New Tool will Integrate Sustainabilty Initiatives

A new tool will soon be released that represents a new tenant of sustainability focused on integrating existing resources.

There are a number of different sustainability initiatives, however, these sometimes diverging sometimes overlapping approaches can be complex and unwieldy. New comprehensive tools are required to integrate these resources.

Whether we are talking about Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), environmental product declarations (EPDs), health product declarations (HPDs) or Cradle to Cradle, the list of sustainability initiatives, design tools and reporting systems continues to proliferate. Many of these initiatives are very useful, but understanding how they work together can be a daunting task.


The difficult work of integrating these resources is coming into focus with a new tool from ASID. It was presented this fall, with the announcement of a commitment with the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) and 11 partner organizations to develop the ASID Protocols for Health and Wellness in Design. The tool is intended to improve building design and construction.

This is a new tool not a new standard. It is capable of elevating sustainable design by elucidating the correlation between indoor, environmental, and human health. This online tool will help design professionals understand existing green guidelines and how they work together.

The project is currently under development with the goal of presenting a protocol framework by the first quarter of 2015, releasing a beta product by the end of 2015, and conducting training in 2016.

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