This is a combination of the entire series of Sustainability Matrices published in the AJ in September 2010 under the title 'Decoding Sustainability'. The matrix is a communication tool first developed in 2005 to help explain to the National Trust board of directors how their new headquarters building would meet their aspiration for 'best practice and occasional innovation in sustainability'. It helped to provide a balanced view of the broad range of sustainability issues.

At Max Fordham we use the matrices during early design to help communicate what sustainability driven decisions will mean to our clients; tailoring strategies and options to make each matrix project specific and keep up to date with changing technologies and standards. Boxes are highlighted so that the client and design team can visualise what sustainability targets the project can achieve within the budget. Further highlighting can identify where increased investment together with a reasonable payback could push the scheme further.

As a practice we think it important to drive the sustainability agenda and stimulate discussion, so versions of our current matrices were published in AJ and we welcome feedback on them. The examples in this series for four building types give an indication of what we could produce for your specific building project in order to help you decide your own sustainability agenda and how to communicate this successfully.