AIA’s Materials Pledge Report Reveals Progress—and What Comes Next

One of a project’s greatest impacts is its material selection. From the paint on the walls to the lighting overhead, every item within the built environment has an impact beyond its end use. A product’s entire lifecycle ripples into the natural world, influences human health, and intersects with social justice.

As designers know, navigating the selection process requires intentionality and forethought. The AIA Architecture & Design Materials Pledge recognizes that there are myriad ways to quantify material health and is squarely addressing the challenge. The materials program asks signatories to prioritize five categories: human health, social health and equity, ecosystem health, climate, and circular economy.

The pledge’s 2024 report findings, released with a new reporting framework, outline a number of encouraging signs as well as areas for improvement.

Three Growth Opportunities and Next Steps

As firms continue to improve product selection, it’s important to pursue the next level of benchmarks. Supported with insights by Melanie De Cola, AIA’s director of Climate Action Pledge Programs and a LEED Green Associate, here are three areas to consider strengthening.

1. Elevate materials with a social health and equity profile.

Out of 120 firms, over 60% cited low familiarity with social health and equity. This is compounded by the uphill battle of locating qualifying products in this category in the first place.

“The lack of clear benchmarks, standardized labels, and a general understanding of material supply chains are significant contributing factors,” De Cola told interiors+sources. “In response, AIA aims to develop educational opportunities in 2026 to address these knowledge gaps.”

3. Incorporate a higher percentage of reclaimed materials.

Despite the popularity of salvaged barnwood in home renovation shows, only 3% of firms are maximizing reclaimed materials as a dedicated strategy for diverting design materials from the waste stream. In fact, just shy of 30% of submitted projects opted for “salvaged, reclaimed, or reused materials and products.”

For interior projects, selecting pre-owned or updating current furnishings can meaningfully contribute to material reuse and preserve or even reduce embodied carbon. From reupholstering to modifying the original piece, there are many ways to revive an item for its next iteration. There are abundant options for refurbished office furnishings, not to mention a healthy marketplace for vintage offerings if it fits a client’s brand aesthetic. Any of these efforts concretely keep materials from a gloomy fate in the landfill.

For example, this Perkins+Will project saved 16% of the total material cost during a 2020 office move by reconfiguring existing items from the previous location. They also repopulated 68% of the new layout with available furniture, scoring $100,000 in savings and demonstrating that sustainability opportunities don’t need to inflate project budgets.

“A significant barrier to a circular economy is the inconsistent availability of reusable materials and the difficulty in connecting these materials with firms that can use them,” De Cola acknowledged. “Implementing local and state ordinances for material capture and reuse can address this challenge by fostering an active and reliable market for reclaimed resources.”