Join us live from NeoCon 2024 as we dive into the transformative world of sustainable textiles with our special guests, Dean Lindsley, VP of Pallas Textiles, and Geraldine Blanchot, founder of Limn and Loom. This episode explores the groundbreaking textile collection "In Good Company," which embodies a new paradigm of responsible manufacturing, industry collaboration, and broader societal impact.

Dean and Geraldine share the inspiring story behind "In Good Company," revealing how it represents not just a collection but a movement towards sustainability in the design industry. Discover the innovative use of Sequel, an upcycled marine plastic yarn, and the philanthropic efforts tied to the Sequel Foundation, aimed at oceanic conservation.

We also delve into the technical and creative challenges faced in developing this collection, the significance of collaboration across the supply chain, and the broader market applications of these sophisticated, tactile textiles. From corporate workplaces to hospitality and healthcare, learn how specifying these materials can lead to impactful change.

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What is Office Furniture’s Role When it Comes to Climate Impact? In 2018, Americans threw out 12.1 million tons of furniture—and nearly 80 percent of that ended up in landfills. And the problem may not be where you think it is. Fast-furniture folks get a bad rap, right? It turns out that's not the biggest problem with furniture. Eight million or so of that 12.1 million tons of waste furniture was office furniture. There’s also growing research around the role of furniture in the impact of climate change on buildings. Over the life of a building, the renovations that happen—changing out the lights, furniture, carpet, etc.—on the inside of the building account for about half of the embodied carbon emissions of the building over its life. And out of that half, another half, so nearly 25 percent of the embodied carbon emissions in any building, is furniture. The good news? Research also shows that furniture might have the highest potential for us to lower the carbon emissions of interiors. In today’s episode, editor-in-chief of METROPOLIS Avi Rajagopal is going to talk to leaders in the furniture industry—KI (Jason Lazarz and Angela Allen), Allstee (Jason Hagadorn), and Steelcase (Katie Pace)—about their work responding to a changing society, a changing workplace market, but also increasing demands and a greater focus on furniture when it comes to climate impact.

