The architecture industry in the United States is rapidly approaching a materials crisis due to three key factors: scarcity, volatility, and environmental impact. With factors like material shortages and tariffs raising costs and threatening to disrupt the industry, architects must explore lower-energy, renewable materials that are more locally accessible.
Through educational resources, assessment tools, and policy adjustments, regulators have the opportunity to encourage a shift toward greater stewardship of the planet’s limited resources—as well as public health.
NCARB’s Futures Collaborative, a committee of expert volunteers, has been exploring how emerging trends and technology—including resource stewardship—will impact architecture practice and regulation. From their research, the collaborative has identified four key factors that architects should keep in mind when considering the impact of material selection on the built environment. Read the Future Trends Report to learn more.
Explore the Future Trends Report
- Key building materials are facing scarcity and supply chain volatility that could transform the architecture industry. Many current conventional building materials and energy resources are non-renewable and facing increasing scarcity, compounded by complex global supply chains. For example, petroleum-based materials are highly time-limited, while materials from renewable wood sources, recyclable materials, and materials like stone and clay include both opportunities and risks related to their long-term sustainability.
- Many conventional building material choices have a negative impact on health, safety, and welfare in the long-term. Through scientific research and studies, architects will need to be more aware than ever of the negative impact that the embodied energy of new construction has on carbon emissions—and thus climate change—as well as the impact that microplastics, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and particulates from synthetic materials have on human health. Maintaining the current status quo of resource selection will have lasting negative impacts both on Earth’s environment and those who live within it.
- Architects must explore alternative building materials and building practices. Architects should experiment with, identify, and refine constructing with alternative materials and building practices, such as using natural fibers and increasing material recycling. By understanding the capabilities and impact of new building materials, architects can help inform new practice standards before the industry reaches a crisis.
- To be at the forefront of innovative building materials, architects require tools and resources to help them better understand the current material landscape. While information and resources are available to assist architects in making informed material choices, architects lack holistic material education, systems for implementing material re-use at large, and a quantitative measurement system for assessing the most appropriate material choice in a given situation.
Want to learn more about trends impacting the future of architecture and regulation? Explore the Future Trends Report.
About the Futures Collaborative
NCARB’s Futures Collaborative is a volunteer-led effort comprised of practicing architects and other experts from across the country. Since 2017, the collaborative has been exploring how the practice of architecture is evolving, both in the near-term and the long-term. Through their research, NCARB is able to ensure that the regulation of practice can adapt proactively to change.