The Building Equity Standard
Advancing equity through the design of our buildings, spaces, and communities.
Operationalizing equity-centered design
The Building Equity Standard supports architects, designers, owners, managers, and communities in gathering insights from end-users and translating data into tangible design solutions.
Research-based
The Building Equity Standard was developed through case study research of four real-world projects. Content within the Standard - specifically the Building Equity Goals© and the Building Equity Design Guidelines© - reflect the voices, priorities, and needs of groups and individuals historically marginalized by design.
Public comment goes live early 2025
Your voice matters! The Building Equity Standard has the potential to drive change in creating equity-centered built environments—but we can’t do it alone. Your feedback is essential to help lead this important movement.
The Standard is currently in a year-long pilot phase from October 2024 to November 2025. With your insights, we can refine and enhance the criteria, validation measures, tools, and resources to ensure the Standard continues to evolve. We encourage everyone interested in advancing equity-centered buildings and communities to share your thoughts.
The term building equity represents the goal of creating built environments that are not only free of structural, programmatic, and spatial barriers for all end-users, but that also include solutions to enhance experiences for groups and individuals historically marginalized by design.
Architects and designers have a unique opportunity to advance building equity by designing housing, educational spaces, places of employment, cultural institutions, and other environments that all people can access, enjoy, and benefit from – using the Building Equity Standard as roadmap for success.
