KPF Joins AIA Materials Pledge

Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), a global architecture practice that designs impactful projects in cities around the world, has joined the AIA Materials Pledge and committed to using healthier and more sustainable materials in its work. Specifying with consideration for human health, social health and equity, ecosystem health, climate health, and a circular economy can help improve the well-being of our planet and the people who call it home.

Working with ambitious clients on significant projects around the world gives us the opportunity to affect the evolution of material strategies as we craft buildings for a variety of physical, social, and environmental contexts. As a signatory of the pledge, KPF has identified five concrete steps to take to improve our materials selection and specification processes. The firm has reported to the AIA on its policies and their implementation in projects and will continue to do so on annual basis.

• Reporting: KPF has submitted its first report to the AIA Materials Pledge and will continue to report on its progress annually.

• Roadmap: KPF will publish a Materials Action Plan that details a process for removing critical materials that do not align with the AIA Materials Pledge from our practice over the next two years.
• Advocacy: KPF will share a letter of commitment outlining our Materials Action Plan and expectations of data transparency for products with every material vendor we contact.

• Education: KPF will implement dedicated materials training for our architectural staff to ensure informed material selections on all projects.

• Resources: KPF will seek out building materials with transparency certifications concerning their impacts on human and climate health for our material library.

• Transparency: KPF will specify products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for major product categories in our buildings.

The AIA Materials Pledge complements other commitments KPF has made to develop the capacity to design and deliver net-zero buildings by 2030 (AIA and RIBA 2030) and reduce the carbon emissions of our firm’s operations by 50% by 2030 (the Science Based Targets Initiative).

“As architects, we care deeply about the materiality of the built environment, and we recognize that the decisions we make have impacts that extend beyond our buildings, ultimately involving diverse supply chains and ecosystems,” said James von Klemperer, KPF President. “KPF is proud of the work we have done to elevate sustainability in our projects, and we are committed to working with our peers in the industry to improve the health of people and planet through responsible material selection and specification.”

“Designing with sensitivity to a building’s context it is not only a question of history, local climate, or capturing views. It also involves understanding the geography and lifecycle of its materials and bringing transparency to their climate and human impacts,” noted Carlos Cerezo Davila, KPF Sustainable Design Director. “At KPF we know the specific challenges that come with pursuing material transparency globally, but also the potential for moving industry forward by committing to better performance in large-scale, transformational projects. We look forward to working with our peers through the AIA Materials Pledge and further advancing our internal material selection practices.”

“The material selection process is a pivotal step in bringing any design to life,” remarked Erin Heidelberger, KPF Materials Performance Specialist. “There is so much energy and action around healthy and sustainable material selection, both here at KPF and across the industry at large. The AIA Materials Pledge opens more conversations on these key topics and gives us a vital framework through which we can evaluate materials for our projects.”

KPF has put its commitment to sustainable design through material innovation into practice in projects that span typology, geography, climate, and scale. The firm’s design for Meta Farley, a state-of-the-art technology office located in a former, historic post office, makes extensive use of healthy and low-carbon materials to provide a wellness-oriented experience for employees. For Panorama St. Paul’s, meanwhile, KPF reconfigured salvaged stone to create a new façade for a reimagined office building in the City of London, dramatically cutting embodied carbon through material reuse. The firm’s work for Burrard Exchange in Vancouver, Canada, leverages a hybrid mass-timber structure to drastically reduce the building’s embodied carbon impact.

Download the full press release here.