AIA Release White Paper on Materials Transparency and Risk
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the release of its first-ever white paper on materials transparency and risk, part of an AIA effort to equip the entire profession with consensus-driven guidance on an issue of critical importance to the profession, its suppliers and clients.
“Whether in politics or in building design, transparency is an increasingly necessary element of modern life,” said AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA. “And when it comes to materials - the very substances of our built environment - it's more important than ever for architects to be able to communicate openly about what they contain.”
The white paper is the product of more than a year of effort by the AIA's Materials Knowledge Working Group (MKWG), pursuant to a position statement approved by the AIA Board of Directors in December 2014. In that statement, the AIA recognized that “building materials impact the environment and human health before, during and after their use,” and it encouraged architects “to promote transparency in materials’ contents and in their environmental and human health impacts.”
As an introduction to the white paper, the MKWG compiled five guideposts about which every architect should be aware when it comes to materials transparency. They provide first steps to a deeper understanding of what goes into a building and how it impacts its inhabitants: