Understanding the Supply Chain: A Specification Writer’s Perspective on Transparency, Accountability, and Implementation
In the architecture, construction, and engineering industries, large multidisciplinary teams collaborate to deliver a building. When it comes to the materials and products that end up being installed, specifications writers have the most significant impact. This is true for a single project, but this power is magnified at large firms delivering hundreds (or thousands!) of projects each year. The potential positive impacts of more sustainable specifications are profound. We talked with Specifications Writer Megan Paris Colfer to learn more about the AIA Materials Pledge and its impacts all along the supply chain.
Specifications are sometimes described as having “outsized power” over the sustainability of our buildings. Is this true? How do you see that playing out in the context of the AIA Materials Pledge?
Specs are where the design intent meets reality. We can talk about our values all day, but until those values are written into the specifications, they remain lofty goals. When we write them down and they become contract documents, we know our intent is being translated into actual, installed materials that are better for human and environmental health. Being a part of the specifications team allows us to
influence many projects at once, which gives us a real opportunity to move the needle at scale.
Over the last few months, the specifications team has been working hard to update the firm’s most frequently used specifications. How did you decide where to begin?
After LS3P signed the AIA Materials Pledge in late 2023, we had to ask ourselves how to tackle something this big in a realistic way. The firm formed a Materials Pledge Task Force which looked at guidance from the AIA and from other industry peers tackling implementation. We decided on a
phased approach, which allows us to scale as we grow our capabilities and offer the most achievable targets that we can build on over time. We focused first on materials that appear on nearly every project: things like metal studs, ceilings, adhesives, and sealants, where incremental improvements can have a broad impact.
You have mentioned a tiered approach to implementation, or options for “good, better, best.” Why is that mindset important?
The Materials Pledge has been around for a few years, but some materials are further along than others, especially interior vs exterior materials.
We’re still learning and implementing our strategies in phases, and so are our colleagues and our clients. A tiered system helps us to meet projects where they are, while still encouraging progress. Some changes have little to no cost impact, like basic construction waste management or our alreadycompliant interior finishes, while others require deeper investment. We’re in a phase of educating ourselves and our clients about an array of options for healthier materials. This structure supports meaningful conversations rather than all-or-nothing decisions.
How are you seeing the Materials Pledge influence conversations with project teams and clients so far?
We are seeing more curiosity and more questions, which is a good sign. It is still early, and this is very much a long game. The pledge works best when it is introduced early, during visioning and Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) discussions, so it becomes a reference point the team can return to throughout the project.
You recently attended the Design for Freedom conference, which intersects directly with the goals of the AIA Materials Pledge. What stood out to you most from that experience, especially as a spec writer?
From a specifications perspective, what I found most eye-opening was how much of the material sourcing process, particularly related to prison labor (slavery), forced labor (including child-forced labor/slavery), is invisible unless you go looking for it. One of the statistics I learned at Design for Freedom is that a total of 28 million people around the world work in forced-labor circumstances. Once that information is laid out clearly, it becomes very hard to ignore, and it reframes what responsibility looks like in our role.
Social equity and human rights are very emotional topics, and can be harder to discuss and quantify than the environmental metrics we’ve grown accustomed to analyzing. Did the conference influence the way you think about those issues in relation to materials?
Absolutely. Sustainability is not only about carbon or volatile organic compounds (VOCs); it’s also about people who interact with the materials we use at every step. Learning about forced labor and prison labor, including in our own cities and states, was gutting. It was a powerful reminder that we need to understand ethical sourcing from the perspective of our own backyards as well as in communities around the globe.
Were there specific material categories that felt especially challenging once you started digging into the social impacts behind them?
Yes, absolutely. Materials tied to mining and global supply chains, such as glass or components involving mica, raise difficult questions about child labor and working conditions worldwide. Regional nuances are important, however. For example, brick can be associated with major equity issues globally, but less so for us working in the Southeast where brick is largely locally sourced and produced in US masonry plants, where labor laws and regulations are present.
Looking ahead, where do you think spec writers can make the biggest difference in advancing the pledge?
Education is huge, both internally and with clients; we need to remember that we’re still in the early stages of implementing the pledge, and we need to meet people where they are in their knowledge as we continue to scale up our efforts. We also need better transparency tools around labor practices in addition to environmental data. Even asking better questions of our manufacturers is a step forward.
Don’t be afraid to be curious when talking to product representatives—if they don’t know the answer, push them to find out more.
For designers who may feel overwhelmed by the scope of these issues, what advice would you give?
Everyone knows we are going to have serious issues if we don’t start doing more; we’re already seeing evidence of climate change in our own backyards. So doing anything is better than nothing, and we actually have agency here! This is our profession and it’s time to step up to the plate. We are not going to solve everything at once, but steady progress, clear communication, and raising the bar over time are how real change happens. The Materials Pledge gives us a framework, but it is our collective follow-through that makes it meaningful.
