AIA Materials Pledge progress report documents industrywide advances in healthier building products
In its third year of reporting, the Materials Pledge continued to gain momentum, with participation growing across the profession and signatories reaching a record high in 2025.
WASHINGTON – October 29, 2026 — The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released Materials Pledge By the Numbers, a report showing how the design community is advancing the specification of healthier, more sustainable building products. Based on 2025 data from AIA Materials Pledge signatories, the report tracks industry progress and outlines areas for future growth.
In its third year of reporting, the Materials Pledge continued to gain momentum, with participation growing across the profession and signatories reaching a record high in 2025. The Materials Pledge By the Numbers report found that participation grew to 148 signatory firms completed the required firm-level reporting, up from 121 firms in 2024 and 92 firms in 2023. The self-reported knowledge increased across all five Materials Pledge impact areas: human health, climate health, ecosystem health, social health and equity, and circular economy. Firms reported the strongest understanding of human and climate health, with climate health showing the largest year-over-year improvement.
Project-level reporting also expanded significantly. Participating firms reported 537 projects in 2025, nearly four times the number reported in 2023, representing 59.2 million gross square feet. Nearly one-third of those projects were identified as high-performing, with building certifications and project-specific client goals serving as the primary drivers of sustainable material selection. The report also found that 48% of projects leveraged existing buildings as a material-efficiency strategy. At the same time, cost and budget constraints remained the most cited barriers to selecting more sustainable materials.
Product-level reporting also continued to grow. 63 firms, representing 43% of participating signatories, submitted product-level data, contributing 2,064 product records across 250 projects totaling 24.4 million gross square feet. The number of products associated with projects prioritizing human health, climate health, or circular economy outcomes nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025.
“The AIA Materials Pledge brings together diverse perspectives from across the building industry, including design teams, owners, manufacturers and material data software providers,” said Melanie De Cola, LEED Green Associate, AIA Director of Climate Action Pledge Programs. “The AIA Materials report provides critical information to support informed building product specification decisions.”
Future Materials Pledge reports will continue refining reporting datasets and aligning data collection with AIA’s other pledge programs, the 2030 Commitment and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Commitment.
Join AIA Materials Pledge leaders on Nov. 5 at 3 p.m. EDT for a webinar on practical first steps toward healthier material choices, how the Materials Pledge reporting framework can support firms at any stage of their journey, and key findings from the third annual Materials Pledge By the Numbers (RY25) report, featuring data from 148 signatory firms. Visit aiau.aia.org to learn more about the webinar, A&D Materials Pledge By the Numbers (RY25): What Three Years of Trends Reveal About Materials Selection.
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