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Have you heard of the term biophilia or perhaps biophilic design? If you're an interior designer or you have a lot of interior design videos on your TikTok feed, you likely have. The word was popularized by a 1984 book by Edward O. Wilson, and he defined biophilia as the urge to affiliate with other forms of life. In recent years, designers have taken the word and interpreted it in many ways. Your wallpaper has a pattern that looks like wood grain, that's biophilic. Your glass and steel skyscraper has plants growing on its facade, that's biophilic. In this episode, Metropolis contributor Audrey Gray talks to the renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who has spent his entire career navigating and exploring the relationship between buildings and nature. While he has been working on mega developments—like the legendary Habitat 67 project in Montreal and Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore—he has also been thinking about how nature is integrated into our cities. And that has led to an evolution of ideas about density and urban design. Join us to hear from Safdie about the release of his book, If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture, and how he feels about the term biophilia and how it is being co-opted. Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On average, it costs about $2.95 per watt for a home solar system. So, a 6-kilowatt system, about the size you'd need for an American home, would set you back around $17,700. If you factor in solar incentives, like the Federal Solar Credit, that number can come down to about $12,400. The annual savings on your utility bills after installing a home solar system are about $1,346. So, over a 25- or 30-year period, those savings could be in the region of $30,000 or more. Not bad for a $12,400 investment. If of course you have $12,400 to invest. As always, you’ve got to spend money to save money. And that means clean, affordable energy might stay out of reach of those who need it the most. Enter energy equity advocates like Daphany Rose Sanchez. Metropolis editor Jaxson Stone sat down with Sanchez, who is executive director at Kinetic Communities Consulting, which works with energy and affordable housing industry partners to connect, educate, and simplify energy efficiency opportunities for underrepresented communities. Join us to hear how Sanchez is working toward energy equity and learn more about the community solar movement and New York's Power Up initiative. Connect with our guest Daphany Rose-Sanchez on LinkedIn! Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An estimated 100 million people globally don’t have a home. Experts say we need to be building 96,000 homes for them every day, or 3 billion people will end up without adequate housing by 2030. But 39 percent of the world’s carbon emissions come from the building industry, and people living in poverty are among the most vulnerable to the catastrophes caused by climate change. We need to build more homes to house the extremely poor who will then be the most affected by all the emissions created by building those homes. Unless we find a way to build affordable housing that’s also sustainable. Metropolis deputy editor Kelly Beamon sat down with Katie Ackerly, a principal with David Baker Architects, who says the overlap between sustainability and affordability is almost 100 percent. Join us to learn more about how the San Francisco–based firm is building some of the toughest kinds of housing in one of the toughest housing markets in the U.S., and listen as Ackerly shares the ins and outs of sustainable housing design and what strategies she thinks could change the way we approach affordable housing at scale. Connect with our guest Katie Ackerly on LinkedIn! Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Renowned architect and Chicagoan Carol Ross Barney joins host Avi Rajagopal for our Summer Season premier. Ross Barney is a visionary about how people live their lives in cities—whether it's through public, hospitality, or education spaces. Chicagoans know her best for the transformative work she did on the city’s Riverwalk, just steps away from where this episode was live recorded during NeoCon. Together, Rajagopal and Ross Barney discuss how the pedestrian walkway has opened so many possibilities for the city and how it is also emblematic of the kind of work that Ross Barney does. A sense of public good suffuses her work, from mammoth urban projects to her work on privately funded spaces, like the McDonald’s Chicago flagship. Join us to hear from Ross Barney about these landmark projects and others, exploring the connections between equity and the built environment, the complexities of sustainable design, and design as an opportunity to engage with people. Connect with our guest Carol Ross Barney on LinkedIn! Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this bonus episode of Deep Green, host Avi Rajagopal expresses his heartfelt thanks to our dedicated listeners for their support throughout the recently concluded mini season. Rajagopal unveils an impressive roster of upcoming guests planned for our Summer Season, which will kick off with a conversation with renowned architect Carol Ross Barney in an episode recorded live at NeoCon 2023. We also share snippets of discussions with other guests joining us this season, including international architect Moshe Safdie, sustainability trailblazer Katie Ackerly, and community energy advocate Daphany Rose Sanchez. Dive into this episode to bridge the gap between past insights and future dialogues, setting the stage for more captivating conversations on sustainability. Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Wize Grazette, Hannah Viti, Samantha Sager and Rob Schulte. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this inspiring episode, host Avi Rajagopal is joined by Paola Antonelli, the senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art and the museum's first director of research and development. Together, they explore the transformative power of design in addressing critical global issues and the various projects Antonelli has been involved in, such as the 2019 Triennale di Milano exhibition “Broken Nature,” the MoMa salon series, and her collaboration with Alice Rawsthorn “Design Emergency.” Through these many platforms, Antonelli hopes to create community, foster awareness, and catalyze change. In her discussion with Rajagopal, she emphasizes design’s role in society and power beyond mere decoration. They reflect on the pandemic and why it was such a watershed moment for the creative community, and look to the future with hope that we can design a better legacy. Moments to check out:  Exploring the Impact of Design During the 2020 Pandemic (starts at 3:54) Do you think of yourself as an optimist, even having accepted the reality of the end of our species?  (starts at 24:45) Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Wize Grazette, Hannah Viti, Samantha Sager and Rob Schulte. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this eye-opening episode, host Avi Rajagopal welcomes Sharon Prince, CEO and founder of Grace Farms, who discusses the pressing issue of modern-day slavery in the construction sector and her foundation's efforts to combat it through its Design for Freedom Initiative. Prince highlights the importance of ensuring fair labor conditions and the ethical sourcing of materials in all aspects of the built environment. The conversation delves into the Design for Freedom report, and the movement's ongoing work to raise awareness and drive institutional responses to create an ethically sourced and slave-free building material supply chain.  Prince and Rajagopal explore the necessity of inspecting and understanding the materials used in construction, furniture, textiles, and other elements of interior spaces, emphasizing that the next step in architectural justice must include social equity, and ethical material transparency. Listen to this critical discussion that calls for urgent action to address embodied suffering alongside embodied carbon in the green building movement in order to ensure a just and sustainable future. Connect with Sharon Prince on LinkedIn! Moments to check out:  List of twelve materials with evidence of force and child labor (starts at 5:22) Prince shares her epiphany and the need for ethical material supply chain transparency (starts at 20:30) Prince talks about the importance of conscious purchases (starts at 26:17) Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Wize Grazette, Hannah Viti, Samantha Sager and Rob Schulte. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this thought-provoking episode, the first of three conversations in our Sustainability Visionaries series, host Avi Rajagopal is joined by John Woelfling, a principal at Dattner Architects, to discuss affordable housing and sustainability but also, more broadly, finding ways to let the best ideas in architecture serve the most vulnerable populations. First, Rajagopal sets the stage delving into the current challenges faced by the building industry, such as its significant carbon emissions, plastic consumption, labor exploitation, and unequal distribution of environmental impacts. He emphasizes the critical role architects and the building industry play in addressing these issues, asking "How can we use our work to do good in the world?" His conversation with Woelfling follows, exploring the power of design to make positive change with examples of Dattner Architects' evolving approach to responsible architecture—from its design of the New York City's first public LEED-certified building, the Bronx Library Center, to its work on 8,300 units of 100% affordable housing across the city. This engaging talk underscores the importance of rethinking our approaches to sustainability and highlights the potential for architecture to contribute to a better, greener future. Connect with John Woelfling on LinkedIn! Moments to check out:  John discusses Sustainable Building Practices in New York City (Starts at 9:39) Leveraging Passive House Building Typology to Address Environmental Inequity in the Bronx (Starts at 20:10) Connecting with Clients and Building Partnerships to Push the Envelope (Starts at 26:44) Connect with our host Avi Rajagopal on LinkedIn! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Wize Grazette, Hannah Viti, Samantha Sager and Rob Schulte. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When layers of wood are put together in a specific way—usually glued together—they make for a material that has the structural strength of steel. And, surprisingly, is fire-proof. We're not talking log cabins but a specific kind of wood material commonly known in architectural circles as mass timber. Portland International Airport’s new main terminal is part of a race to build the biggest building out of this wonder material. But exactly how sustainable is it? Figuring out exactly where the wood comes from, how it is grown and harvested, and how the mass timber products are used and reused is vital for getting an accurate picture of a mass timber building’s carbon footprint Jacob Dunn and Marty Brennan, both Associate principals at ZGF, are two of the designers behind that Portland Airport Building. And they have developed a tool called the UpStream Forestry Carbon & LCA Tool, in partnership with the University of Washington, to track the amount of carbon sequestered—or emitted—by mass timber. In this episode, Metropolis digital editor Ethan Tucker speaks with Jacob Dunn and Marty Brennan to learn more about their tool and why all wood buildings are not created equal. Resources: ZGF Architects Builds a Transparent and Inclusive Timber Assessment Tool Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If we want to fight climate change, improving or retrofitting an existing building often makes more sense than tearing it down and building a new one. But which buildings does it make sense to retrofit? The Tower Renewal Partnership in Toronto argues that we should spend time retrofitting the buildings that make an impact in regular people's lives: apartment buildings with affordable rents. The kind of buildings built with regular, mundane materials, where there are very small financial incentives or margins to make big improvements. The kind, in short, that are the toughest to retrofit. Yet, architect Graeme Stewart and his firm ERA architects, which is behind the Tower Renewal Partnership, have done just that with the Ken Soble Tower in Hamilton, a Toronto Suburb. The 8-story high rise was built in 1967, and today it’s the largest Passive House–certified residential retrofit project in the world—and it offers affordable housing for senior citizens. In this episode, Metropolis Digital Editor Ethan Tucker speaks with Stewart to find out how the firm managed to make an affordable building sustainable. Resources: In the Toronto Suburbs, Affordable Senior Housing is Overhauled to Meet the Highest Efficiency Standards  Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The furniture industry has seen something of a transformation over the last decade with the rise of fast furniture: cheap, disposable pieces, often produced overseas with little to no oversight. Every year in the United States, about 12 million tons of furniture goes to waste, and 80 percent of that ends up in our landfills. In addition to contributing, through that enormous amount of waste, to our environmental problems, furniture is also often cited as one of the industries most at risk for exploitative labor practices. But furniture retailer Room & Board was founded in 1980 as a business that’s different: putting sustainability at the heart of its operations since day one and producing 90 percent of its products in the United States. Most recently, the Minneapolis-based retailer achieved B Corp certification, an independent verification of its practices to show that it meets the highest standards of performance, accountability, and transparency on a range of factors from employee benefits to charitable giving, supply chain practices, and materials.

In this episode, Room & Board director of sustainability Emily McGarvey joins METROPOLIS editor-in-chief Avinash Rajagopal to discuss why the retailer decided to aim for B Corp certification, how they went about it, and the challenges they faced—but also what it means at a very fundamental level for the furniture industry.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with furniture retailer Room & Board.

