Materials to help decarbonize the world
Algae / rapidly renewable
Algae provide much of Earth's oxygen, serve as the food base for aquatic life, and are key materials for diverse industrial and consumer products. The algae family includes seaweed and kelp, the largest seaweed subgroup, and all algae form an important carbon sink.
Checkerspot bio-manufactures algae-based performance materials for sporting and clothing consumer brands.
National Institutes of Health reviews the uses of microalgae to produce polymers and various bioplastics.
Otrivin Air Lab engages its visitors in the development of biodegradable polymers made with the by-product of the air purification process powered by living photosynthetic microalgae.
Prometheus combines microalgae with other natural components to form a zero-carbon bio-cement for construction.
3D Printlife ALGA 3D printer filament is an optimized PLA combined with nuisance algae that have been removed from the environment, creating a markedly sustainable material by helping to keep the ecology in balance through remediation.
Aluminum / low embodied carbon
Aluminum is the third most abundant element and the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, primarily derived from bauxite ore. Making aluminum is an energy-intensive process however, it can be cast, melted, formed, machined, extruded, and 3D printed to create a wide variety of products that will not readily corrode and can be easily recycled.
Alcoa offers Sustana™ products to lower the carbon footprint of diverse supply chains.
ALUSION™ Architectural Stabilized Aluminum Foam is 100% recycled material and recyclable.
Hydro provides a range of products for casting, extruding, and forming made with recycled, post-consumer scrap, low-carbon aluminum, using renewable energy sources.
Nordural offers Natur-Al™ low carbon aluminum products made with 100% renewable energy sources.
One Click LCA is an independent firm of construction carbon specialists operating globally out of Finland. This white paper explores how low-carbon aluminum can help reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.
Bamboo / rapidly renewable
Bamboo is one of the most versatile, fastest-growing plants in the world; a tree-like grass that self-regenerates from its roots and possesses a tensile strength greater than steel. Bamboo is a CO2 sequestering material with many uses, e.g., building structures, furnishings, textiles, and foodstuffs.
BamCore is developing the world’s first global supply chain of carbon sequestering bamboo for its products.
BioDesign Research Group at Virginia Tech explores carbon neutral solutions for the built environment.
Brentano fabrics are made from 100% bamboo viscose, a rapidly renewable and biodegradable fiber, and compliant with GOTS, Global Organic Textile Standard, guidelines, Tenderness is part of the Brentano Green fabric label and available for possible LEED points.
Green Matters offers a brief, highly readable overview about what makes bamboo sustainable and more.
Plyboo makes Pure Bamboo and Soy-based formaldehyde-free binders and offers a wide range of sustainable design solutions to the international marketplace.
Teragren offers sustainable and versatile bamboo panels, veneers, and countertops to meet a wide range of manufacturing needs, while also being environmentally friendly.
Rizome bamboo boards are made from giant bamboo species such as Dendrocalamus asper, native to Southeast Asia that provides extra thick material and the versatility required for varied applications.
Biocomposite / natural fibers
Biocomposites are made by combining resin with natural fibers, which provide structure and strength. Biofibers, which are generated from renewable sources such as hemp, flax, jute, bamboo, or even recycled materials such as wood chips or agricultural leftovers, are major components of biocomposites. As a result, biocomposites create healthier and safer, lighter-weight materials than traditional petroleum-based composites.
BioFoam is fully compostable but with the excellent properties and freedom of shape of EPS. It almost seems too good to be true. Nevertheless, we have succeeded in creating an even more sustainable alternative to EPS based on polylactic acid (PLA) that comes from vegetable waste.
Circular Matters leverages the power of plants to create materials that replace fossil-based plastics and resins.
HuisVeendam develops bio-laminates based on natural local fibers and starch and replacing synthetics.
Lingrove produces flax-based, carbon neutral surface materials for building and automotive interiors.
NatureWorks has developed a 3D printable Ingeo biopolymer, made from renewable biobased feedstocks, is a low-carbon alternative to petrochemical-based plastics and fibers.
Omlab focuses on the raw materials that the water boards can produce from sewage, such as cellulose, lime and kaumera Omlab has researched new printable bio-based pastes, both in terms of material composition and exploration of the applications. The material dries well and is 3D-printable and biodegradable.
Bioleather / biodegradable
Bioleathers are grown from living microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast, algae, and fungi found in plant root systems. These microbes can be fabricated to produce biopolymers that are grown in a mold to develop leather-like materials that are harvested without any waste and are biodegradable at the end of life.
Ananas Anam offers Piñatex® and Piñayarn®, made from pineapple leaves to create textiles and leather alternatives.
Biofabricate drives sustainable biomaterial innovation for all global sectors including leading fashion companies.
Polybion makes biomaterials that are chromium-free and REACH, EPA, and ZDHC compliant from fruit waste.
Pyratex fabrics are made from plants using their unique formula for production chain from plant to fabric, it is a traceable process ensuring the lowest environmental impact. (GOTS, GRS and OCS certified textile supplier.)
Revoltech is developing LOVR™, an alternative leather produced from hemp, and biodegradable.
Tjeed Venhoven produces Palm leather made by dipping the dry and brittle leaves from the Arecae Betel Nut.
Tômtex is a leather alternative created from seashells or mushroom waste for fashion, packaging, and products.
Vitro Labs lab-grown leather can make billions of square feet of leather with a single, harmless biopsy from one cow that allow those skin cells to regenerate indefinitely.
Biopolymer / non-fossil based
Biopolymers are used to produce bioplastics that can replace petroleum-based plastics across a wide range of industries from automobiles and packaging to biomedical applications. Biopolymers can help reduce CO2 emissions, solid municipal waste, and the reliance on petroleum-based resources.
New Light harnesses microorganisms found in nature to transform greenhouse gases into AIRCARBON™: a bio-based material alternative to fossil-based plastic.
UKHI offers hemp-based bioplastic granules for injection and blow molding; an alternative to fossil-based plastics.
Bricks / low-embodied carbon
Ancient bricks made from mud clay, shaped into bricks, and sun-dried in the open air formed a very low embodied carbon building material. In recent years, mass produced clay bricks have required higher heat to create higher performing bricks yet causing higher embodied carbon. Now, to decarbonize bricks, a wider range of materials, additives, and energy sources are becoming available to produce low embodied carbon bricks that are energy efficient, long-lasting, and increasingly recyclable.
Brickworks manufacturing process to produce Austral Bricks (Carbon neutral bricks) products use waste sawdust from the local Tasmanian timber industry as a fuel to fire kiln.
