On today’s episode of Architectette we welcome Ramune Bartuskaite. Ramune is an Architect and Associate at FIFTEEN Architecture and Design as well as the CEO and founder of Spec Matters - an organization that strives to encourage the building industry to write healthier specifications and make better material selections. (If FIFTEEN sounds familiar, that’s because we interviewed the three female founders of the firm back in May! If you’re interested, check out Episode 009.)

We talk about:

- Ramune's first generation college experience and her contributions to Rise First which empowers first gen students

- Volunteering within architecture and how/why she helped establish Penn Women in Design

- We do a deep dive into Spec Matters and talk about building materials to avoid, which to use more frequently, and how architects and designers can leverage available tools to make healthier, safer spaces for their clients

Links:

FIFTEEN Architecture and Design: ⁠https://www.xvadesign.com/⁠

FIFTEEN's Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/fifteen_xvad/⁠

Penn Women in Design: ⁠https://www.design.upenn.edu/penn-women-design

Books Mentioned in the Podcast: Women Rebuild: Stories, Polemics, Futures: ⁠https://bookshop.org/lists/book-links-from-the-architectette-podcast

Spec Matters: https://specmatters.com/

Healthy Building Network HomeFree Resource: https://homefree.healthybuilding.net/

Living Future Red List: https://living-future.org/red-list/

WELL AP: https://www.wellcertified.com/well-ap

LEED AP: https://www.usgbc.org/

Architectette Podcast Website: ⁠www.architectette.com⁠

Connect with the pod on LinkedIn (⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12735000/⁠), Instagram (⁠@architectette⁠), and TikTok (⁠@architectette⁠)

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Music by ⁠AlexGrohl⁠ from ⁠Pixabay⁠.

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Listen to our live interviews from the 2023 AIA Women’s Leadership Summit.

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