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Should one of the United States's most iconic bridges, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, be turned into a cicada farm to raise insects for food? Yes, if you ask David Rico Gomez, who is graduating this year with a degree in architecture from the California College of the Arts. David is one of the Metropolis Future100, the 100 students we selected as the top architecture and design students graduating in North America this year. And he has something in common with a lot of his peers: a commitment to sustainable architecture and a willingness to search for extraordinary solutions. In this episode, Metropolis editor Ethan Tucker speaks with David and four of his contemporaries from the Future100 list. Some of their ideas: building floating homes for extreme weather events; advancing rammed earth for interior uses; and creating hyper-flexible housing for traveling nurses to avoid carbon emissions associated with renovation or demolition. Resources: Presenting The 2022 Metropolis Future100 Future100: Student Designers Explore Radical Sustainability Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2020, a FIFTH of all the energy generated in the United States came from renewable sources. That means wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy are slowly but surely winning. Combined, they surpassed nuclear and coal-based energy for the first time in history. As we move toward cleaner sources, we have to get even more efficient in how we handle and use energy. And that means: batteries. The eternal problem in electricity generation is when you generate too much energy, how do you store it so you can use it when your capacity to generate energy dips? Architects and engineers today have hit on a novel solution for storing energy—water. While the idea of using water to store electricity is almost a century old, the two projects in today's episode use water as a battery—but for heat. First, Metropolis executive editor Sam Lubell speaks to the visionary architect Carlo Ratti, who along with his architecture firm won a Metropolis Responsible Disruptors Award for Hot Heart, a proposal to heat the city of Helsinki using a set of floating basins in the Gulf of Finland. Then, in part two, senior editor Kelly Beamon talks to Don Pawson, a director of engineering at SmithGroup, who designed the very first sewage waste energy exchange system in a commercial building in the U.S. Brilliant stuff. Resources: Carlo Ratti Designs a Floating Structure to Heat A City and Create Community: metropolismag.com/projects/carlo-ratti-hot-heart/ A Water Utility Office Designed to Rival Most Museums: metropolismag.com/projects/smithgroup-dc-water/ Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Interior designers work with stuff, day in and day out—chairs, tables, lights, countertops, tiles, wallpaper. The research company ThinkLab estimates that the average interior designer has over about 26 times the buying power of the average consumer. Of course, most interior designers are buying that stuff on behalf of their clients. But the key thing here is that interior designers have influence. How can they use it to do better by people and the planet? Interior designer Laurence Carr is a trailblazer and an advocate in this area. Carr believes in design that is restorative and regenerative. Which means she doesn't want to just stop at doing less harm to the environment, she believes that design can actually help restore balance between humans and their ecology, and can allow natural systems to regenerate.  In this episode, Metropolis's senior editor Kelly Beamon sits down with Carr to discuss the myriad alternatives available to interior designers today, what challenges persist, and how we can all be a bit more responsible with the stuff in homes, offices, hotels, and other spaces. Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When we think about the carbon emissions of buildings so far we’ve focused largely on two things: the emissions involved in operating the buildings and those involved in the building materials and construction. But there’s a third piece that we’ve largely overlooked, which is all the stuff inside the buildings: furniture, carpet, the lights, the seats. All that stuff puts greenhouse gases in the air when it’s made, when it’s transported, installed, and eventually discarded. Now consider a company like Salesforce, which designs and develops enterprise software and operates 59 offices around the world. Every time one of those offices is renovated, it means carbon emissions, which is a problem for a company that’s committed to sustainable practices. But through some consistent efforts, Salesforce has been chipping away at the carbon emissions of its workplaces. In this episode, brought to you in partnership with Interface, we discuss those efforts with Amanda von Almen, senior manager of sustainability and head of sustainable business environments at Salesforce, and Lisa Conway, vice president of sustainability, Americas, at Interface, who supplies all of the flooring solutions at Salesforce—and explore why workplaces are really an important factor in the fight against climate change. Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2002, the architect William McDonough and the chemist Michael Braungart came up with a rather revolutionary idea. The duo had recently published their groundbreaking book, "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things," and would go on to become leaders in the sustainability movement, In fact, they anticipated many aspects of what we today call the circular economy. But back in 2002, the architect and the chemist wrote an essay titled Buildings Like Trees, Cities Like Forests for a book called "The Catalog of the Future." Today, 20 years later, we return to that idea: Can buildings be like trees? This episode includes two segments. First, Metropolis editor in chief Avinash Rajagopal reads the introduction to Braungart and McDonough's essay. Then, we dive into Urban Sequoia, a proposal by the architecture firm SOM that takes giant redwood trees as the inspiration for carbon-capturing skyscrapers and cities. Resources: Urban Sequoia Raises the Bar on Carbon Neutral Urban Design: metropolismag.com/projects/urban-sequoia-responsible-disruptors/ Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Even if you don't care about technology, it's likely you've heard something about the metaverse. It's a sort of 3-dimensional, immersive internet that would take lots of technologies that exist already today, like video games, VR, and NFTs, and find a way to connect all of them. While our team was reporting on this new phenomenon for our January/February 2022 issue, we began to wonder about the carbon footprint of the metaverse. There is no metaverse without the cloud, which actually lives in buildings—steel and concrete buildings called data centers. If more people get in the metaverse, more stuff gets on the cloud, more data centers—you get the picture. There's got to be a way to start addressing this before the problem gets out of hand. Can we build an online world that doesn't destroy the real one? In this episode, reporter Audrey Grey speaks to Drs. Julie Kriegh and Hyun Woo "Chris" Lee, UW College of Built Environments colleagues, who were part of a team imagining a completely different future for data centers. Resources: The Design Guide to the Metaverse: metropolismag.com/viewpoints/metaverse-design-guide/ Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Waste is a complex issue. How we generate waste, what kinds of chemicals and materials are in our garbage, where we choose to dispose of it, and who is affected the most by the trash we generate—all of these things make waste reduction and management very challenging.But one thing is clear: if we think of our trash as simply worthless and dirty, we've pretty much lost the battle against climate change. So maybe that's our starting point—our mindset about what we value and what we throw away. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Aquafil, synthetic materials producer of Econyl. Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Aquafil, synthetic materials producer of Econyl. A couple of weeks ago, British prime minister Boris Johnson got into a bit of a pickle with some remarks ahead of the UN climate change conference, also known as COP26, which happened in Glasgow. A group of 8- to 12-year-olds met the prime minister at 10 Downing Street this week and asked him, ‘What will you do to make sure less plastic gets into the oceans?” He got a lot of plastics manufacturers and associations really upset when he said recycling isn't the answer. Is he right? That's the question we're going to try and answer today. What is the problem with recycling plastics? In segment one, materials guru Dr. Andrew Dent, who consults with big global brands on what their products should be made of, takes us through the ins and outs of how we can address our plastics problem. Then, in segment two, we hear a success story from Giulio Bonazzi, CEO of plastics manufacturer Aquafil, who managed to wean an entire division of his company off of virgin plastic. Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, produced in partnership with global flooring manufacturer Interface, Metropolis Editor in Chief Avi Rajagopal sits down with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson and Lisa Conway to discuss how we can all fight the climate crisis—emphasis on all. Dr. Wilkinson is an author, strategist, and teacher. Her books on climate include the best-selling anthology "All We Can Save" and "The Drawdown Review." She leads the All We Can Save Project, which she cofounded with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in support of women leading on climate. She also cohosts the podcast "A Matter of Degrees," telling stories for the climate curious with Dr. Leah Stokes. As vice president of sustainability at Interface, Conway helps the company work toward their mission: climate take-back. She is also cofounder of the Materials Carbon Action Network and an incredible leader on climate change and sustainability within the architecture and design professions. Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced so many shifts and undercurrents in our world, and many are so subtle that historians will probably spend decades tracking and understanding them all. But some are not so subtle, if you know where to look at the data. Between April and June this year, construction of multifamily housing—apartment buildings and condos—grew by 25.5% in suburban areas. By contrast, construction of the same type of building declined by half a percentage point in major cities. There's no two ways about it. There's going to be a lot more Americans living in suburbs. Every new building means more carbon emissions in the atmosphere, so if the suburbs continue to see as much new construction as they have this past year, we have to act fast. What can we do to A) use the buildings we already have in the suburbs and B) modify existing infrastructure to mitigate some of the negative effects of new construction? Luckily, there's plenty of good news out of the suburbs on that front. In this episode, Metropolis editor Ethan Tucker speaks with Professor Ellen Dunham-Jones, who is co-author of the book Retrofitting Suburbia, a compendium of 32 case studies for how suburbs are building for better quality of life and a better impact on the planet. Resources: Can Underused Malls Help Build Healthy Communities?: https://metropolismag.com/viewpoints/underused-malls-dlr-group/ Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Discover industry tools and resources for circular design, as Avi Rajagopal and Samantha Sager discuss actionable steps we can take toward tackling the challenges discussed throughout this season of Deep Green. How can we make an impact on an individual level? How can we educate ourselves and those around us? What organizations can we turn to for guidance? Incredible tools, research, and innovations are helping the industry move in the right direction but to meet the moment we will have to shift away from our culture of consumption and redefine the roles of architects and designers in shaping a sustainable future. Hear from Rajagopal on his hopes for the journey forward.  