Building with Earth is a designer's project that looks at the Mexican landscape to find alternative construction materials. The designer has found an abundance of ancient soil that she mixed with rice husk and water to form a liquid that can be cast in formworks.
Gent Waste Brick for DING a low carbon brick made from recycled municipal waste from the city of Gent has been developed for the construction of the new wing of the Design Museum Gent.
KENOTEQ K-briq uses a low-carbon production process and makes bricks made from inert 100% recycled input materials, offering a low carbon alternative to traditional masonry.
IsoHemp hemp block is manufactured according to a very low energy-consuming process, using 100% natural materials (limestone and hemp) that are sourced locally. This creates a positive carbon footprint since a pallet of IsoHemp hemp blocks stores 100kg of CO2.
Michelmerch is developing new 100 % hydrogen-fired, low-carbon clay bricks.
Timbercrete is a mud brick style alternative with improved insulating and thermal qualities plus superior erosion resistance and structural capabilities.
YiBrick is manufacturing a recycled brick using ceramic waste that is designed to lower the carbon emission as compared to the traditional building products. These bricks and tiles are lighter, stronger and uses less energy to manufacture.
CobBauge is a low cost system using eco-friendly materials and methods for intended use as a replacement wall made in two layers, using traditional cob with high strength fibers like straw along with high clay content binder.
ARCHISONIC creates soft, cellulosic tiles made primarily from cotton linters that provide sound absorption while being completely circular.
Seratech cement produces zero-carbon construction materials, including concrete blocks, bricks, and plasterboard, using waste CO2. This process solves a major problem for hard-to-abate industries relying on carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reach net zero, as very few cement plants are close to sequestration sites.
CAF / compressed agricultural fiber
Compressed Agricultural Fiber (CAF) panels are used for structural walls, curtain walls, floors, and flat roofs in a variety of residential, multi-family, and commercial buildings today. Invented in Sweden in 1935, CAF is made from wheat and rice straw, a renewable resource and waste material in many countries.
GreenBuilt International Building Company offers 100% sustainable wheat and straw renewable panels made without toxic or hazardous additives or residues.
Neverwaste is a board material made entirely from waste cardboard and packaging, for use in multiple applications.
Ortech Industries converts natural and renewable wheat or rice straw fibers (biomass) into durable construction panels.
EcoBoard is a fibreboard derived from straw waste that is low on VOCs and improves indoor air quality.
Ricehouse produces high-performance construction materials for internal and external architecture, using agricultural waste from rice production, which reduces CO2's environmental impact.
Carbon / transformed CO2
CO2 is a colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that naturally exists in Earth’s atmosphere. Today the amount of atmospheric CO2 greatly exceeds its historic norms due to a global dependence on combustible fossil fuels, which is a root cause of global warming. In response, companies are capturing and transforming CO2 into useful materials such as alcohol, ethanol, ethylene, and carbonate-based alternatives to Portland cement for low-embodied concrete.
Aether produces lab grown, conflict-free diamonds from 100% atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Air Company takes Earth's excess CO2 and transforms it into carbon-negative products, e.g., alcohols and fuels.
Carbon Upcycling CO2 utilization technologies address industrial and consumer product applications.
Made Of Air makes carbon-negative materials that can transform product categories in the built environment.
Origin converts CO2 sequestering cellulose into chemicals that replace the petrochemicals used in common plastics.
Twelve makes the world's most critical chemicals, materials, and fuels from CO2, not oil.
Heidelberg Materials is producing sustainable cement at the world's first Carbon Capture and liquefaction plant, in addition to a variety of aggregates for the construction industry.
Made of Air converts CO2 from biomass waste into char and combines it with plant-based thermoplastic binders to produce durable, carbon-negative, architectural wall panels.
Concrete / low embodied carbon
In addition to optimizing the use of concrete on a project to lower its carbon impact, concrete can be made with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). They range from powdered volcanic rock to blast furnace slag, sequestered CO2, and more. With a similar chemical makeup to portland cement, SCMs are added to improve concrete's workability and/or performance, as well as reduce its carbon footprint.
Aquipor permeable concrete utilizes low-carbon materials and upcycled industrial minerals, not Portland cement.
BioMason produces materials with a goal to remove 25% of carbon emissions from the concrete industry by 2030
Blue Planet Systems offers a range of products that revolutionize the construction industry's approach to carbon emissions. Their offerings include aggregates that effectively sequester CO2, producing carbon-negative concrete; CarbiCrete, a cement-free solution that injects and sequesters CO2 within concrete; and CarbonCure, which injects CO2 into ready mix, converting it into a mineral and significantly reducing carbon impact.
Carbon Upcycling locks CO2 inside cement-based materials and reduces the amount of cement required in concrete.
Chement technology uses renewable energy, cheaper and easier carbon capture, and with zero energy emissions.
ECOncrete decreases the ecological footprint and enables the growth of marine life on concrete infrastructures
Minus Materials are making Carbon-Negative Biogenic Limestone by developing a technology that enables production of the world’s first carbon-negative portland cement.
MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub research is dedicated to improving the sustainability of concrete production & use.
Omlab has researched new printable bio-based pastes, both in terms of material composition and exploration of the applications. Their material development focuses on the raw materials that can be produced from sewage, such as cellulose, lime and kaumera . The material is lightweight, biodegradable, and 3D-printable, while providing the strength of aerated concrete.
Prometheus combines microalgae with other natural com- ponents to form a zero-carbon bio-cement for construction.
Sugarcrete is a lightweight structural building material made from sugarcane bio-waste to create a carbon negative, concrete alternative.
Sublime Systems low-carbon cement uses ambient temperature electrochemistry instead of combustion-driven kilns to deliver deep reductions in CO2 emissions.
VITO has developed Carbstone, which converts calcium-rich slag into tiles, roof tiles, paving bricks, kerb stones, building blocks, and more. The process is called carbonation, which adds carbon dioxide instead of binders such as cement.
Wool2Loop leverages geopolymer technology, they transform mineral wool waste into valuable resources for the creation of new ceramic or concrete-like products. By utilizing advanced technologies for smart demolition and sorting of mineral wool waste, Wool2Loop employs an innovative analysis method that separates materials based on their compatibility with alkali-activation.
Snøhetta collaborates with Norwegian startup Saferock to pilot the use and support the development of a more sustainable geopolymer concrete.
Brimstone creates carbon-negative portland cement by a process that removes CO2 from the air.
Concrene is a graphene-reinforced concrete technology that utilizes nanostructured carbon to make a new type of concrete that is thinner and lighter with a lower carbon footprint.
