The Building Research Establishment (BRE), The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), mindful MATERIALS, the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have established a new international partnership to create consistency across rating systems including BREEAM, Green Star, LEED, Living Building Challenge and WELL.
“By working together, we can give industry the clarity it needs, reduce duplication, and accelerate a global shift to healthier, lower-carbon, circular materials. This collaboration marks a new chapter for sustainable construction.
“By uniting the world’s leading green building organisations, we’re creating a common language that makes it simpler for industry to act with clarity and purpose.
“Together we can accelerate a future where every building material supports climate action, protects nature and drives circularity – where sustainable choices become the expectation, not the exception. International consistency on materials has been the missing piece in the global climate response.
“This partnership fills that gap and sets us up to achieve climate-positive outcomes faster, together.”Davina Rooney, CEO, GBCA
Construction is responsible for over half of the world’s raw materials extraction. Yet the tools and frameworks used to measure the impacts of building products often differ, creating confusion and duplication for manufacturers, designers and building owners.
“Our collective goal is to simplify how sustainability data is defined and recognised. This will cut the cost of compliance, scale up the availability of better products, and make it simpler to deliver world-class sustainable buildings. BRE recognises the significant environmental impact of construction materials, which account for 50% of all raw materials extracted globally.
“To drive meaningful change, manufacturers need clear, consistent guidance to ensure the materials they produce are genuinely sustainable. Certification schemes such as BREEAM have a vital role in making this process accessible and effective.
“As a founding member of this new global partnership with GBCA, USGBC, the Living Building Challenge, and Mindful Materials, BRE is proud to align the materials assessment aspects of our science-led BREEAM certification scheme with others—through a common language, harmonised criteria, shared targets, and consistent data.”Jane Goddard, Deputy Chief Executive, BRE
Additionally, with the emergence of more stringent sustainability reporting requirements being driven by frameworks such as the Taskforce for Climate and Nature-related Financial Disclosures and other international standards guiding sustainability, the firm’s believe that it is vital that reporting metrics align to enable benchmarking and measurement.
“Industry needs a clear and consistent signal on what good performance looks like. This partnership will support the global supply chain and make it easier for building projects everywhere to choose materials that drive better outcomes for people and the planet.
“USGBC’s mission has always been to build a better future where the built environment supports a healthy, sustainable world for all, and bring the benefits of green building to everyone. By entering into this partnership, we are laying the groundwork to scale the use of sustainable building materials globally.
“Together with global green building partners, our collective work can create a vision and standard for sustainable materials, helping to drive the market toward wider adoption.”Sarah Zaleski, Chief Products Officer, USGBC
This partnership aims to navigate the complexity of the industry adopting a ‘shared language’ and approach for materials assessment, align data and metrics, and establish global targets for climate, nature and circularity.
“Creating a unified approach to materials assessment that puts human health at the centre of decision making will accelerate the adoption of healthier, more sustainable products all around the world.
“Because people spend 90% of their time indoors, every choice we make about the materials that go into our buildings shapes the health of the people inside.
“Our partnership with mindfulMaterials, GBCA, USGBC, BRE, and ILFI is part of a global effort to create a unified approach to materials assessment that puts human health at the centre of decision making, accelerating the adoption of healthier, more sustainable products all around the world.”Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO, IWBI
Once these objectives are achieved, manufacturers will be able to prioritise sustainable products and report data in a more streamlined way, specifiers will have clearer access to verified claims and be better able to compare product information, and building owners will be better placed to meet sustainability commitments and future-proof their assets by aligning with global standards.
“The Common Materials Framework provides the backbone for harmonisation, and this partnership ensures it can be scaled globally through leading rating tools.
“The building industry has long faced a tangle of inconsistent sustainability criteria. By uniting around a common language and shared framework, we’re removing barriers for manufacturers and project teams—making it easier to choose better materials and accelerate progress toward a healthier, more sustainable built environment.”Annie Bevan, President, mindful MATERIALS
The first deliverable will be a call to action, outlining the goals of the partnership in greater detail and raising an awareness of the importance of aligned goals. A principles and metrics paper is planned for 2026, setting out the roadmap for alignment.
“The global impact of the supply chain of the building industry is staggering, impactful, and therefore we collectively have a huge lever for positive change.
“By aligning international guidance on healthy and sustainable materials specifications, we can send a clear message to our global supply chains that buildings must be built with materials that are fundamentally good for people and the planet. When we harmonise our standards, we unlock enormous potential for impact.
“This collaboration brings the world’s leading rating systems together behind a shared purpose – to make healthy, sustainable materials the norm, not the niche.”Lindsay Baker, Chief Executive Officer, ILFI
Further work will follow to integrate the shared approach across rating tools and provide clear guidance for industry, the aim of core criteria for industry to work to, sensitive to regional needs.
Source: https://www.btrnews.au/