 

Chapters 

Review of the principles of circularity 

How can we pursue circularity as individuals? 

How can we pursue circularity as a community? 

Industry resources and tools 

Rethinking the designer’s role 

 

Resources 

Salvage Superstar: Renovation Angel 

Rheaply Brings Ingenuity to Recycling Building Materials 

Arup’s Circular Buildings Toolkit 

Two Platforms Help Designers Specify Low-Carbon Interiors 

Build Reuse  

Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, Rachel Senatore, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND podcast network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan. 

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In this sequel to our last episode ("How Can We Create Green Affordable Housing?"), we continue the conversation with Shelley Halstead, executive director of the nonprofit Black Women Build. Conventional wisdom holds that the answer to America's housing crisis has been—how can we build new homes, build them cheaply, build them fast, and build them at scale? But every new building we put up is a carbon debt—tons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We need other strategies. Metropolis editor speaks with Halstead about Black Women Build, which she founded to help Black women purchase rundown houses and learn the skills to rehab the buildings into homes they can live in. Through sheer dint of their labor, women have seen homes that they purchased for $6,000 or $11,000 now be valued at $80,000. It's a painstaking but thorough way of chipping away at racial and economic inequity, one person and one house at a time. Resources: How Recycling Buildings Could Solve the Urban Housing Crisis: metropolismag.com/sustainability/reuse-urban-housing-crisis Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Most low-wage workers in the United States don't currently make enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment. Millennials aren't able to buy homes because they are, on average, poorer than their parents were at the same age. However, the last thing we need is to worsen the climate crisis as we solve America's housing crisis. Every time we build a new structure, we put carbon emissions in the air. If we had to provide housing for every American by building new apartment blocks, that would put us deep in the red on carbon emissions. Now, if we could convert existing buildings into affordable housing, that would be something. To discuss that and other avenues to address both climate and housing security, senior editor Kelly Beamon sat down with two guests: Katie Swenson, senior principal at MASS Design Group and author of Design With Love: At Home in America, and Shelley Halstead, executive director of the nonprofit Black Women Build.  Resources: How Recycling Buildings Could Solve the Urban Housing Crisis: metropolismag.com/sustainability/reuse-urban-housing-crisis Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s August 2021 and there's no clear end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks, of course, to the Delta variant. The Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. has had to change its advisory a few times this year. Its most current advice: If you're in an area with high infection rates, wear a mask everywhere, whether you're vaccinated or not. If your area hasn't been affected much by the Delta variant, you should still be wearing a mask indoors, whether you're vaccinated or not. It's all about air—whether you are indoors or outside. So what should we do for clean air? First, we all intuitively know now that indoor air is riskier, generally speaking, than outdoor air. Because of the way we build commercial buildings now in the United States, inside air invariably goes through an HVAC system, which is basically recirculated air that isn't immediately exchanged with the air outside. The system was built this way to recirculate heating or cooling—but of course it also recirculates germs. Our reporter Audrey Gray sits down with Nathan Stodola, chief engineer at the International WELL Building Institute, and Josh Greenfield, director of high performance design at HDR, to talk about how thoughtful design can help cool things off and keep us safe.  Next, you’ve likely heard a lot about engineered and technological solutions for clean air but, as you now know, they invariably require energy and many times they're just a band-aid fix. So should we turn to nature? Should we be thinking about bigger changes, fundamentally shifting the way we design buildings and their connection to natural systems like plants, soil, and micro-organisms? To answer that, reporter Akiva Blander speaks with Brent Bucknam of Hyphae Design Laboratory. Resources: -      After 2020, Designing For Indoor Air Quality Will Never Be the Same: metropolismag.com/architecture/designing-for-indoor-air-quality/ Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Tokyo Olympics are underway—in the middle of a pandemic, with the Delta Variant of SARS COV-2 doing the rounds. But some analysts and activists have pointed out that the pandemic isn't the only problem with the Games. Tokyo wanted to host the most sustainable Olympics yet. The organizers promised recycled cardboard beds in the athlete's village, and super green timber stadiums. But, according to a study published by researchers from the University of Lausanne in the journal Nature earlier this year, they've fallen well below the mark. Can one have a sustainable Olympics? In this episode, we try to answer that question. First, how does Los Angeles plan to avoid Tokyo's fate when it hosts the games in 2028? We speak with Brence Culp, the chief impact officer for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, and Nurit Katz, UCLA's Chief sustainability Officer, to learn more about the sustainability vision for LA28. Next up, the afterlife of stadiums. Remember that sustainability analysis of the Olympic Games? Well, the researchers identified Nine Factors that determine the sustainability of the Games. Their number one factor? Long-term viability of Olympic infrastructure. The Velodrome, originally designed for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, was recently converted into the Biodome, an enormous zoo-cum-terrarium. We speak with Yves Paris, Biodome director, and Rami Bebawi, cofounding partner at KANVA, to learn more about the project. Resources: -      An evaluation of the sustainability of the Olympic Games. Nat Sustain (2021): doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00696-5 -      LA28: la28.org -      IOC Sustainability Strategy: extrassets.olympic.org/sustainability-strategy/1-1 -      Montreal Biodome: metropolismag.com/architecture/kanva-montreals-biodome/ Connect with Metropolis: metropolismag.com Instagram: @metropolismag Facebook: facebook.com/MetropolisMag/ Deep Green is a production of SANDOW Design Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special bonus episode, Avi Rajagopal sits down with materials expert Dr. Andrew Dent. As executive vice president of research at Material ConneXion, which for 25 years has been empowering designers with access to innovative materials, Dent says he has seen increasing excitement from his clients around sustainability over the past decade. But making the most responsible choices in the world of materials can be very complex. Listen as he shares how he navigates these tricky waters, the challenges with recycling, his optimism around chemical recycling, why he’s more excited about new processes than the materials themselves, and more.