Cork / natural & renewable
Cork is derived from cork oak trees' bark, which can be harvested without harming the trees. Cork is used in a variety of ways in the built environment, packaging, fashion, and other industries. Being a lightweight material, it excels at insulation and contributes to enhanced indoor air quality. Cork is a popular, sustainable choice for flooring, wall coverings, and furniture, finding widespread use in construction projects.
Cork Forest Conservation Alliance offers facts about this natural, renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable material.
Cork Quality Council describes how cork forests are FSC certified and act as a carbon sink for CO2
Jelinek is the oldest cork company in the world, and continues to distribute its cork products around the globe.
Manton Industrial Cork is a 100-year-old supplier of a wide variety of cork shapes and sizes
Recork recycles post-consumer and post-industrial cork that are re-agglomerated in their patented technique to create ReCORK Recycled Cork products.
ThermaCork is a 100% natural, renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable insulation product made from the outer bark of a cork oak tree, a species called Quercus suber.
WECork offers cork flooring, underlayment, wall coverings, and accessories made using the unique properties of cork.
Cotton / biodegradable & recyclable
With a history dating back to at least 5,000 BC, cotton boasts a rich heritage as a textile material, with evidence of human use found in diverse regions like Mexico, Pakistan, and Peru. Cotton finds extensive applications beyond clothing, reaching into industries such as home textiles, medical products, and interiors. As a natural, biodegradable, and renewable material, cotton harmoniously aligns with sustainable practices when cultivated responsibly.
ARCHISONIC® Cotton is a circular solution creating a sound absorbing material where 100% of the sound absorbers are able to be returned to the production process at the end of their life cycle.
Dyes / low-embodied carbon
Textile dyeing and finishing processes are among the most polluting manufacturing processes on the planet. By employing low-embodied carbon dyes, the carbon footprint associated with traditional dyeing techniques is substantially mitigated. Derived from various sources, including natural pigments, innovative synthetic compounds, and technological processes, low-carbon dyes are celebrated for their minimal environmental impact.
Alchemie Technology develops cleantech manufacturing solutions using their more energy efficient, less costly and sustainable digital materials fabrication technologies for textile dyeing.
DyeCoo’s CO2 technology is the world’s first 100% water-free and chemical-free textile processing solution.
AirDye® enables a technology to print and dye textiles without using any water, providing a quick, simple, environmentally friendly, and economically viable way to color and print materials. It also addresses the problem of excessive water use and pollution by lowering the carbon footprint associated with conventional dyeing processes.
Werewool Inc. uses nature's design cues to create regenerative fibers that are ready to use in today's fashion industry using modified microbes to produce designer proteins that give textile fibers their performance and color without plastics or water pollution.
Living Ink is a biomaterials company creating and delivering carbon negative pigment and ink products made from algae for the packaging and textile industry.
OurCarbon uses an energy neutral pyrolysis process to turn organic wastes into a material additive and black pigment that can be used to color everything from textiles to bioplastics.
Huue is developing a biosynthetic, indigo blue dye for the denim industry that is free of fossil and toxic chemicals.
Sages creates non-toxic dyes that are made using color extracted from food waste and our unique circular process.
Fiberboard / natural fibers
Fiberboard is made from natural fibers derived from wood pulp or agricultural wastes such as straw, bagasse, or hemp. These natural fibers are meticulously blended with adhesives to make a cohesive combination that is compressed into panels or sheets of varied densities and thicknesses. It finds its purpose in interior finishes, furniture, cabinetry, and other architectural elements.
Baux acoustic panels are 100% bio-based, 100% recyclable, 100% biodegradable with 0% pollution or waste.
Blue Blocks offers a 100% natural, compostable, and chemical free board material for the built environment.
Ecoboard bio-based panels are made from agricultural residues such as straw or reeds and are bonded together naturally without formaldehyde or other VOCs.
Hemp Traders hempboard is an engineered wood product constructed from the fiber of the hemp plant.
Homasote is an environmentally intelligent building and fiberboard product made of 98% recycled materials.
Margent Farm hemp based corrugated sheets sequester carbon, preventing its release back into the atmosphere.
Plantd transforms renewable grass into durable panels, outcompeting wood on cost, CO2 removal, and performance.
Søuld acoustic boards utilize eelgrass fibers that lock CO₂ in the material over its useful lifetime.
The Exploded View uses residues from flax, hemp, and rapeseed straw to create biodegradable Compostboards
Typhaboard is a highly durable, healthy, and 100% bio-based insulation board made from typha (cattail).
Flax / natural & biodegradable no listings
Flax, with its versatile applications ranging from linseed oil and textiles to linoleum, biocomposites, and insulation materials, serves as a valuable and eco-friendly resource with a wide range of uses. Flax is known for its ease of cultivation, ability to deliver annual crops of flax seeds and fibers, and its capability to absorb CO2 during growth with minimal waste throughout the manufacturing process.
Glass / infinitely recyclable
Glass is an infinitely recyclable material serving as a fundamental building component, granting abundant access to natural light while providing excellent insulation against heat, cold, and noise. Advancements in glass manufacturing, such as electric melting furnaces powered by renewable energy sources, hold the potential to transform glass production into a predominantly low-carbon industry.
COVERINGSETC manufactures BIO-GLASS® material, a product made entirely from recycled glass helping to offset carbon emissions.
Forite recycled glass tiles are made from components found in discarded refrigerators, microwaves, and ovens.
Pozzitive® is a ground glass, industrial filler material that dramatically reduces embodied CO2 emissions in concrete.
Saint-Gobain is at work driving forward these evolutions in glassmaking technology. They are developing Zero-Carbon Flat Glass Made using 100% recycled material and green energy.
Vitriform3D technology enables large-scale 3D printing of pulverized glass waste to form new building materials.
Vitro architectural Glass is taking steps to reduce overall energy consumption in glass production. They reduce the amount of embodied carbon used among all the building products (including glass) specified for their construction projects.
Gypsum / low embodied carbon
Gypsum is a naturally occurring mineral made of calcium sulfate dihydrate and is recognized for its low embodied carbon. This mineral, abundant in nature, forms the foundation of Gypsum board, also known as drywall or plasterboard, which offers a myriad of advantages in construction. Its inherent fire resistance shields structure, sound insulation, and ease of installation. Its recyclability and reusability contribute to a circular economy, minimizing waste.
Carbon Impacts of Gypsum Board describes gypsum’s composition, processing, and carbon reduction options.
Embodied Carbon in Drywall translates research into actionable guidance that can advance a circular economy.
Gold Bond Building Products manufactures lightweight and cost-effective Gypsum Board panels with a naturally fire-resistant gypsum core encased in 100% recycled paper on the face and back sides.
