The Role of Standards in Sustainable Construction: An Architect’s Perspective

Part One: A Mid-Level Practitioner’s Take

On every project large and small, architects and specifiers are increasingly focused on how they achieve certain sustainability targets. One of the key ways to achieve such returns is in the building materials and suppliers they select for exterior and interior application.

At the same time, sustainability and sustainable design are often subjective. Measuring sustainability against standards reduces complexity and facilitates understanding.

This is the first in a series of articles commissioned by the Vinyl Sustainability Council (VSC) that is designed to illuminate the challenges designers, architects, and specifiers face when searching for sustainable choices. The aim is to discern the decision-making process they undertake when specifying products and suppliers and to highlight how certification plays a role in this paradigm.

Chris Forchione is a project architect with LDA Architects in Cleveland and has more than eight years of professional experience as a draftsman, project designer, and project architect. VSC posed a series of questions to tap into his mindset on the subject.

How has the role of sustainability standards for building design and product selection evolved in recent years?

Ohio has recently adopted a more current and stringent model energy code. With the new energy codes, buildings are required to increase thermal insulation of walls and roofing compared to what we’ve seen in older versions, creating a more energy-efficient building. This comes with a more increased up-front cost to the building owner. However, this is usually offset over time as the building owner realizes the savings in ongoing utility costs.

How do the sustainable business operations of the product suppliers and their supply chains impact the specification decisions?

Knowing a company is actively engaged in sustainable practices can be a strong factor in specifying, especially if a competitor is behind the curve. For example, it is worth noting if one company is actively recycling unused material back into products, and the other is not. However, striking a balance between environmental performance and practicality is key. If the aesthetic or performance criteria are inferior, then the environmental concerns are not enough on their own to warrant specification.

What matters most to your clients when it comes to sustainability? How do you go about specifying sustainable building materials?

Most of our clients need to be educated on sustainability. Once the conversation begins, they are most interested in reducing ongoing utilities consumption. When it comes to specifying, we use product-issued Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), which describe the product’s complete sustainability story. Comparing the literature can help identify which products have the least environmental impact, which always plays a factor in the project design and budget.

What is most important to you when you are analyzing or qualifying the sustainability of a certain product or solution? What vaults something to the top of the consideration set?

Typically, products that have a long life cycle top the list, because it’s important that premature replacement does not occur. The amount of embodied carbon a product contains is also a decisive factor, as lowering carbon emissions is a big focus for building owners. 

How important is independent certification that a product or solution is sustainable? How does it figure into your approval process?

The declaration of a product’s sustainability criteria must be produced by a third party, or its value is otherwise negligible. Third-party credibility ensures the transparency of the claims and helps eliminate the risk of bias or overstatement by individual companies.

Vantage Vinyl®: The Industry Standard

When it comes to sustainability verification, VSC created +Vantage Vinyl® to advance the U.S. vinyl industry’s contribution to sustainable development. A voluntary assessment developed by the VSC, +Vantage Vinyl serves as independent, third-party verification of a vinyl company’s integrated efforts to achieve sustainability in its operations and practices.

Companies that participate are required to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable operations and continuous improvement in sustainability across environmental, social, and governance factors. Verification through GreenCircle Certified, LLC authenticates and reports on the compliance of each company as it relates to the five sustainability pillars: environmental stewardship, social diligence, economic soundness, collaboration, and open communications.

Verified companies are awarded the right to use the +Vantage Vinyl-verified mark as evidence of their compliance with the standard. This gives specifiers the ability to Choose the Mark when specifying building materials for their projects.