On Tuesday, September 9th, CREW Boston’s Sustainability Group hosted a panel discussion on "Commercial Real Estate Aligns Around Sustainable Materials,” at Consigli Construction Company.
 
The program was moderated by Laurel Chadzynski of Loom and Lever and featured panelists Barbra Batshalom, CEO of BuildingEase, and Jennie Kalberer, Partner at The Green Cities Company.

Green building rating systems such as LEED, WELL, and the Living Building Challenge have long driven the industry toward sustainable materials, but only recently have they begun to align on what “sustainable materials” truly means. Building on the AIA Materials Pledge (introduced in 2019), and the growing adoption of the Common Materials Framework developed by Mindful Materials, this alignment is streamlining reporting for certifications and bringing shared goals across the real estate industry.
 
The panel provided valuable context on the progress to date and highlighted how this convergence of standards is reshaping workflows and making it easier to track and advance the use of sustainable materials. From low carbon to non-toxic to social justice, there are over 600 different labels for materials, making it overwhelming to navigate. The work of Mindful Materials and BuildingEase help to rate materials and provide easily digestible information for owners who need cost comparable solutions at scale. To quote Laurel, “If we want to create environments that will be safe for our people, our communities, and our planet, we need to be asking what's in our materials, where they came from, who made them, and where they're going next.”

 
A big thanks to our moderator and panelists for sharing their insights—and to Consigli for having us!