Hemp / rapidly renewable
Derived from the cannabis plant, Hemp is known for its strength, durability, and sustainability. Hemp is also a significant carbon sink that can absorb more CO2 per hectare than a forest or commercial crop. Hemp fibers have excellent tensile strength that can be processed into different forms, including fabric, composite materials, and insulation.
Hemp Foundation offers an extensive list of hemp-based raw materials and finished products.
Hempcrete is made from hemp and lime for the building industry; sprayed or cast in place, or in hemp block forms.
Hempitecture offers HempWool®, a bio-based thermal insulation product for walls, floors, and ceilings.
Hemp Wood flooring, lumber, and panels are made from pressed hemp stalks and soy adhesive; naturally durable.
Mooncloth makes sustainable hemp textiles that contain 100% hemp or hemp blends with other natural organic fibers.
3D Fuel | Entwined v2 Hemp 3D printer filament is a commercially available 3D printing filament produced from USA-grown and processed industrial hemp.
Nature Fibres creates hemp-based, carbon sequestering, insulated wall, floor, and thermal packaging materials.
Jute / rapidly renewable
Jute, derived from the bark of the jute plant, is a natural and rapidly renewable material. With its versatile use for geotextile applications, insulation, and acoustic panels, jute showcases its potential for sustainable building practices.
Treehugger describes jute as a rapidly renewable and biodegradable fiber used for furniture, rugs, textiles, storage, and more.
ICAR the Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres provides jute research and FAQs.
Atelier LVDW created a new surface material by combining jute fibres with plaster. The fluff from the industrial jute waste is transformed into strong tiles with distinct patterns.
Kelp / rapidly renewable
Kelp is a type of large brown seaweed and part of the algae family that grows in underwater forests along coastlines and plays a significant role in carbon sequestration. Kelp grows rapidly, up to half a meter per day, and its materials provide substitutes for carbon-intensive products from food and consumer goods to medical and industrial product applications.
World Resources Institute describes what kelp is and why it is of vital importance to people and the planet.
Limestone / low embodied carbon no listings
This sedimentary rock finds its origins deep within the Earth's history, formed over millions of years from the accumulation of marine organisms' remains. Such natural processes have created a material rich in calcium carbonate, resulting in the distinctive appearance and composition that define limestone. The extraction, processing, and transportation of limestone entail relatively minimal carbon emissions when compared to many other construction materials.
Linoleum / low embodied carbon
Linoleum is a versatile material made from flax and created using binders and pigments along with natural and renewable materials such as linseed oil, wood flour, and cork dust. Linoleum is widely recognized as an eco-friendly, low-carbon material choice for applications in flooring, wall coverings, work surfaces, and more.
Donyaw kwaning in collaboration with linoleum producer Forbo, is making Lino leather, a vegan material that is similar to saddle leather for furniture and fashion accessory applications. It is currently suitable as an acoustic wall covering.
LinoFloor xf2 by Tarkett incorporates innovative use of natural dyes contributing to their sustainability efforts to reduce the carbon footprint generated during the production of linoleum.
Marmoleum, Forbo's brand for linoleum, is made from natural raw materials like linseed oil, which comes from flax plant seeds, jute fibers, and wood flour from forestry plantation production waste.
Mycelium / natural & renewable
Mycelium, a mushroom's underground root-like structure, is a remarkable natural material with numerous applications in construction, packaging, furniture, and fashion. It is grown from organic waste and agricultural byproducts and molded into various forms for creating sustainable and biodegradable innovative products.
BioFab creates compostable packaging from mycelium and agricultural waste to replace polystyrene foam.
BIOHM is a biomanufacturing company producing insulation from mycelium for the built environment.
Ecovative research into mycelial materials for products, packaging, and new bio-fabrication applications.
Magical Mushroom Company harnesses the natural flexibility and strength of mycelium, the material structure of fungi, to grow protective packaging at any scale by combining it with agricultural waste such as hemp, cork, and sawdust.
Mylo leather is made from mycelium, the underground root-like system of fungi, this bio-based leather alternative is soft, supple, and less harmful to the environment.
Olivine / mineral carbon capture
Olivine is one of the most common minerals on Earth, making up between 60-80% of the Earth's mantle. It can absorb its own mass of CO2 when powdered and scattered on the ground in a process known as mineral carbonation. Olivine, milled down to beach-compatible sand, may also be added to coastal protection projects where it gradually dissolves in the seawater, reducing ocean acidity and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Aireal describes olivine as one of the most promising natural materials in the field of carbon capture.
MIT Technology Review describes how olivine carbon-capturing rocks can counteract climate change.
Natural Resources Defense Council describes olivine, a magnesium-iron silicate that absorbs CO2 from the air.
The Olivine Foundation promotes olivine applications to policy makers, governmental institutions, and companies
Paint / natural-based materials
In contrast to common acrylic-based paints, these paints are made from naturally derived materials, such as minerals, plant-based oils, resins, and pigments to minimize the consumption of petrochemicals and the creation of dangerous pollutants. Such low embodied carbon paints do not include volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Bio-based Paints & Coatings market swot analysis by top key vendors, demand and forecast research to 2027
BioLime creates its specialty blend of plasters and masonry mortars using no artificial additives, no toxic chemicals, negative-zero-VOCs, and is completely natural.
BioShield has been developing and offering environmentally safe and sound paints.
ECOS Paints use sustainable ingredients to make water-based, eco-friendly paints formulated without harsh chemicals.
Earthborn is a breathable Claypaint in ultra-matt finish for interior walls and ceilings. Made using eco-friendly clay and natural ingredients and advanced manufacturing processes and formulations. They are water-based and use no oils or acrylics.
Portola Paints are eco-friendly and they blend every color by hand to ensure color depth, accuracy, and embrace ancient techniques with their exclusive Lime Wash coating and other specialty products. Their paint formulations are low odor and contain no VOCs.
Pure & Original paint is tinted and mixed using 100% natural pigments in North America.
Romabio Paints are mineral based and made with high quality, natural ingredients that are toxin-free.
The Real Milk Paint Co. produces environmentally friendly, VOC-free, and child-safe paints and finishes. Their paint is 100% organic and is safe for kids and pets
Panelboard / upcycled & recyclable
Panelboards are manufactured from upcycled or recycled content and are both bio-based and recyclable. These panelboards are created by repurposing materials like reclaimed wood fibers or agricultural by-products, diverting waste from landfills and reducing the need for virgin resources.
Honext manufactures non-toxic, recyclable panels by upcycling industrial fibers into a sustainable material.
