raising awareness and bringing the discipline to materials that we've had with pEUI (2030), mM as the clear and strong voice empowering and engaging the community actively and BuildingGreen, doing what you guys have always done with thoughtfullness, clarity and depth of information that everyone trusts you with! It's the only thing that makes me happy that I haven't retired yet :)