By Greg Ryan
One of Boston’s busiest architecture firms is getting serious about cutting down on the carbon footprint of the materials used in their buildings.
Gensler recently rolled out sustainability standards that manufacturers must meet for a dozen common construction materials such as gypsum board, interior latex paint and carpet tile. If a material does not meet the standard, the firm will not use the product. The standards include global warming potential as well as other environmentally minded metrics like indoor-air impacts.
San Francisco-based Gensler has a lot of leverage in the industry as the world’s largest architecture firm. It is the second-largest firm operating in Massachusetts, with $56.6 million in billings in 2022, according to Business Journal research. The firm designs many of the region’s highest-profile commercial real estate developments, including Amazon.com Inc.’s new Seaport offices, the remade One Post Office Square and The Hub on Causeway.
“We’re sending a very clear message to manufacturers that the way we operate is going to require change,” said Erik Barth, a Gensler senior associate helping to lead the initiative in the Boston office.
The standards target what is known as embodied carbon, or the emissions that come from building materials over their lifetimes. Many companies’ “net zero” initiatives cover operational emissions, such as the energy used to heat or cool a building. Laws like Boston’s BERDO similarly restrict emissions from building operations. Embodied carbon is trickier to tackle.
“On the embodied carbon side of the equation, we’re definitely leading that conversation locally with this initiative,” Barth said.
Gensler’s strategy is to start the standards at levels that most manufacturers can meet, then to raise those levels over time. Already, however, some manufacturers’ materials are not meeting the mark, according to Barth.
For now, the firm is also publishing more ambitious product specifications it views as “market differentiators.” Suppliers are not required to hit those numbers.
Gensler also plans to expand the standards to other materials. Some of the biggest drivers of emissions in construction, like concrete and steel, are notoriously difficult to decarbonize, though climatetech startups in Massachusetts and elsewhere are trying to change that. Gensler does not yet have standards for concrete and steel.
The standards grew out of an industry-wide effort to measure the environmental impact of materials. The metric for global warming potential, for instance, puts a hard number on the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted per square meter by materials. The standards also account for certifications like Cradle to Cradle.