flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor

New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor

Will provide transparency on where building materials come from and how they are made.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor  | September 28, 2022
Construction Supply Chain
Courtesy Pexels.

Design for Freedom by Grace Farms and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability formed a partnership to advance shared goals regarding sustainable and ethical building material supply chains that are free of forced labor.

SustainChain, the coalition’s technology platform, uses advanced digital technology and machine learning to bring together innovators, impact investors, businesses, NGOs, and public-private sector alliances to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That program is a comprehensive plan consisting of 17 interrelated goals that address and resolve global humanitarian challenges.

“The next step in architectural justice is to include social equity and ethical material transparency in the evaluation of our supply chains so we can understand where our building materials come from and how they are made,” said Grace Farms Foundation CEO and founder Sharon Prince. “Design for Freedom is doing just that—raising awareness of forced labor embedded in our building materials and initializing responses to disrupt forced labor in the building materials supply chain and to come together to create more transparency.”

“As a first of its kind accelerator for achieving a more just and sustainable world, SustainChain is providing a free public utility designed to unify and rapidly scale sustainability efforts,” said Jacqueline Corbelli, founder of the US Coalition on Sustainability and creator of SustainChain.

Related Stories

Giants 400 | Dec 12, 2023

Top 35 Military Facility Construction Firms for 2023

Hensel Phelps, DPR Construction, Walsh Group, and Whiting-Turner top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest military facility general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. 

Contractors | Dec 12, 2023

The average U.S. contractor has 8.5 months worth of construction work in the pipeline, as of November 2023

Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator inched up to 8.5 months in November from 8.4 months in October, according to an ABC member survey conducted Nov. 20 to Dec. 4. The reading is down 0.7 months from November 2022.

Giants 400 | Dec 11, 2023

Top 80 Local Government Building Construction Firms for 2023

Turner Construction, Clark Group, Holder Construction, and Pepper Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest local government building general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.

Giants 400 | Dec 11, 2023

Top 50 State Government Building Construction Firms for 2023

Hensel Phelps, Turner Construction, Clark Group, and PCL Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest state government building general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. 

Codes and Standards | Dec 11, 2023

Washington state tries new approach to phase out fossil fuels in new construction

After pausing a heat pump mandate earlier this year after a federal court overturned Berkeley, Calif.’s ban on gas appliances in new buildings, Washington state enacted a new code provision that seems poised to achieve the same goal.

Green | Dec 11, 2023

U.S. has tools to meet commercial building sector decarbonization goals early

The U.S. has the tools to reduce commercial building-related emissions to reach target goals in 2029, earlier than what it committed to when it signed the Paris Agreement, according to a report by the U.S. Green Building Council.

MFPRO+ News | Dec 11, 2023

U.S. poorly prepared to house growing number of older adults

The U.S. is ill-prepared to provide adequate housing for the growing ranks of older people, according to a report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Over the next decade, the U.S. population older than 75 will increase by 45%, growing from 17 million to nearly 25 million, with many expected to struggle financially.

Office Buildings | Dec 11, 2023

Believe it or not, there could be a shortage of office space in the years ahead

With work-from-home firmly established, many real estate analysts predict a dramatic reduction in office space leasing and plummeting property values. But the high-end of the office segment might actually be headed for a shortage, according to real estate intelligence company CoStar Group. 

University Buildings | Dec 8, 2023

Yale University breaks ground on nation's largest Living Building student housing complex

A groundbreaking on Oct. 11 kicked off a project aiming to construct the largest Living Building Challenge-certified residence on a university campus. The Living Village, a 45,000 sf home for Yale University Divinity School graduate students, “will make an ecological statement about the need to build in harmony with the natural world while training students to become ‘apostles of the environment’,” according to Bruner/Cott, which is leading the design team that includes Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Andropogon Associates.

Giants 400 | Dec 5, 2023

Top 50 Federal Government Building Construction Firms for 2023

Fluor, BL Harbert, Hensel Phelps, and Turner Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest federal government building general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021