Neverwaste panels are made entirely from waste cardboard and packaging and can be remade indefinitely.
Koskisen Zero furniture board is a completely new type of interior board using bio based raw materials like lignin, a renewable wood-based binder instead of a fossil-based binder.
Compostboard is a fully home-compostable, 100% bio-based board material made with agricultural fibers, and without chemicals or plastics.
Paper / renewable print & packaging
Paper has a long history and numerous applications ranging from writing and printing to packaging and crafting. Paper originates from fibers derived from trees, bamboo, hemp, or recycled paper. Paper produced through responsible forestry practices ensures a consistent supply of raw materials while recycling paper reduces the demand for virgin fibers.
Aireal is making the first carbon negative paper in the world by replacing conventional paper filler with CO2 reacted olivine, the overall carbon dioxide emissions are 25% lower than that of ordinary paper.
Forestry Stewardship Council provides listings of North American certified papers and printers.
GWP Group offers a detailed guide to corrugated cardboard packaging grades and cardboard types.
Hemp Foundation provides listings of North American-certified papers and printers.
PEFC launches Enhancing Sustainability through Forest-Positive MMCF Sourcing: A Guide for Fashion Brands and Retailers - a comprehensive guide empowers fashion brands and retailers to embrace responsible sourcing practices for MMCFs (man-made cellulosic fibers) by emphasizing the importance of sustainable forest management.
Releaf has developed a technology that manufactures sustainable paper bags for everyday use from fallen leaves solving the problem of bio-waste and issues of the paper industry.
U.S. Packaging Preferences 2020 reports on consumer preferences, perceptions, and attitudes toward packaging.
Papier & Karton is a Netherlands-based paper and cardboard recycling leader. Its Paper & Cardboard Information Center (IPK) is where consumers and companies can find information about paper and cardboard's sustainable aspects and usability.
Plastic / recycled material
Recycled plastic is made by processing post-consumer or post-industrial plastic waste. Recycled plastic has a wide range of uses across an array of industries. It has become a versatile alternative for virgin plastic in packaging, building materials, furniture, textiles, and other diverse applications.
Aectual creates objects and systems for interior space division that are 3D printed on-demand using recycled materials
ByFusion is creating construction-grade building material made entirely from Repurposed, often un-recyclable plastic-waste. Byblocks are ideal for retaining walls, sound walls, sheds, privacy fencing, terracing, and landscaping, accent walls, furniture and more.
Smile plastics makes Decorative solid surface panels using recycled plastic.
The Good Plastic Company 'Polygood' panels are a distinctive surface material made from 100% recycled plastic.
PPPNatura resin by LanzaTech and Plastipak Packaging reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and its production process does not require land or food resources making it the world’s first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin made from captured carbon emissions.
Seaweed / rapidly renewable
Seaweed, with a rich history rooted in cultivation for sustenance, is now becoming a versatile bio-based material. Seaweed is a rapidly renewable, carbon-sequestering resource that offers a promising avenue for the creation of more sustainable materials.
Loliware introduces a new type of resin derived from seaweed, used for making straws and cups. These eco-friendly products come from renewable seaweed farms, capture carbon, and easily break down, offering a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics.
Sway materials come from responsibly sourced seaweed, a regenerative resource that decomposes into healthy soil. The materials are nontoxic & GMO-free, home & industrially compostable, and support healthy ecosystems & communities.
Steel / low embodied carbon
Low-carbon steel is frequently used for large-scale commercial, governmental, and residential structures, as well as for automobile parts, pipes, food cans, nails, wires, and chains. Low-carbon steel is also easier to cold-form and therefore easier to handle. Innovative manufacturing techniques that lower greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption are used to create low-embodied carbon steel.
Boston Metal is commercializing a 1-step decarbonization technology with clean electricity to produce green steel.
Electra is decarbonizing green steel production using intermittent renewable energy and low-grade iron ores.
IEA delivers an iron and steel technology roadmap, part of their worldwide Energy Technology Perspectives.
XCarb™ ArcelorMittal has designed reduced, low, and zero-carbon products and steelmaking activities focused on achieving demonstrable progress towards carbon-neutral steel.
Straw / natural & renewable
Straw bale wall systems draw upon thousands of years of using straw, clay, and lime as building materials. Such systems have spread worldwide and are rapidly developing in a contemporary trade environment that is responsive to ecological sensitivity and social justice as well as cost, aesthetics, code compliance, and performance.
New Frameworks incorporates natural building materials like straw bales to produce high-performing wall systems with the exacting precision of modern construction techniques.
Textile / bio-fabricated
Natural Textiles are derived from plant fibers, such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, flax, etc. These fibers have a low carbon footprint due to their renewable nature and the minimal energy required for their cultivation and processing. From clothing and fashion to home textiles and interior design, these materials' applications span a wide range of industries.
Bolt Threads produces MYLO™, B-Silk PROTEIN™, and MICROSILK™ naturally renewable materials for fashion.
Keel Labs is developing Kelsun™, a seaweed-based yarn with a low carbon footprint for use by the textile industry.
Peelsphere is a material innovation company making biomaterials that are completely recyclable using the closed-loop ideology. Through recycling, redesign, and reuse, it fully realizes the potential of fruit waste and algae, transforming them into products with aesthetics and performance.
Nanea is a Cradle-To-Cradle Gold certified biodegradable polyester fiber and yarn that does not emit persistent microplastics, nor does it contain antimony.
Textile / natural & regenerative
Natural Textiles are derived from plant fibers, such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, flax, etc. These fibers have a low carbon footprint due to their renewable nature and the minimal energy required for their cultivation and processing. From clothing and fashion to home textiles and interior design, these materials' applications span a wide range of industries.
Brentano fabrics are made from 100% bamboo viscose, a rapidly renewable and biodegradable fiber, and compliant with GOTS, Global Organic Textile Standard, guidelines, Tenderness is part of the Brentano Green fabric label and available for possible LEED points.
CommonObjective provides practical information on a wide range of sustainable fibers, fabrics, and suppliers.
huue is developing a biosynthetic, indigo blue dye for the denim industry that is free of fossil and toxic chemicals.
KD’s Vegetable Cashmere™ is a plant-based blend of fibers developed as an alternative to animal fiber cashmere. Environmentally friendly and free of animal fibers, machine-washable, sensitive skin-friendly, UV and pest resistant. It can be used in applications such as apparel, home goods and footwear.
Renewcell Circulose is a branded dissolving pulp technology that recycles 100% textile waste, such as worn-out jeans and production scraps. Fiber producers use dissolving pulp to make viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate and other kinds of biodegradable regenerated fibers.
