ASTM Gives New Prominence to Sustainability

A new ASTM International committee, formed in October 2008, will provide a central venue for discussing sustainability in the respected standards organization. The high-level main committee will work on standards and guides concerning sustainability—environmental, economic, and social—across the board, acting as a portal for the growing number of industries that turn to ASTM for guidance on the subject.

According to Dru Meadows, AIA, who has chaired the active ASTM subcommittee on sustainability in buildings for ten years, the move will give the topic a more central role in the organization. Until now, said Meadows, the work of her subcommittee has been necessarily limited in scope by its place within the committee structure, and some other areas that relate to buildings have been under the purview of other subcommittees. ASTM’s influence—through the voluntary adoption by industry, government, and organizations of its consensus standards—is likely to give its work on sustainability an influential role in many spheres. ASTM expects to staff the committee by the end of 2008.