Episode 38: Empowering the Building Industry to Write Healthier Specifications

The Quiet Mark Podcast

Our guest on this episode, Ramune Bartuskaite, is a WELL Accredited Professional,Healthy Building Advocate and an architect at FIFTEEN Architecture + Design in Philadelphia—a practice driven by the desire to affect positive change. She's also the Founder and CEO of Spec Matters, whose opening line on their website says: 'Empowering the building industry to write healthier specifications and make better material selections—because these decisions matter'.

We couldn’t agree more! Last December, Quiet Mark announced a brand new partnership with NBS, a leading construction data and specification platform, to empower architects and interior designers to specify ‘acoustics first’, by providing a short-cut for responsible product sourcing. The aim of the partnership being to elevate the aural design of buildings, optimising the overall level of acoustic comfort for occupants.

Throughout her career, Ramune has worked closely with material manufacturers to stay on top of trends and the latest products in the industry. While pursuing her license, she learned about the challenges and health concerns of the building industry. After losing her mother to cancer in 2020 and learning about the carcinogens that are often used in building materials, she created Spec Matters in hopes of spurring change and raising awareness in the movement towards healthier buildings and environments.

“Architects, interior designers, and developers are making material selections every day without knowing the impact on human health and the environment”, says Ramune. Spec Matters is a free website and newsletter solving this problem by providing a hub of accessible healthy building information.

Ramune is a Lithuanian immigrant and a first-generation graduate. She holds a Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with a Marketing Minor from Miami University, and a Certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building from Parsons School of Design. She’s a recipient of the Alpha Rho Chi Medal for leadership, willing service, and promise of professional merit and a co-editor of a book titled Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures. The book highlights female architects, designers, scholars, and educators who are pushing the boundaries of architecture and design.

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