TENCEL™ cellulosic fibers are derived from renewable raw material wood and widely used to produce textiles.
Textile / recycled fiber
Textiles made from recycled fibers are derived from post-consumer waste and are processed and transformed into new textile materials.
Bonded Logic manufactures insulation to solve acoustic/thermal challenges using recycled denim innovations.
Cycora® is a regenerated material created from textile waste, reducing the dependence on Earth’s raw resources.
OSOM Brand OSOMTEX upcycled textile yarns utilize post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste.
Econyl makes recycled nylon products created from the waste collected from fishing nets, carpets, and other waste nylon.
Repreve by Unifi is a fiber and yarn created from recycled plastic waste.
Convert develops new materials from fibers that reduce the amount of waste on earth through recycling and upcycling processes to make insulation mats, mats for absorbing oil, solid board, or furniture.
OSOMTEX transforms this narrative by repurposing millions of pounds of post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste into premium upcycled yarns and fabrics.
STELAPOP creates rigid panels, bricks and products in vibrant colors using textile waste born out of a desire to reduce the wood dependency while leveraging garment offsets and dead stocks using renewable processing techniques.
Wood / cross-laminated timber
Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a robust building material made from layers of wooden planks bonded together into large-scale, prefabricated, solid-engineered wood panels. Lightweight yet very strong, with superior acoustic, fire, seismic, and thermal performance, CLT is also fast and easy to install, generating almost no waste onsite. For these reasons, CLT is proving to be a highly advantageous alternative to conventional materials like concrete, masonry, or steel, especially in multifamily and commercial construction.
Building Green describes cross-laminated timber benefits and its applications.
Carbon Leadership Forum explores how mass timber buildings can be optimized for material efficiency.
Nordic Structures makes cross-laminated timber and glulam using their innovative transformation technology called the Enviro-Lam process.
ScienceDirect examines the innovation potential of wood constructions for their sustainability and efficiency.
Wood / solid & veneer
Wood, derived from timber and sourced as solid planks or veneers, has proven to be a staple across cultures, generations, and applications including tools, building and boat construction, furniture making, musical instruments, flooring, and more. With properties that range from hard to soft, and figured to plain, wood is a proven and valued low-carbon material.
Climate Smart Wood offers a searchable resource directory for FSC-certified solid wood and wood veneer.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) sets standards for responsible forest management and certified products.
Garnica explores PERF and FSC wood certifications and commitments to sustainable forestry management practices.
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PERF) maintains comprehensive databases to ensure easy access to relevant information about certificate holders, logo & label users, certified products, accredited certification bodies, and PEFC-endorsed national certification schemes.
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) offers a reliable supply of carbon-absorbing, naturally renewable building solutions.
Wood / renewable composites
Composites are designed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by minimizing the use of petroleum-based binding agents. Such materials are made from renewable and sustainable sources of wood fibers, such as recycled wood, agricultural residues, or fast-growing timber species.
Lab Manager describes the renewable wood composite development goals to replace fossil-based materials.
Paperstone laminate composites are made from recycled paper and phenolic resin in rich, natural colors. FSC and NSF certified.
Wool / renewable & biodegradable
Wool is a natural animal fiber often associated with sheep, yet wool is also sourced from Angora and Cashmere goats, camel, alpaca, llama, yak, vicuña, possums, rabbits, and more. Due to wool's natural performance properties, it provides a renewable, non-toxic, and biodegradable alternative to synthetic materials. Moreover, wool is widely used across applications from clothing to building insulation, flooring, and interior sound-dampening solutions.
Designtex manufactures 2 mm thick, 100% wool felt for upholstery, wallcovering, and window-covering applications. The material is low in VOCs, has no Antimicrobials, Flame Retardants, or PFAS, and ships carbon neutral from its German origin to customers’ sites.
Fibershed connects brands and designers to farmers and ranchers who raise natural fiber with land stewardship practices that regenerate soil carbon.
FilzFelt manufactures felt from Merino wool which is a natural fiber and rapidly renewable resource that is 100% biodegradable.
Tools to help decarbonize the world
Air Quality / climate impacts
UNEP Pollution Action Note displays the global state of air pollution, its impacts on the climate and human health.
US EPA (Environmental Protection gency) provides information about how climate change can affect air quality, and certain air pollutants can affect climate change and provides a list of regulations actions and initiatices to help mitigate it.
Building / BIM
Autodesk Revit BIM (Building Information Modeling) provides a rich API (Application Programming Interface) plug-in for automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks and extending core features without leaving the Autodesk Revit environment.
Tally allows architects and engineers to calculate the environmental impacts of building material selections directly in an Autodesk® Revit® model.
ArchiCAD is a BIM software that supports energy-efficient and sustainable building design. It helps in modeling and simulating building performance, including energy use and environmental impacts.
Building / strategies & methods
CBRE provides tools for real estates to reduce environmental impact is a priority for companies across the world. Commercial real estate owners, occupiers and businesses will likely need to develop plans to decarbonize portfolios quickly, and at scale.
Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) is a free database of construction EPDs and matching building impact calculator for use in design and material procurement.
EPIC tool facilitates carbon optimization of both operational and embodied carbon, charting the course to zero-carbon buildings.
The Sustainable Building Toolkit was created by CALRecycle to assist project managers and provide quick, direct access to helpful information and documents.
Healthy Building Network has defined the leading edge of healthy building practices that increase transparency in the building products industry, reduce human exposures to hazardous chemicals, and create market incentives for healthier innovations in manufacturing.
The Circular Built Environment Playbook report presents market-leading circular principles and strategies in action, calling on the building and construction sector to accelerate the implementation of circular and regenerative principles.
Thinkstep manages and evaluates the carbon footprint of an organization’s emissions from their operations and value chain, offering life cycle assessments and carbon reduction strategies.
Building / rating systems
Green Globes is a comprehensive, science-based, three-in-one certification system that evaluates the environmental sustainability, health & wellness, and resilience of all types of commercial real estate.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) provides a framework for healthy, efficient, carbon and cost-saving green buildings and is the most widely used green building rating system.
The WELL Building Standard is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and promoting features of buildings that advance the health and well-being of the people who live and work within them.
The Passive House Institute certifies building components suitable for use in the building of Passive Houses.
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is a powerful certification tool that facilitates decarbonization solutions for the built environment, real estate, and associated investments.
CDP aims to incentivize and guide companies and cities on a journey through disclosure towards becoming a leader on environmental transparency and action by scoring them and creating a rating dashboard for climate, water and forests.
