As designers, we recognize the incredible opportunity—and responsibility—we have to do everything we can to build a more sustainable future. From improving indoor air quality to reducing construction waste, the materials interior designers and architects specify matter, and our choices represent an enormous opportunity to improve the health of the planet and the people who inhabit it.
As signatory to the AIA Architecture & Design Materials Pledge we seek to maximize the positive impact of our interior materials selections on projects through the lenses of human health, ecosystem health, climate health, social health, and circular economy. To provide interior designers, architects, and specifiers with resources and tools to support the Pledge framework, we have developed the HGA Healthier and Sustainable Interior Materials Selection Guide. Although intended to be an internal tool, we have shared a portion of this resource below.
This guide is for anyone who wants to deepen their materials knowledge and is intended to help create and implement healthier material practices on projects.