Lake|Flato, the architecture and design firm based in San Antonio and Austin, received its B Corp certification recently, joining the ranks of only a few B Corp certified architecture firms across the U.S. committed to balancing financial success with positive environmental and social impact.
B Corp is a global, third party-verified certification that evaluates a product or service alongside the positive impact of the company itself.
B Corp certification is conferred by the nonprofit B Lab, which assesses companies based on standards of transparency, accountability, and performance across five different categories: workers, community, environment, customers, and governance.
The certification process, overseen by the nonprofit B Lab, is rigorous and typically takes multiple years. To achieve B Corp certification, a company must:
- Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or more. According to B Lab, the median score is 55. Lake|Flato achieved a score of 104.9.
- Exhibit transparency by allowing their performance to be measured against B Lab’s standards and be made publicly available online.
- Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
These steps demonstrate a B Corp is following a fundamentally different governance philosophy than a traditional shareholder-centered corporation. To encourage continuous improvement and long-term resiliency, B Corps are required to undergo the verification process every three years.
Lake|Flato’s B Corp process allowed the firm to assess its current impact in comparison to other organizations around the world and thoughtfully commit resources toward helping ameliorate environmental and social challenges through architecture and design.
Since its founding in 1984, Lake|Flato has operated with a strong environmental and social ethos. To demonstrate accountability and further the conversation around social justice, the firm began tracking its progress several years ago using “The Just Label,” a program of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) that invites organizations to evaluate their operations through an equity lens.
As an extension of the firm’s commitment to equity and accountability, Lake|Flato pursued B Corp certification and became the first Texas entity to receive the certification.
“As the saying goes, ‘if you can measure it, you can improve it.’ B Corp certification requires rigorous documentation and validation of our firm’s environmental performance and equity, diversity, and inclusion practices,” says Heather Holdridge, the firm’s director of design performance. “Lake|Flato now has a thorough compilation of calculations, policies, and other evidence of our commitment to environmental and social performance. This allows us to communicate our commitment and performance more easily and scientifically both internally and externally. We now also have an objective baseline to measure our progress, so we can continue to improve our operations and practices.”