Carbon / reduction & offsets
The Gold Standard is an advanced standard that accelerates climate security and sustainable development efforts by certifying initiatives' impacts on both fronts, with enhanced safeguards and stakeholder engagement for environmental and social integrity.
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program is a leading global GHG crediting initiative, funding emission reduction projects that enhance livelihoods and nature conservation.
The Carbon Trust’s route to a Net Zero Standard helps organizations measure and manage their emissions, inform carbon reduction strategies, and align targets for the future – all with tailored advice from our trusted experts.
Zero Carbon Certification provides a vision for a future of carbon positive buildings that reverse the effects of climate change. By addressing both operational and embodied carbon emissions, Zero Carbon Certification offers organizations a valuable tool to demonstrate credible climate action.
Urban Decarb marks a significant step in utilizing embodied and operational carbon as design parameters in urban planning by looking at the city as a whole – from buildings to roads, parking, landscaping, and infrastructural urban systems.
Carbonfund helps individuals and businesses to calculate and offset their environmental footprint, supporting projects that offer diverse co-benefits like improved air and water quality, habitat protection, and job creation.
Terrapass offers specific carbon offset standards, ensuring transparency and quality in projects spanning reforestation, sustainable development, GHG emissions reduction via wind power plants, and more, for a cleaner, global future.
Native collaborates with organizations to implement climate solutions that align with their values, supply chain, and sustainability objectives, maximizing the positive impact of their carbon offsets by supporting new projects that reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
Carbon / concrete standards
CarbonStar is a tool that sets standards for calculating embodied carbon of concrete.
CarbonCure offers a complete guide to low carbon concrete.
CarbonPlan provides a tool for analyzing the implementation of climate programs to ensure that they line up with the science.
Carbon / calculators
Carbon Conscience 2.0 is a carbon calculator that allows users to test and iterate at crucial stages when the design is most flexible enabling designers to establish carbon benchmarking and goals for the project’s detailed design phases.
CARE Tool allows users to compare the total carbon impacts of renovating an existing building vs. replacing it with a new one.
SOUR's carbon calculator measures construction activities' greenhouse gas impacts in CO2e by assessing embodied carbon in constructed spaces and their supply chain during construction.
Carbon Conscience App is a interdisciplinary tool to compare projected embodied Carbon emissions, Carbon sequestration, and Carbon stored, for your master planning, urban design, and concept design projects.
Rewiring America includes comprehensive Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) implementation strategies, and a calculator to map each community's potential on multiple levels.
Pathfinder helps you learn how to reduce carbon footprints and sequester more carbon. By participating, you can actively contribute to climate change solutions.
The Zero Carbon Tool gives an overall picture of how key decisions made at early stages of design can impact the project's total carbon use and allows architects and designers to analyze and estimate the carbon equivalent of emissions associated with all aspects of the project.
The CarbonSpan Calculator will be made available to teams on Perkins&Will's Digital Practice and can be used to translate embodied, operational, site, refrigerant, and renewable CO2e impacts into annualized and total kgCO2e impacts, so that these variables could be understood as a part of one picture.
Carbon / tracking
Greenhouse Gas Protocol sets the standards to measure and manage Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.
GRACED is a global daily CO2 emissions dataset from fossil fuels and cement production.
Global Monitoring Laboratory measures the carbon dioxide data on Mauna Loa constituting the longest record of direct measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Restor enables transparent monitoring of global restoration projects between diverse organizations.
The Bloomberg Carbon Clock is a real-time estimate of the monthly CO2 level.
Climate Trace tracks human-caused GHG emissions with unprecedented detail and speed.
Climate Action Tracker is an independent scientific project that tracks government climate action and measures it against the globally agreed Paris Agreement aim of pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
Climate Watch is an open data platform that brings together dozens of datasets to let users easily search, analyze, and compare countries’ climate progress and commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Climate Policy Tracker distills government support for technologies and practices that remove and store carbon — an essential piece of achieving net-negative emissions.
Embodied Carbon Policy Map from the Carbon Leadership Forum, tracks over 230 government policies at all levels — local, state, national, and international — aimed at reducing embodied carbon emissions in materials and construction.
Carbon Removal Map is an interactive tool for visualizing the global carbon removal ecosystem. It aims to offer a comprehensive view of the Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) landscape to better explore the breadth of CDR initiatives.
Google Earth Engine detects changes, maps trends, and quantifies differences on the Earth's surface.
Carbon Monitor is an international initiative providing for the first time regularly updated, science-based estimates of daily CO2 emissions.
Bright Sparks Map is a global directory of proposed and enacted carbon removal policies for advocates and analysts. Viewers can filter by type, status, and level of government.
Carbon / toolkits
Climate Toolkit provides tools to learn about the basics of low-carbon solutions and develop a common language for talking about carbon in the built environment.
AIA-CLF Embodied Carbon Toolkit for Architects serves to provide architects an overview and the necessary steps to be taken to reduce embodied carbon in their projects.
Embodied Carbon Toolkit for Building Owners by CLF helps building owners meet net zero commitments that include embodied carbon reductions through scope 3 GHG and other sustainability commitments.
Upfront Carbon is the carbon emitted in the production phase of products and materials, from mining and processing of natural resources, transport to processing sites, and the manufacturing phases.
Climate Positive Design Toolkit helps you learn how to increase carbon sequestration and reduce carbon footprints from fifty tips and tricks.
Resilience Design Toolkit is a guide to designing for resilience developed by HKS and AIA. It aims help architects on all types of projects assess potential hazards objectively and mitigate the effects of these hazards through design.
The US Climate Resilience Toolkit offers over 500 digital tools to build resilience and a framework to identify and mitigate climate hazards, aiding in building resilience and addressing climate-related risks.
Resilient Design, developed by ASLA, is a dynamic toolkit for landscape planning and design, featuring case studies and resources showcasing multi-benefit systems, small-scale solutions, and the vital role of landscape architects in making communities more resilient.
BeZero Carbon is a carbon ratings agency that equips world-leading organizations with the knowledge, tools and confidence to make better climate decisions with an aim to scale investment in environmental markets that deliver a sustainable future.
Path To Zero Carbon Series is an ongoing initiative to research, summarize, and prioritize the most important actions we can take across all emissions sources on projects within the built environment.
Carbon / monitors
MSR Design has created a sustainability metrics template sheet that gets incorporated into a project’s drawing set to convey performance intent in a more standardized way.
Land & Carbon Lab has created an ecosystem monitoring system in collaboration with the University of Maryland. The system detects disturbances to any kind of vegetation cover, including forests, grasses, shrubs, and even crops occurring anywhere on Earth in near real-time.