Chapters

A little bit about Material ConneXion

The responsible materials landscape

Recycled and renewable materials

What is chemical recycling?

Biobased and biodegradable materials

The promise of processes

Resources

Material ConneXion

Deep Green is produced by Rachel Senatore, Lauren Volker, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND podcast network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.

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Learn how we can deepen the connection between the built environment and the natural world, as Avi Rajagopal and Samantha Sager discuss the third principle of circular design: regenerating nature. Navigating the complexities of where materials are derived from, how they are made, and what happens to them at the end of their useful life is crucial as architects and interior designers work to support a more circular economy. What defines a biobased product? How do we responsibly source these materials? Is a biobased plastic always biodegradable? Hear from Rajagopal on the ideas and experiments coming out of the industry designed to return more materials go back into their natural cycles and loops on this planet. 

 

Chapters 

The third principle of circularity: regenerating nature 

What does biobased actually mean? 

Biobased vs. Biodegradable 

Success story: a completely biodegradable chair 

Responsibly sourcing biobased materials 

Infrastructure and composting 

 

Resources 

PROWL Urges Designers to Consider the Afterlife of Products 

Model No. Furniture 

Natural Habitat: A Tranquil Retreat in Cold Spring 

 

Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, Rachel Senatore, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND podcast network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Explore the intricacies of material recycling, as Avi Rajagopal and Samantha Sager pick up where they left off last week, focusing on the second principle of a circular economy: circulating products and materials at their highest value. Are all materials suitable for recycling? How can we make sure that recycled or reused materials perform to the standards of commercial settings? How can we better design products and buildings for their end of life? Hear from Rajagopal on some innovative ways our industry is circulating products and materials, recycling more responsibly — and giving nature a much-needed break. 

 

Chapters 

• Circulating products and materials at their highest value 
• Recycling obstacles (incentive, policy, and more) 
• Success story: Nylon 
• The hierarchy of recycling strategies 
• Designing for disassembly  

 

Resources 

METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit  

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation 

METROPOLIS July/August 2023: This New Upholstery Line Features Yarn Made From Marine Plastic 

 

Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, Rachel Senatore, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What obstacles does our industry present to the dream of a circular economy? Join METROPOLIS’s Editor in Chief, Avi Rajagopal, and producer Samantha Sager as they begin to explore these challenges, beginning with how we can eliminate more waste and pollution from our processes. A&D culture is shifting away from building new (for the first time in 2022, retrofits and renovations accounted for more money in architectural buildings than new construction!) but are we adapting buildings as sustainably as possible? Are we preparing them for future adaptations or just passing the buck? Are we considering the interiors? What about the communities that live around these projects? It’s easy to say, “Oh, let's reuse a building,” but in practice it tends to be a pretty tough and complicated process. Hear from Rajagopal on the steps our industry is taking to reuse more responsibly—and live a little bit closer to harmony with nature.

Chapters

What are the principles of circularity?

Principle 1: eliminating waste and pollution

Unpacking adaptive reuse

Future-proofing our buildings

Resources

METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

METROPOLIS July/August: “3 Adaptive Reuse Projects Prioritize Flexibility for the Future”

LMN’s Tenant Improvements Embodied Carbon Study

Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, and Rachel Senatore, and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Unpack the environmental impact of the building industry and the hurdles we face in reducing our carbon footprint with METROPOLIS’s' Editor in Chief, Avi Rajagopal, and producer Samantha Sager. They discuss how the sector is responsible for 40% of global carbon emissions and 30% of worldwide waste, and is the second largest consumer of plastics, putting the industry at the heart of the problem of the climate crisis. A must-listen for those passionate about sustainable interior design and architecture, this episode underscores the urgent need for change: a move away from our trend-driven culture. Join us this season as we explore the challenges our industry presents to the dream of a circular economy. May you be inspired to advocacy and action. 

Chapters

• The building industry and climate change
• What is embodied carbon exactly?
• The consequences of a culture of trends
• The building renovations craze - and its implications 

Resources

METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit 

“Why Interior Designers Must Fight Climate Change”

LMN’s Tenant Improvements Embodied Carbon Study

Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, and Rachel Senatore, and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Biophilic design might be trending on social media, but it’s far more than an aesthetic—it’s a transformative approach to creating spaces that make us happier, calmer, and healthier. In this episode of Deep Green: Deep Cut, METROPOLIS editor in chief Avinash Rajagopal dives into the science and philosophy behind biophilic design with Bill Browning, founder of Terrapin Bright Green, and Catie Ryan, director of projects at the firm. These leading voices in biophilic design share their insights on the profound impact of creating spaces that connect us to nature.

As Terrapin Bright Green marks the 10th anniversary of its 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, Browning and Ryan reflect on how their research has shaped the field, including the introduction of a new pattern: “Awe.” They share how these principles deliver measurable outcomes in projects like the reimagined Portland International Airport, where stress-filled spaces became calming, passenger-friendly environments under the terminal’s nine-acre roof. Tune in to learn how biophilic strategies—from nature-inspired fractals to immersive natural elements—are improving well-being, reducing stress, and redefining the built environment.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources:

Moshe Safdie: The Future of Urban Density

What Is and Is Not Biophilic Design?

