Reflections on Earth Week

Every year, Earth Day is a reminder of why we put so much effort and care into designing efficient, sustainable, and healthy buildings. We’re happy to celebrate Earth Week to connect back to our “why,” with a collection of events that break routine, introduce new products and new ways of working.

Reused Wood Tour 

We kicked off this year’s Earth Week with a tour of Longleaf Lumber’s showroom and warehouse in Cambridge, MA in collaboration with YDC, our emerging professional’s group, and our circular design research team. Our hosts were incredibly knowledgeable, sharing not only their familiarity with the material and aesthetic options, but with the commercial bidding process and procurement challenges as well. The tour ended with a walk through the showroom so everyone could see and get excited about the range of reclaimed wood products available in our market.

Meet the Materials 

Most every week, PAYETTE welcomes a new vendor into the office and we are proud to screen all products in our Material Library against our Material Policy. For Earth Week, we were excited to welcome CF Stinson and learn more about their line of Red List Free products which have publicly declared ingredients to demonstrate that their products do not contain chemicals of concern. PAYETTE has been a signatory to the AIA Material Pledge since 2019, and our Material Policy plays a key role in guiding our projects to meeting our commitment.

Women in Carbon 

Our Women in Design group in the office orchestrated a panel discussion and showing of the documentary “Women In Carbon,” first released at Greenbuild this past Fall.  The documentary showed the role that female scientists, designers, and policy-makers have had on innovation in the building industry. We are happy to support women in the design and construction industry and to have been host to the 75+ person event at our office.

Building Science Trivia

Getting together to test our knowledge on the AIA Material Pledge and educate the office, the Building Science team lead a trivia face-off to close out the week featuring questions from the 5 Pledge Categories – Human Health, Social Health and Equity, Ecosystem Health, Climate Health, and Circular Economy. These categories help architects frame how choosing the right building products can reduce downstream environmental harm, reduce occupant exposure to toxins, improve indoor air quality, and shift our practices to reduce construction and demolition waste.

In Summary

Being mindful of energy consumption, embodied carbon, material origins, and product transparency are all critical tools for being aware of our building’s environmental impact. Reminding ourselves of these challenges is essential to pushing our work and the industry at-large to a more sustainable future.