The London office of architecture and design firm Perkins&Will is developing a searchable directory of sustainable and circular products to help minimise the carbon footprint of its interior design projects.
Named Now Database, the directory will allow Perkins&Will to specify products that support its recent pledge to make all of its interior fit-outs of buildings net-zero embodied carbon by 2030.
Embodied carbon refers to the emissions that result from the manufacturing, construction, maintenance and disposal of materials. According to the firm, this can account for as much as 40 per cent of a building's total embodied energy.
The pledge will also ensure all of its internal fit-outs of buildings are 100 per cent circular by 2025, meaning the materials are continually reused as part of a circular economy. Database to become publicly accessible
The database is currently primarily used by designers and architects at Perkins&Will's London and Dublin studios.
However, it is being continually developed with the aim of it becoming a go-to tool for other industry professionals working on interior fit-outs and refurbishments.

"The Now Database brings our firm one step closer to achieving the ambitious but necessary targets set out within our net-zero pledge," said Perkins&Will's sustainability director Asif Din.
"We aim to eventually make this database accessible to all, to allow the whole construction supply chain, from designers to installers, to c...