14 Patterns of Biophilic Design

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In this bonus episode of Deep Green, host Avi Rajagopal reflects on the thought-provoking questions that have defined the show (Can bio-based plastics truly save the planet? Is recycling our hope for the future?) as he offers a glimpse into the exciting upcoming season, Deep Green: Deep Cut Edition.

Listen and revisit standout moments from past episodes with some of the smartest people in design. And get ready for more fascinating discussions as Rajagopal sits down with sustainability visionaries and trailblazers to dive even deeper into how we can make buildings better for the planet—and for all of us—in the season ahead.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy Sense of Space by Turf now available on all podcast platforms.

An architect and designer are on a journey to help their community understand the nuances of designing for the built environment. Join Ella Hazard and Faraz Shah through questions and conversations while they explore all the stuff we interact with as designers, architects, and people.

Please enjoy the following episode: What are the elements of a vibe?

Is “vibe” something we can curate, or is it best when it occurs organically? Faraz and Ella unpack some SAT words to describe how our bodies respond to spaces and ways to design for all senses. By better understanding ourselves and our senses, can we learn how to integrate this approach into the creation of a “vibe”?

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Buildings account for 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. If you’re an architect, or a frequent listener to this podcast, you already know that. But in their new book, Build Like It’s the End of the World, Sandeep Ahuja and Patrick Chopson frame buildings and carbon emissions in a way that might change how you think about it:

“Buildings offer some of the most cost-efficient ways of reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change. This is because, unlike carbon capture or more efficient cars, buildings have a lot of room for improvement in their design and construction, which is often not even simulated or cost optimized.”

Ahuja and Chopson are the cofounders of Cove, an AI-powered consulting and technology platform that helps building designers and owners do just that—optimize buildings for both lower carbon emissions and lower costs. Every year, architects across the U.S. report their progress on reducing carbon emissions to the AIA, and Cove is the #1 tool they use to measure their impact. The goal? A 70 percent reduction in the building industry’s emissions by 2030.

In this episode of Deep Green: Deep Cut, METROPOLIS editor in chief Avinash Rajagopal sits down with Ahuja and Chopson as they break down how Cove works, why they think we ignore cost and profit to our own peril, and how AI will be critical to the future of climate action.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources:

cove

Build Like It’s the End of the World

Three Technologies Are Changing how We Design for Climate

 

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If there’s one defining trend in American architecture over the last decade, it’s the rediscovery of wood as a construction material. Mass timber buildings—made from large wooden panels, columns, and beams—are rising across North America, with developers racing to construct the tallest wooden tower. A new contender, the 32-story Edison in Milwaukee, just broke ground and is set to claim the title of the tallest mass timber building in the Western Hemisphere.

But why are American developers, architects, and builders all timberstruck? There are the carbon emissions—wood pulls down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as trees grow, so these buildings are a tool in the fight against climate change. Plus, they are quick to construct and can be cheaper to build. So should we start building everything out of wood?

In this episode of Deep Green, METROPOLIS editor in chief Avi Rajagopal speaks with two experts to unpack the potential of mass timber. First, Columbia University professor and author Lindsey Wikstrom discusses how architecture and construction need to evolve to fully embrace timber-based design. Then, DLR Group principal Stephen Cavanaugh shares insights from his extensive experience designing over three million square feet of mass timber buildings, as part of the largest collection of mass timber buildings in North America.

Join us as we dive deep into the thinking behind and the practice of mass timber architecture.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources:

Designing the Forest and other Mass Timber Futures

Finding a Future for Mass Timber in Hospitality

DLR Group: Hines T3 Partnership

Episode art: Photo by Creative Sources Photography/Rion Rizzo, courtesy DLR Group

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What makes one product more sustainable than another? It’s a question that anyone concerned with their impact on the planet must confront. How do we choose the right couch, coffee machine, flooring, tiles, or curtain wall system—so that we’re doing the most good for both people and the environment?

That’s the question Lisa Gralnek has been working to answer.

Gralnek is the U.S. Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability and Impact at the iF Design Awards—one of the largest and most prestigious design award programs in the world. This year, 131 jurors evaluated nearly 11,000 entries from 66 countries, judging everything from appliances to automobiles, furnishings to buildings.

For the first time, sustainability accounted for 20 percent of the score for every submission. So how does an international awards program assess sustainability across such diverse design disciplines, regions, and product categories?

Listen to this episode of Deep Green, as METROPOLIS editor in chief Avi Rajagopal sits down with Gralnek to discuss how the iF Design Awards are tackling this challenge.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources

iF DESIGN AWARDS

Sustainability and the iF DESIGN AWARDS

iF Trend Report 2025

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We're sharing a special episode of architecture 5 10 20, a podcast from FXCollaborative. In this episode, you'll hear Avi Rajagopal with Guy Geier discussing connections between sustainability and design.

You can find more episodes of architecture 5 10 20 at surroundpodcasts.com.

Welcome back to architecture 5 10 20! I’m your host, Guy Geier, Managing Partner of FXCollaborative Architects in New York. My guests for this podcast are pioneers and visionaries shaping the future of the built environment across various disciplines. Join me in exploring their remarkable journeys, discovering how they reach their current heights, and envisioning what lies ahead in the next 5, 10, and 20 years.

Join me for this special episode as I have a great conversation with Avi Rajagopal, editor-in-chief of Metropolis magazine and host of the Deep Green podcast, to discuss connections between sustainability and design. Recorded at FX Collaborative’s Brooklyn office during Green April, our conversation touches upon how sustainability has evolved in the built environment and how media plays an important part in pushing the conversation forward.

Avi, whose career has been shaped by his commitment to sustainable design, shares his journey from product design to leading sustainability projects at Metropolis, and we talk about some of the challenges facing the architecture and design industries such as the carbon emissions tied to interior design and the importance of thinking about materials as long-term investments. Avi provides some insights into how we can shift our mindset to reduce waste and adopt a more circular approach to design.

Avi also goes into how design practices differ across sectors, from corporate offices to healthcare facilities, and how we can rethink how buildings change over time. We discuss the role of reuse in sustainability and the shifts that we are going to need to actually elevate this practice. Focusing on practical and actionable steps, we consider how designers can model circularity, from reusing materials to rethinking aesthetic choices. Avi even answers a few questions from a few of my FXCollaborative colleagues here in the studio with me!

This episode of the show is full of forward-thinking ideas on how we can design better, more sustainable spaces, so whether you are an architect, a designer, and/or a sustainability advocate, this conversation offers valuable insights from Avi that will surely challenge and inspire!

Time stamps:

[02:34] - Avi reflects on how his interest in sustainability developed over time, from design studies to Metropolis' focus on it.

