Bridging the Sustainability Gap in the Built Environment Industry
Bridging the Sustainability Gap
Practical steps toward a meaningful strategy
Greenwashing and uneven adoption of sustainability practices in the built environment are real concerns. What’s preventing progress?
A recent MMQB analysis identified a growing divide between sustainability leaders and laggards in the contract furniture industry. Our recent Foundations Survey, conducted in collaboration with Foresight, has uncovered a set of recurring challenges that explain why even well-meaning companies struggle to define and communicate a clear sustainability position.
Standards and language complexity
First, there’s the language itself. Sustainability, as a domain, is filled with technical jargon and acronym-heavy terminology that often requires translation to hold a conversation. Many marketing and leadership teams find themselves underprepared to speak credibly about the topic without leaning too heavily on buzzwords or boilerplate language.
Terms like “sustainability,” “ESG,” and “climate change” are often used almost interchangeably, yet each term has a distinct and unique definition. The complexity increases when it comes to certifications. For smaller and mid-sized players, the cost of pursuing third-party validation is high, and the return on investment is difficult to measure. Which certifications truly matter to specifiers, dealers, or end users? RFPs often request various certifications that have differing or overlapping focus areas, making investment decisions more challenging.
Lack of strategic integration
The majority of companies in this industry were founded before sustainability became a central concern. As a result, many leadership teams are now incorporating sustainability into their value proposition, often without a clear understanding of how it aligns authentically with their positioning. The result is a fragmented approach that lacks the strategic clarity needed to align with customer expectations or to differentiate in a meaningful way.
In our conversations and audits, we found that most companies, while well-intentioned, feel lost when it comes to sustainability. It’s like being dropped in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a life raft with no compass and one paddle. Which direction do you go in, and how on earth am I going to paddle all that way? Therefore, most companies let the tides take them, and they often mirror one another’s language, programs, and marketing tactics.
Leaders, laggards, and the middle majority
As with any emerging area of innovation, companies like Interface and Humanscale recognize sustainability as a driver of innovation and growth, and claim leadership. At the other end of the spectrum are companies that treat sustainability as a regulatory compliance measure or a marketing necessity. But most organizations fall somewhere in the middle. They want to be responsible stewards of the environment and respond to market demand, but they lack direction. While there’s no single solution, the good news is that there are small actions we can take to calibrate our compass.
Practical Steps
Voice of Customer Research
Begin with qualitative research to gain a deeper understanding of your target audience. What are customers and specifiers actually asking for? Which sustainability attributes or certifications matter to them? If more than one certification or label is requested, do the requirements of the certifications/labels overlap? Do they care more about lifecycle analysis or the narrative behind your efforts? Use these insights to inform a broader survey and quantify what matters most.
RFP and Customer Request Analysis
Review recent RFPs and customer requests or surveys to identify patterns in sustainability requirements. Which certifications are most frequently requested? Do the certifications cover just the product or the organization more holistically? Do the certifications or labels focus on a single sustainability attribute or multiple factors? Are there emerging themes or new priorities from key specifiers?
Expert Input
Sustainability is a passionate topic for many professionals. Reach out to third-party experts such as Foresight, Ecomedes, and, yes, Peopledesign (wink, wink). These organizations often have a broader view of where the market is going and what is expected of manufacturers across categories.
Expand Your Framework
Our industry often frames sustainability as a materials or energy-efficiency issue. While these are important, they represent only part of the picture. Standards like the BIFMA e3 Sustainability Standard or the Living Product Challenge can broaden your perspective to include topics such as health impacts and social equity, providing a more comprehensive framework for decision-making.
Develop a Multi-Year Strategy
As the MMQB article states, and we all know, the demand for sustainability documentation will only increase in the coming years, especially after Gensler drew its line in the sand a few years ago. You need to have a multi-year strategy in place for addressing the rising demand for sustainability.
Sustainability can and should be a source of innovation, an opportunity to rethink how you design, build, and communicate. However, it remains a fragmented space, marked by shifting expectations. Without a clear plan, it’s easy to get lost.
If you’re unsure where to begin, start with two foundational questions:
What’s meaningful to our customers?
What’s authentic to us?
A strategy that connects these two points is not only more likely to succeed, but it will also resonate more deeply with your audience, your internal team, and the broader market.
You got this!