Athena Sustainable Materials Institute Celebrates 20 Years of Innovation in the Green Building Sector

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, headquartered in Ottawa, Canadaand with a US affiliate in Pennsylvania, is a leading pioneer in the Green Building Sector and proud to have been on the forefront of sustainability metrics for two decades. This small non-profit has had significant industry impact over the past decades in the following ways:

  • The Athena Institute started a revolution in green building design with its free tools for true cradle-to-grave environmental impact measurement of new construction. 
     
  • As pioneers of life cycle assessment (LCA) for the built environment, the Athena Institute is transforming tactics and accountability in green design. 
     
  • Thousands of design professionals, sustainability consultants and students are using the Athena Impact Estimator for buildings - the first, most comprehensive, and the only free LCA tool for the North American design and construction sector. 
     
  • Countless building and roadway projects can claim quantified environmental impact reductions thanks to the data and tools provided to the public by the Athena Institute - see some examples at www.athenasmi.org 
     
  • Two decades of work at the Athena Institute enables the LCA incentives and embodied carbon calculations in green building programs like LEED ® v4, the Living Building Challenge, the International Green Construction Code, and the Canada Green Building Council's Zero Carbon Building Standard. 
     
  • Twenty years of Athena Institute collaboration with the manufacturing sector has spurred sustainability leadership by the makers of construction materials. For example, Portland-limestone cement, a reduced-carbon version of cement, is gaining acceptance and clearing regulatory hurdles thanks to LCA performance data from the Athena Institute.

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Athena Sustainable Materials Institute | www.athenasmi.org