The issues around sustainability in architecture and construction and design seem to be put into dollars and cents best and maybe in a world leading way by LEED and the United States Green Building Council.
At least, as I travel the world and spend more time in the Middle East I’m seeing that the most creative new architecture projects are using LEED as their reference. Indeed, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and all the UAE are using United States sustainability goals and standards for all new buildings. The Sheikh wants sustainable buildings and the money is flowing toward this goal. That translates to projects being funded and completed if they are sustainable. We all want that!
BREEAM is another certification body in the UK that actually predates the LEED system and in some ways is more flexible. Both systems lead to a more sustainable building or infrastructure project.
How Does Sustainability Afect an Architecture Team?
For years, our team has functioned in the realm of sustainability and not known that there was a rating system for it. It’s funny, we had to start our business in the middle east just to find out how important LEED is. We were never asked to comply in the States!! Now as we are achieving certification to a level that will allow us to prove sustainability, we are very introspective about our pieces–and how they might help an interiors or architecture team reach their LEED goal.
The y-chair, as an example of a family of our seating pieces, has some lessons to show. The aesthetic of the “Y” is ground breaking and the physics are impressive as well. One weld holds the entire structure of the chair together. Awesome. But how does that translate to sustainability?
It doesn’t; not until you begin thinking in terms of materials and humans.
Humans
LEED Pilot Credit for Social Equity in the Supply Chain–according to Green Badger–can supply 2 LEED points if 2 manufacturers are permanently installing 3 products. One of Chronicle Home’s workshops is World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) certified. I would argue this certification is most difficult to obtain and most in-line with UNHCR which is the U.N. organization that makes sure refugees get a fair shake.
As we weld the Y-chair, we look for welders that can work inside the WFTO structure. Then we try to fit materials to those humans and their equipment and materials. This has led to bar stock being used on every chair in our collections. This adds weight, which adds shipping, but the strength to weight ratio is off the charts and our pieces have fared in commercial spaces better than any others. People are hard on barstools. But the Humans in this case drove our choice of barstock.
Refugees
I have met with these organizations personally in the locality where we control quality and make ourselves. The U.N. unofficially pushes for the WFTO certification and once it’s obtained, there’s almost an automatic assumption the maker can be trusted. That’s how much audit and difficulty there is in obtaining WFTO status and maintaining it. Humans and their treatment are being considered like never before in history. I can meet over coffee and tell specific stories as to how the UN is supporting this. Be cheered, though, humans are supporting each other in the middle of all the wars and refugee crises. Lets see how we can contribute.
Materials
For some reason I love the subject of materials. I never knew how the interface between humans and materials could make such a difference. For example:
As we have built the “Y” chair and it’s family of seating options, in different countries and cultures, we have asked questions that are inherently human. “What material makes this chair accessible for a maker to complete in any culture?”, and, “What material is available in this culture since our specified material is not?”
Back to the bar stock case. We would rather see the chair overengineered and the humans considered first, than make all our energy focus on materials and lose the ability to harness the genius of human creativity. One case in point. Because we used barstock on the “Y” chair, we were able to access a whole realm of humans who were welding structurally but had never touched furniture. They could envision and taper steel on the one critical joint in the “Y” and get it right from a strength standpoint. This also broadened our use of materials, as we could choose more raw and less processed steels which were more readily available.
Forests
After the human element which is always a micro enterprise question, we ask about source: Did this wood come from forests sustainably harvested? (My suggestion: look to Romanian hardwoods! They are the only country to my knowledge on the face of the earth regulating their logging industry using block chain and the populace and a smart-phone app to police harvests and trucks entering and exiting forests. Incredible and verifiable.)
Reuse
Further regarding source we ask, can we find re-used materials? This is increasingly important as the LEED system of sustainability gives double points for proving re-used materials on a project. I personally have discovered large quantities of reusable oak coming from already demolished barns of old Turkish farms in the countryside surrounding ancient Nikaea. We have carved our seats from these wood and they are now on their way to coffee shops in some of the largest cities in the world. Oh, and DOUBLE LEED POINTS!
As LEED certified makers we will be able to prove source and contribute directly to global finance going directly to more sustainable projects. I can’t say all of our waste gets used well, but I can say we are growing. This may be all anyone can ask for.
Taylor Ross
CEO/Carpenter
