The Moral Imperative to Examine Our Building Materials Supply Chain 

More than 100 industry leaders across a broad spectrum of the built environment have come together to collectively acknowledge that we must confront modern slavery’s permanent imprint. A sense of moral obligation, of course, underscores a mounting call to action to stop this inhumane and illegal act. But there are also fundamental codes of ethics that can guide the industry.

The decision and specifications made by architects, engineers, consultants, and contractors, represent tremendous consumption of materials and labor. The design and construction industries have been slow to adopt an ethical model; but there is an urgency now for industry-wide ethics and responsibility to permeate the industry. More businesses are adding humanitarian criteria to their business models as millions continue to work in servitude for the benefit of the global construction industry.