[05:59] - The media connects architecture to the public, advancing professional conversations around sustainability.

[08:08] - Avi reveals that Metropolis has explored how interior design contributes to carbon emissions.

[11:03] - Focusing on building life-cycle emissions led to creating the Climate Toolkit for Interior Design to reduce waste.

[13:33] - Proposals for circularity in design have led to ideas for new professions and assessing the quality of reused materials.

[15:03] - Avi argues that avoiding new materials is the best way to reduce rising carbon emissions.

[17:54] - Aesthetics and sustainability are not inherently linked, and global practices embrace broader, more sustainable design values.

[20:29] - Avi explains how different building types age uniquely, which requires customized strategies and approaches.

[22:58] - As an optimist, Avi points out how retrofits, natural materials, and holistic thinking suggest a shift in sustainable practices.

[25:04] - FXCollaborative’s work highlights how urban design increasingly considers the impact on all life on Earth, not just humans.

[27:21] - Adaptive reuse, Avi asserts, should prioritize flexibility and longevity, not just destroying and rebuilding existing structures.

[30:51] - Can reuse alone satisfy future infrastructure and housing needs?

[31:53] - It's important for new construction to be assessed for whether it serves the public good.

[34:39] - Rethinking building use and shared responsibility is important for maximizing environmental and social value.

[37:20] - FXCollaborative draws ongoing inspiration from Avi's vision for a circular, sustainable architectural future!

Links / Resources:

Guy Geier

Instagram | Twitter

Avinash Rajagopal on Instagram

Metropolis

Climate Toolkit for Interior Design

Deep Green

Ezra Klein - Abundance

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Buildings account for 40 percent of global carbon emissions. The construction industry generates nearly a third of all waste in our cities and built environments. The buildings we live and work in influence 11 of the 23 social determinants of health—factors that shape our well-being. And the construction sector is also the second most at risk for labor exploitation and modern-day slavery. We get a lot wrong when we make buildings, and we've spent the last three decades trying to fix that. But what if we shifted our focus—not just doing less bad, but doing more good? That’s the promise of regenerative design: the idea that buildings can help nature regenerate, not just minimize damage.

In this episode of Deep Green, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with one of the pioneers of regenerative design, Jason McLennan, chief sustainability officer at Perkins&Will. McLennan is the mind behind transformative frameworks like the Living Building Challenge, the WELL Standard, and the Living Product Challenge, as well as the Declare, Just, and Net Zero certifications. His work has earned him prestigious honors including the Buckminster Fuller Prize, the ENR Award of Excellence, and an Ashoka Fellowship.

If anyone can help us see the big picture of sustainability in architecture, it’s Jason McLennan. Tune in for a conversation about the future of buildings, design, and how we can create a world where architecture heals rather than harms.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources

The Living Building Challenge

The International Living Future Institute

The WELL Building Standard

The Living Product Challenge

Perkins&Will Sustainability

Declare Label Program

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Polyvinyl chloride—better known as PVC or vinyl—is one of the most ubiquitous plastics in our lives. You’ll find it everywhere: pipes, siding, wiring, flooring, upholstery, wall coverings, and even old-school vinyl records. Sixty-one percent of all PVC produced globally is used in buildings and construction. It’s more fire-retardant than any other common plastic, and with the addition of plasticizers, it can be made as flexible as fabric or as rigid as wood.

In certain building types—like hospitals, hotels, and schools—PVC products are widely used because they’re durable, easy to maintain, and able to carry patterns and color. But many sustainability experts and design teams are urging the industry to reduce or avoid PVC where possible. When PVC isn’t responsibly manufactured or disposed of, it can expose workers and nearby communities to harmful dioxins. Poorly regulated PVC can also contain other chemicals of concern, such as heavy metals. For these reasons, the International Living Future Institute keeps PVC on its Red List of materials to avoid.

So what’s the path forward? Should we focus on making PVC as safe and clean as possible—or invest in finding alternative materials that offer the same performance benefits?

In this episode of Deep Green, created with our partner Mannington Commercial, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with three experts offering distinct perspectives: Shane Totten, vice president of sustainability at Mannington Commercial, which produces both certified, transparent PVC flooring and non-PVC resilient flooring options; David Briefel, sustainability director and principal at Gensler, and co-creator of the Gensler Product Sustainability Standards—a set of material requirements for the firm’s projects; and Annzie Barfield, interior design specialist at LaBella Associates, who works on education, healthcare, and senior living spaces where PVC products are often the default for flooring and wall protection.

Together, they unpack the complexities—and possibilities—of designing with (or without) PVC.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources:

“What Can We Do About PVC?” (METROPOLIS Nov/Dec Issue 2023)

The Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List

Gensler Product Sustainability (GPS) Standards

Mannington Mills Transparency

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Francisco Brown, senior editor and engagement manager at Metropolis Magazine, interviews Steve Kooy, Technical Director of Health and Sustainability at BIFMA, live from the NeoCon Podcast Lounge. They discuss BIFMA's longstanding support for the furniture manufacturing industry, the evolution of sustainability certifications, and the importance of industry standards now more than ever.

Learn more about LEVEL: level.bifma.org

This episode was produced in partnership with BIFMA and recorded live in the NeoCon Podcast Lounge Powered by SURROUND, sponsored by Material Bank, and in partnership with HÅG, Stylex, KI Wall, and Turf.

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When we think of all the ways we could be designing better buildings—especially commercial buildings like office towers or education spaces—there’s one lever that people still don’t pay enough attention to: furniture.

Some numbers for context—about 8 million tons of office furniture end up in U.S. landfills every year. And for a standard office renovation, furniture and furnishings account for about half of the space’s carbon footprint.

So yes, furniture can help prevent harm in the world. It can help us make better buildings. But here’s the exciting part: furniture can also be a tool for doing a whole lot of good.

We touch and interact with furniture every day. Well-designed furniture can make a big difference to our health and well-being. It also takes skill and craft to produce, which means furniture can uplift and empower communities and involve them in finding solutions for people and the planet.

In this episode of Deep Green, created in partnership with Allsteel and recorded live from NeoCon 2025, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with two guests who’ve been helping organizations make real impact through their furniture and architectural product selections: Lisa Brunie-McDermott, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at HNI Corp., and Madison Gentry, Architectural Product Sales Enablement Manager at Allsteel. Listen in as they discuss how using healthy, beautiful materials in furniture and furnishings can have a multiplier effect on our buildings.

Resources:

“How the Furniture Industry Is Stepping Up on Circularity”

Allsteel Sustainability

HNI Corporate Sustainability

This episode was produced in partnership with Allsteel and recorded live in the NeoCon Podcast Lounge Powered by SURROUND. Thank you to our Lounge sponsor, Material Bank, and product partners: HÅG, Stylex, KI Wall, and Turf.

