Clients are looking to have the least environmental impact, but with budget and time constraints, it needs to be as cheap and easy as possible. Typically, 75 to 80% of a project's environmental impact is decided in the planning and early design phases, but there are no tools out there for sustainable resource planning. I think Firstplanit is ahead of its time. It provides a way to make human health and sustainable building decisions during the planning process. Nobody is doing what Firstplanit is doing!

Mohit Mehta, Global Head of Sustainability, Populous

Within the building industry it is important to assess materials against planet and human health impacts. The problem is these often compete and contradict. Firstplanit offers market leading advantages over how the industry assesses these issues through bringing sophisticated information together in one place for easy access and comparison.

Asif Din, Sustainability Director, Perkins and Will

The current challenge of specifying products for projects is simply the supply. We are using familiar products and suppliers because we don't have enough time to explore alternatives and can't risk insufficient or delayed supplies during construction. Firstplanit is connecting big picture risks to material choices to help us co-create with both our clients and contractors, which will help with continuity from initial briefing to completed project, so that sustainability and social impact can be actualised.

Katharine Hegarty, Director at NOMA Architects, Community Advocate, Bristol, U.K.

Being able to iterate rapidly is what's gonna set out the success of the design and build business in the future. Firstplanit will help us reduce the time it takes to search for materials and expand our material repertoire for eco-friendly materials. I believe in what Firstplanit is doing and it will help us deliver results instantly to the client.

Kristoff DuBose, Founder, Rekreate, London, U.K.

It is more and more important to look at the environmental impacts of the materials we use and work with clients to ensure their projects are future proof. In order to do both, we need to change the way we approach the specifying of materials and their procurement. I think Firstplanit is a good tool to inform the design process. Firstplanit simplifies the selection process, and the various aspects of evaluation are of great assistance to clients and designers. In my view there is nothing out there that is directly comparable. It is time for a tool like this.

Ulf Vollmer Konig, Director, Studio VK, London, U.K.

Sustainability is something that needs to be looked at holistically at the earliest stage of a project, not by small siloed decisions. Getting clients and design teams to think in this way early on in the process is a major challenge. Each decision has a knock-on effect to something else. How can designers communicate that? Instead of finding, reviewing and comparing a vast quantity of 'stuff' as you would normally do today, Firstplanit gives you a starting point. It allows you to review and compare products under specific criteria. Firstplanit is absolutely helpful; it provides a format to frame decisions by assessing the impact of choices.

Jon Tollit, Director, JTA, Cambridge, U.K.

As designers, we'd like to impact the world positively and not negatively. We are very much aware that lots of stuff we built end up being in landfills. Therefore, it'd be nice to be more responsible with the materials we specify and offer to clients wherever possible. Firstplanit is exactly what we need - quick, simple, impactful outputs and chat with suppliers on the site. For design and build, Firstplanit will become a competitive advantage. This is a really impressive tool!

Guy Stewart, Lead Designer, Spacio, U.K.

Right now, there is no tool out there that allows designers to make sustainable choices in the planning process. There is just lots of time-consuming research. Firstplanit is ground-breaking. It will give us a way to choose products for the right reasons. We will certainly be using this in our concept and pre-concept phases to engage with clients and make better material choices.

Natasha Bonugli, Founder & Creative Director at The Bon Collective, U.K.