Mix Roundtable: Are honest conversations central to sustainable design?

This article first appeared in Mix Interiors #233

Words and moderated by: Chloe Petersen Snell 

Tailored education and engagement are crucial to real progression.

For many years, our industry has grappled with the sustainability ‘say-do’ gap – many claims and less meaningful actions or decisions made to hit the ambitious goals we set for ourselves. Is there a clash in how designers are expected to talk about projects, versus the reality? Instead of trying to address everything superficially, our table of experts advocated for a focus on meaningful and impactful sustainability measures – within each projects’ context, but also at different paces. For Perkins&Will’s Simon Bone, there’s always an opportunity to push for deeper authenticity in each project.

“[Sustainability] is at the forefront of a lot of messaging right now – we need to cut through the noise and find out what is authentic. Each client is going to have a unique perspective in terms of what they’re focused on, and then it’s about working out what we can achieve within the confines of the project. Not every programme and every budget is going to be able to tick every box, but there’s always something that you can push that little bit further – go a little bit deeper.”

For Hawkins\Brown’s Shikha Bhardwaj, the key to this type of engagement is discussing the project’s purpose and what the client aims to achieve early on, including their stance on sustainability, and establishing a methodology that aligns with this – ultimately creating a sense of ownership and accountability towards the project’s sustainability strategy.

“We need to make sure you bring the client and all the other consultants in a room to understand what really matters to them early on. So, what’s the purpose of this project? What are you trying to achieve out of it? Where do you associate yourself with sustainability? Is it about gathering badges, or is it about really delivering a building that actually works and attract tenants? Once you have the methodology set, you have people linked with a purpose – and when they say it, they get attached to it and want to see what happened to their strategy.”

That only comes through trust, honesty and building an authentic relationship in the first place, said Scott Brownrigg’s Mario Vieira. “That’s maybe why the certification ‘tick box’ exercise was so popular – it took away the personal part. You tick a few boxes and then you get a badge. But to dig deeper takes a greater investment.”

Annalissa Devos, EPR, agreed. “You need to figure out what everyone’s emotional drivers are, and then figure out how to tailor that narrative with your end goal only being to have the project be more sustainable. I don’t think all clients want to hear that, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. If you go in and you’re just hard lined with blinkers on saying everything needs to be sustainable, they will react to that: ‘you’re just costing me money.’ But if you figure out how you sell that story or help them sell that story to their target audience, it’s more effective and beneficial.”

“Clients may not always prioritise sustainability, but as their architect or designer, it’s our duty to guide them,” continued Savills’ Athiná Trapezountiou. “They rely on our expertise to integrate sustainable practices, even if it’s challenging or costly, to achieve solutions that are long-lasting and beneficial. What can we do to make it less expensive, and still do something better?”

Ambiguity vs authenticity: embracing honesty is always the best policy.

We all acknowledge the seriousness of this issue, but should we also allow for some leeway – recognising change and that people are trying, even if not perfect? Do our guests believe there’s a lack of tolerance for unsustainable practices, even if they represent a step in the right direction? It depends on the intention – when it comes to manufacturers in particular, Vieira suggested. “Be honest about your journey. Talk about the things that are difficult, that you are really are trying to do, but can’t do yet. But – these are the things you are doing. If they balance that narrative, then I think we can give people a break. It’s very different if the intention is to gloss over – for instance, a company excluding its huge gas furnaces from their carbon calculation marketing slides.”

“We’ve got to start talking and sharing the challenges we’re having as an industry and being very open about what we’re doing to move forward,” said Perkins&Will’s Bone, “so people understand we are making an improvement and moving towards that goal. I’m not fully behind certifications like LEED and BREEAM, but there is a rigour and an authenticity to them; you’ve got data that you can share and improve upon.”

“And [honest conversations] open up collaboration, particularly with manufacturers, because we all have very similar problems,” continued 2tec2’s Grace Agar. “In the flooring industry, it’s about the glue – when we take it back, what do we do about it? Sharing that information and working together means that eventually those products – or the better raw materials such as the plant-based ones we use – will be cheaper. The more that we work together, the more we can bring our costs down. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if it’s a sustainable product, it’s going to be more expensive – we’re using less energy, we’re using less water, spending less to make our product. So, honesty and collaboration are so important.”

“One of the issues with greenwashing is that it breaks down trust,” added Vieira. “If you can’t evidence what you claim, you just need one person to dig into it and highlight it. From a practice point of view, we’re trying to be a lot more rigorous about sustainability buzz words. You could say I’m being ‘difficult,’ but it’s protecting the brand and the limitation of the company. Everyone’s interested in that, right?”

Certifications, certifications, certifications: is there an easier way to clarify and compare?

We’ve heard what some of the challenges are as designers – what is it that they need from manufacturers that they’re not being given? Unsurprisingly, clarity and simplification of certifications came top of the list, designers grappling with the complexity of evaluating and comparing different materials, finishes and products due to lack of standardisation.

Gathering and comparing information from various sources is difficult, commented Trapezountiou. “We are often given so many different pieces of information when specifying products and materials – we struggle to bring them together to compare. How can we make things easier?”

“In terms of information from manufacturers, it goes down to that life cycle,” continued Vieira. “If you do have things that get stripped out more often, I’d like to know what happens to that at the end of life – what’s your plan? As a manufacturer, if you’re responsible for bringing something into the world you should be responsible for dealing with it afterwards; maybe the only way to deal with it is regulation. At some point, someone’s got to say, right, this is mandatory.”

“We forget to talk about people who are involved in the process as well,” added Bhardwaj. “I think it should be important for manufacturers to start looking at that aspect and declaring it – an EPD is very focused on carbon of certain stages and it doesn’t give you a complete picture. For example, how much water is being used, because that’s another challenge we’re going to be facing very soon. What’s happening to the people who are involved? Have they been fairly treated? What’s the biodiversity impact? Of course it’s important to think about carbon and compare apples with apples in a more clear and a quicker way, but also to look at the other ecosystems that we are interfering with when we are procuring materials.”

Designers shouldn’t forget they have a significant influence on product choice and ultimately, market change – leveraging abundance to drive better options, commented Jennifer de Vere Hopkins, Jestico + Whiles. “It’s a powerful thing to say, I won’t use your product unless ‘X’. There are hundreds of suppliers on the markets. All being equal in terms of cost, a client will trust our recommendation – it can make a huge difference, especially for large projects and commissions, and designers should continuously remind themselves of this capability to affect change.’