An Earth Day Interview with the STUDIOS Sustainability Council

How does the STUDIOS focus on sustainability in our projects?

WM: Our goal is to make projects as sustainable as possible and to make as big of an impact as we can through our practice. So that means that we set goals that are achievable with our clients and the project types that we're working on, and try to use sustainability to reinforce the story of our clients. So, sometimes that might be more focused on health, while others may focus on energy efficiency or achieving net-zero. We try to reinforce their goals and use our expertise and our experience to make suggestions and improvements on the project.

CR: We don't necessarily see achieving certification as the most important thing. We want to make each project sustainable in its own way. It's really about the project becoming something that can live in a sustainable manner for its occupants and client or owners.

Why does STUDIOS as a firm focus on sustainability?

CR: It's a commitment to our planet, an acknowledgement of the direction we think the world is going right now, and how we can help make the world better. It also just fits into our overall ethos of problem solving. Sustainability is just one component that we balance across a whole bunch of different priorities within each project. Each client has a different idea of what they want their project to do. We have to take their goals and then look at the site, program, users, code, and sustainability requirements. This is a holistic view of sustainability, not just something we're adding on at the end to check a box. It becomes part of the DNA of every project we work on.

Why is it important for our clients to focus on sustainability?

WM: This is a conversation that's happening at a high level, especially with our corporate clients. Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), has been a hot topic for a long time and companies have been working through their own commitments. Sustainability contributes to financial stability in a lot of cases, and companies need a stable world to operate, instead of one where we are rocked by natural disasters, rising sea levels, and other issues. A lot of companies have started to see that sustainability and commitments to minimizing their impact on the planet positively affects their bottom line. And at the same time, company leaders recognize that they are in positions of power. They control a lot of real estate and they want to genuinely make the world a better place, beyond just what it means for stock prices and profit margins. 

In terms of the more human element, as science has worked to better understand the effects of working indoors, how our indoor environments are created has become more important. When we create healthy spaces full of light, healthy materials, and opportunities for movement, that impacts a lot of people for a huge percentage of their day.

What is one initiative that helps us support clients this way?

WM: STUDIOS is an early signatory of the AIA Architecture & Design Materials Pledge, which helps firms work to specify healthy materials in their projects. One of our firmwide goals is to use materials that minimize or eliminate proven human health concerns, so signing on was another way to help us achieve that goal. One of the first things we did was use the Living Future Institute’s Red List, which lists harmful chemicals that are prevalent in materials, to remove products in our office materials library that contained these chemicals. Then, we created internal documents that offer best practices and best-in-class materials that our designers can choose from. This includes easy substitutions for products that we can then work into our projects. 

CR: We look at materials from an emissions point of view starting with initial creation all the way until the point it’s put into the project, through its lifetime of use, and finally whether it can be recycled or repurposed. This allows us to consider the entire lifecycle of the product. We take a look at health declarations, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and third party certifications.

Are more sustainable materials more expensive?

WM: Sometimes, but by specifying those products we can support companies creating more sustainable materials, which will eventually make them more accessible and help the industry as a whole. For example, low-VOC paint used to be harder to find, but now it’s easily available to anyone shopping at Home Depot. Through market selection the industry was able to improve a whole class of materials! 

Are we able to steer clients towards more healthy materials?

CR: Definitely! There’s a lot of materials that we can select alternates to with very little financial impact, such as a more sustainable type of drywall. It’s easy to make these small substitutions and at STUDIOS choosing these more sustainable materials is our baseline. Larger ticket items tend to be those that are more visible to the client and end user. In that case, we work with clients to help them understand that the sustainable product may be more energy efficient and save them money in the long run, or have lower emissions which may boost employee productivity. In many cases, choosing sustainable materials and products really has benefits for the clients and their own staff. 

WM: We try to help our clients develop and tell their own sustainability stories, so these choices can become a point of pride. This allows them to share with their staff or investors why a slight cost increase is worth it, because it represents an investment in their people or serves as an example of their own sustainable values.

Why is sustainability important to you personally?

CR: I take being a good member of my community and the broader world very seriously. It's important to me that we're leaving behind something that is tenable. I have a daughter and I think a lot about how I can help make the world a better place for her. The rising tides and all the negative statistics you hear about climate change, they scare me. Even though I can't do a ton as just one person, it feels really important to try my best to do what I can both in my personal life and through my professional work.

WM:This is the issue of our time. It's such a hard problem that may not even be solvable, but it's only going to get better if we at least make good faith efforts. Architects are stewards of the built environment, and to live up to that, we need to try and tackle this.