Design for Resources
Good design depends on informed material and resource selection—balancing priorities to achieve durable, safe, and healthy projects with an equitable, sustainable supply chain to minimize possible negative impacts on the planet.
Learn more about the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
Reproduced with permission of The American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Avenue, N.W.; Washington, D.C. 20006
Design for Resources
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Waste Not, Want Not: Case Studies of Building Material Reuse
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Reclamation and reuse of building materials can be a tough sell and hard to design for, but many project teams have learned to make it work. Here’s how.
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Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
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The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
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LEED and WELL Product Labels: A Guide and Analysis
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LEED and WELL encourage a lot of different programs for green products. Learn the essentials—plus what’s behind the labels.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Timeless Tile’s Carbon Conundrum
Product Review
Tile is an ancient type of flooring and wallcovering that can last centuries—even millennia. But can it check today’s sustainability boxes?
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Resilient Flooring: Finding the Green Sweet Spot
Product Review
What’s the best resilient flooring? Is resilient flooring even sustainable?
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Acoustic Panels: Cutting through the Product Noise
Product Review
Choosing interior acoustic products that contain fewer potentially hazardous materials will improve the overall interior environmental quality without compromising designs.
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Rapidly Renewable Hemp Flooring and Lumber
Product Review
Hemp is a sustainable, low-embodied-carbon building material, but few products are actually made from it. HempWood is out to change that with its flooring and non-structural lumber made from hemp fibers.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Templeton: LEED Is Not Enough; Portfolio Framework Is Next
News Analysis
Equity, ESG, and a brand new framework in the works for existing building portfolios. We talked to Peter Templeton about his plans.
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Climate-smart Mass Timber Is Coming
News Analysis
Better forestry practices and mass timber market development will benefit from tens of millions of dollars from USDA.
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We’re Way Behind on Climate Targets; Can Electrification Save Us?
News Analysis
The global building industry is not on track for decarbonization by 2050—not even close. There is promising news from COP27, but we need structural change, starting with electrification.
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How to Identify—and Get Your Hands on—Climate-Smart Wood
News Analysis
The Climate Smart Wood Group is offering procurement guidance while simultaneously pushing toward better data.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Constructing Change: The Contractor’s Commitment
Spotlight Report
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Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
Feature
The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
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Biobased Building Materials: the Hype, the Hope, the … Hemp?
Webcast
This webcast explores the promising future of biobased materials in commercial construction.
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Affordable Housing or Green Housing? We Can Say Yes to Both
Webcast
Yes, available funding for building and rehabilitating affordable housing is inadequate—but that’s all the more reason to get this right when we get the chance.