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In the 1960s, mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot began exploring a concept he initially called self-similarity—geometric forms whose parts resemble the whole. A simple example is a straight line: any segment of it is also a straight line.

But this kind of geometry also appears in nature, like in the head of Romanesco broccoli. Each floret forms a spiral that mirrors the spiral arrangement of the florets on the entire head.

In 1975, Mandelbrot named this phenomenon a fractal. It turns out fractals are everywhere in nature: the way rivers branch into tributaries, or how a tree trunk grows branches, which then grow twigs.

More recently, researchers have suggested that human brains recognize these fractal patterns—sometimes subconsciously—and because we associate them with nature, seeing fractals can evoke similar calming effects as being in a natural environment.

So, why discuss fractals on a podcast about sustainable architecture and design? Because fractals are common in pre-modern architecture—found in the ornaments of Gothic cathedrals and the niches of medieval mosques—and today, many designers apply fractal principles to objects and materials, creating products that evoke the same sense of well-being as natural environments.

In this episode of Deep Green, created in partnership with Momentum and recorded live from NeoCon 2025, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with Dr. Richard Taylor, whose research underpins our understanding of fractal patterns’ impact, and Anastasija and Martin Lesjak of 13&9, who apply this research in their designs—including a new wallcovering collection for Momentum called Renaturation.

Resources

Momentum Renaturation Collection

13&9 Design

Dr. Richard Taylor’s Research

This episode was produced in partnership with Momentum and recorded live in the NeoCon Podcast Lounge Powered by SURROUND. Thank you to our Lounge sponsor, Material Bank, and product partners: HÅG, Stylex, KI Wall, and Turf.

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Tiles are among the most enduring building materials. Glazed brick tiles have been discovered in archaeological sites and in ancient and medieval buildings around the world. The first glazed porcelain tiles, which date back to 15th-century China, are still around today. And yet, when one thinks of sustainable building products, tile might not be the first to come to mind.

More often than not, today’s building industry—with its culture of constructing and demolishing—fails to take advantage of tile’s inherent sustainability. In today’s context, we require that building materials have the lowest possible carbon footprint and be easily reused or recycled. So, how can tile—with its thousands of years of history—fit into today’s frameworks? And how can we build better with this time-tested material in North America?

In this episode of Deep Green, created in partnership with AHF and Crossville, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with Noah Chitty, Vice President of Sustainability and Technical Services for AHF and Crossville. Part of the AHF family of brands, Crossville has made great strides in optimizing tile manufacturing by innovating with new technologies and providing transparent information to the design community—efforts Chitty has helped drive. Listen to the episode to learn how this ancient material is being reimagined for a more sustainable future.

Resources

Crossville Sustainability

Carbon Neutral Tile by Crossville

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We talk to a lot of folks from product manufacturing here at Deep Green—and there’s a reason for that. The supply chains of materials and products that make our buildings are still full of opportunities for efficiency and creative breakthroughs.

Improving product design and manufacturing can often have a more holistic impact than say the incremental gains achieved by improving a building’s energy efficiency. We need to work on both, of course—but because products are made by people, any company that makes consistent strides in design, sourcing, and manufacturing can influence communities around the world—from the users who inhabit finished spaces to the workers who supply materials and parts. This kind of networked, multiplier effect has the power to shift entire industries and cultures.

In this episode, created in partnership with Teknion, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with David McDivitt, Vice President of Sustainability at Teknion. The company has long been recognized for its transparency and responsible manufacturing practices, but McDivitt shares where Teknion stands today—and what new opportunities lie ahead for creating even greater impact.

Resources

Teknion Sustainability and Social Responsibility

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Here at Deep Green, we often shine a spotlight on traditional building materials that have fallen out of favor for a variety of reasons—but that we believe deserve reconsideration by today’s architects and designers, especially those concerned about the environmental and social impacts of their projects.

Slate—a gray, flaky signifier of 19th-century luxury—for example, is one that we think deserves a second look. Before the 1930s, when asphalt composite shingles became the most common roofing material in North America, the middle class was rushing to build Victorian-style homes or renovate their Georgian and Colonial-style mansions with slate roofs.

And there was a reason. Slate was easy to maintain, elegant in color, and excellent in thermal performance. Many beautiful buildings around the world still prove its durability, with roofs that have lasted hundreds of years. No wonder there was a slate boom in the 19th century—not only in North America but in many other parts of the world where slate roofs have been constructed for thousands of years.

In this episode of Deep Green, created in partnership with CUPACLAD, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with Drew Ford, USA regional sales manager for CUPACLAD, one of the world’s leading slate providers. Listen in to learn what makes slate a great choice today and what new possibilities have opened up for this ancient material.

Resources

CUPACLAD Sustainability

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Here at, Deep Green, we've been tracking how businesses in the building industry and architecture and design space are increasingly seeing their place in the world through the lens of their impact on communities and ecosystems.

Now, this is true of many of the B2B companies in our world—companies who make tiles and wallcoverings and roofing and all those kinds of materials, of course. But when a company in the building industry space is a household name, and it recognizes that its efforts can improve people's lives and environments at scale, then something magic happens. Kohler is one of those rare companies.

In this episode of Deep Green, created in partnership with Kohler, host Avi Rajagopal sits down with Laura Kohler, the company’s chief sustainable living officer. Over her career, Laura has championed initiatives that support employees, advance circularity, and expand access to safe water—from launching one of Kohler’s first flexible workplace programs to overseeing Innovation for Good, the I-Prize, Safe Water for All, and the Kohler WasteLAB. She also released the company’s first ESG report and has guided the company’s Arts/Industry residency program, which has hosted more than 500 artists from over 25 countries.

Listen in to learn how a global brand translates vision into action—from integrating sustainability into every stage of design and manufacturing to advancing water stewardship and empowering professionals across the built environment to lead meaningful change.

Resources:

Designers Rethinking Our Relationship to Water (METROPOLIS Fall Issue 2025)

Kohler Impact

Sustainable Products | KOHLER

LEED Certification | KOHLER

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Metropolis senior editor and engagement manager Francisco Brown sits down with Joe Speicher, Chief Sustainability Officer at Autodesk, for a deep dive into the company’s expanding sustainability agenda. Building on the 2023 debut of Autodesk Forma—its AI-driven, cloud-native platform for predesign and schematic design—Speicher outlines how new digital tools are transforming design and construction teams' ability to evaluate performance and reduce environmental impact. Together, they discuss the role of centralized data, energy-efficient design, workplace strategies, and Autodesk’s broader climate commitments in shaping a more sustainable built environment.

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