Kaleidoscope is designed to supplement a whole-building LCA in early design phases. It is meant to be a reference for the order of magnitude of early LCA decisions, allowing designers to quickly compare the embodied carbon impacts of various standard building systems and design options.
Climate / trends & strategies
The Centers for Environmental Information offers climate trends affecting ecosystems and for developing adaptation and mitigation strategies.
CLIMATE SCOUT connects climate with architecture to help users create better-performing, responsive buildings by providing climate-specific design advice for the building site and scale.
NCEI National Centers for Environmental Innovation has developed a climate monitoring tool providing historic trends and current data sets.
Carbon Drawdown is a part of CMG’s mission to improve social and ecological wellbeing holds increasing significance due to the threat of climate change.
Climate Infrastructure focuses on strategies to help shrink the carbon footprint of the built environment and help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.
Systems Change Lab aims to spur action at the pace and scale needed to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges: limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F), halting loss of biodiversity, and building a just and equitable economy.
En-ROADS is an online simulator that provides policymakers, educators, businesses, the media, and the public with the ability to test and explore cross-sector climate solutions.
Daylight / optimization
ClimateStudio is a powerful environmental performance analysis software for the AEC sector, assisting in optimizing buildings for various aspects of occupant health and energy efficiency as a Rhinoceros 3D plugin.
RADIANCE is a powerful ray tracing program that enables accurate and physically valid lighting and daylighting simulations. It is presently well established in the research community and has already been used for many projects.
Energy / ratings
EnergyPlus™ is a building energy simulation program utilized by engineers, architects, and researchers to model energy and water use in buildings, facilitating efficient design and resource management.
Perspective data offers building operating systems as tools to reduce the commercial real estate industry’s carbon footprint by providing real estate operators with an energy reduction tool that also provides significant financial payback and increases asset valuations.
eQuest is an essential tool for project design teams, aiding in the assessment of energy consumption impacts linked to design choices and supporting the achievement of LEED energy performance credits.
US Energy Department supports research and innovation that makes fossil energy technologies cleaner and less harmful to the people and the environment. They platform provides tools for awareness about climate change.
Zero Energy (ZE) Certification from The International Living Future Institute is a globally recognized, third-party performance certification that validates and showcases exceptional energy performance in the built environment, supporting climate action goals.
The IES Virtual Environment (VE) is a versatile suite of building performance analysis tools, empowering designers to assess various options, enhance energy efficiency, and optimize occupant comfort while reducing carbon emissions.
The Zero Energy Ready Homes (ZERH) certification program, managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), assesses and certifies green homes that meet rigorous energy efficiency and sustainability standards, promoting the construction of homes that are highly energy-efficient and often capable of producing as much energy as they consume, contributing to carbon reduction and climate action efforts.
Forestry / tracking
Cities4Forests has designed practical tools to help cities include forests, trees and green infrastructure in their decision-making, planning and investments.
Global Forest Watch offers an open-source web application to monitor global forests in near real-time.
Mangrove Restoration Tracking Tool identifies and tracks past, present, and future mangrove restoration activities to enable learning and information exchange between practitioners.
Kodoma creates forest management solutions that improve safety and productivity of remote operations by the method of utilizing unmerchantable biomass in a way that minimizes decomposition with low-capital investment.
LCA / life cycle assessment
LCA Practice Guide helps building professionals identify how and why to use LCA in their work and determine the environmental impacts of a building.
Building Green provides a combination of LCA specialized tools and perspectives.
Athena impact estimator helps designers easily incorporate environmental information while in the early stages of a project.
GaBi LCA software is a powerful software used to evaluate the environmental impacts of various products, technologies, services, and systems.
SimaPro helps you become an informed changemaker that has the power to reduce the environmental footprint of products and services.
OpenLCA is an open source and free software that makes LCA and Sustainability Assessment more accessible and affordable.
OneClickLCA is an automated life cycle assessment software that helps you calculate and reduce the environmental impacts of your building & infra projects, products and portfolio.
LCA assesses the environmental impacts on all stages of a product’s life.
Material / transparency
The Green Seal standards cover 375 product and service categories, which range from building and construction to lighting, hospitality properties, and household cleaners.
Origin is a collaborative material data hub that connects brands and their certifications.
The RESET Embodied Standard is a set of assessment tools and services focused on data quality and transparency to help the built environment become healthier and more sustainable.
The Red2Green platform provides project management, research and communication tools; a product library; and comprehensive guidance to help project teams find and use healthier building materials.
The Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List is a tool for building product transformation. It documents the “worst in class” materials, chemicals, and elements known to pose serious risks to human health and the environment.
2050 Materials centralizes all sustainability information into a single platform and tackles the lack of structured and easy-to-consume data around the sustainability performance of building products.
BEES allows designers, builders, product manufacturers, and consumers to select cost-effective, environmentally-preferable building products based on consensus standards and designed to be practical, flexible, and transparent.
Common Materials Framework CMF is a tool for anyone looking to make more ‘mindful’ decisions about materials. By organizing how different certifications and standards contribute to the 5 buckets of health identified in the Materials Pledges, the CMF allows individuals and companies to turn their ‘why’ into ‘how’.
Product / measure & report
Sustainable Furnishing Council (SFC) is a coalition of manufacturers, retailers and designers dedicated to raising awareness and expanding the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices across the home furnishings industry. SFC urges the use of Life Cycle Assessment for tracking wood flow.
ISO 14067:2018 provides requirements and guidelines for measuring and reporting the carbon footprint of a product.
Product / declarations
The Health Product Declaration® (HPD) Open Standard is the leading standard in the building industry for reporting building product contents and associated health information.
EPD (Environmental Product Declarations) transparently reports the lifecycle assessment of a product in a single, comprehensive report.
Simplified EPD forms to make informed decisions more easily.
Declare is a platform to share and find healthy building products. It provides a free database used by leading designers, real estate owners, and conscientious homeowners to specify products they know they can trust.
Cradle to Cradle is a measure of safer, more sustainable products made for the circular economy. To receive certification, products are assessed for environmental and social performance across five categories: material health, material reuse, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness.
The SM Transparency Catalog brings you all the brands that have products with disclosures required to meet product transparency credits and criteria in green building rating systems.
Ecolabel Index the global directory of ecolabels currently tracking 456 ecolabels in 199 countries, and 25 industry sectors for those who are commmited to creating a positive change impact for the planet.
Water / tracking
Alliance For Global Water Adaptation guides countries to systematically assess water use, allocation, and tradeoffs across multiple sectors, to withstand the impacts of climate change.
