LocaleMaterials Specification

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LocaleMaterials

Where Geography Meets Material Science.

Purpose

LocaleMaterials is an open-source, modular AI platform for identifying, evaluating, producing, sourcing, and applying regenerative, renewable, reclaimed, and locally available building materials.

The system shall combine geographic intelligence, material science, environmental conditions, local resource availability, supply chains, construction requirements, lifecycle economics, climate resilience, and real-world performance data to generate location-specific building recommendations.

LocaleMaterials shall prioritize materials and construction systems that can be sourced, grown, harvested, processed, manufactured, reclaimed, or reused as close to the project location as reasonably possible.

The system shall prioritize options in the following order:

On-site resources
Hyperlocal resources
Local resources
Regional resources
Statewide resources
National resources
International resources only when justified

The system shall evaluate environmental performance and economic practicality together rather than treating sustainability as a separate consideration from cost.

Design Principles

LocaleMaterials shall be designed according to the following principles:

Open-source development
Modular architecture
Local-first sourcing
Regenerative resource use
Renewable material preference
Circular material use
Transparent calculations
Explainable AI
Evidence-based recommendations
Real-world validation
Lifecycle economics
Climate resilience
Human review
Vendor neutrality
Interoperability
Local-first data processing where practical
No reliance on proprietary supplier ecosystems
No unsupported sustainability claims

Core Modules

Geographic and Site Intelligence Module

The Geographic and Site Intelligence Module shall analyze the physical and environmental characteristics of a project location.

Features shall include:

Address and coordinate analysis
Parcel and regional analysis where data is available
Soil composition analysis
Soil texture analysis
Soil mineral analysis
Soil suitability analysis
Geology analysis
Topography analysis
Elevation analysis
Hydrology analysis
Watershed analysis
Drainage analysis
Groundwater considerations
Flood-risk analysis
Climate-zone identification
Temperature analysis
Precipitation analysis
Humidity analysis
Freeze and thaw analysis
Wind exposure analysis
Solar exposure analysis
Seasonal analysis
Native ecological resource analysis
Agricultural resource analysis
Forestry resource analysis
Biomass availability analysis
Local waste-stream analysis

The module shall provide geographic context to all downstream recommendation modules.

Material Intelligence Module

The Material Intelligence Module shall maintain structured information about building materials and construction systems.

Material records shall support:

Material composition
Source type
Renewable status
Regenerative potential
Recycled content
Reclaimed status
Resource requirements
Thermal properties
Structural properties
Moisture behavior
Fire performance
Acoustic properties
Durability
Pest resistance
Weather resistance
Repairability
Reusability
Recyclability
End-of-life pathways
Expected service life
Maintenance requirements
Manufacturing requirements
Processing requirements
Geographic suitability
Climate suitability
Construction applications

The module shall distinguish between natural, renewable, regenerative, recycled, reclaimed, reused, finite, and non-renewable resources.

AI Material Recommendation Module

The AI Material Recommendation Module shall generate location-specific material and construction-system recommendations.

The module shall evaluate:

Project location
Building type
Project scale
Climate
Soil
Resource availability
Material availability
Budget
Labor requirements
Equipment requirements
Construction method
Construction timeline
Durability requirements
Resilience requirements
Regulatory requirements
User-defined priorities

The module shall provide:

Ranked recommendations
Alternative recommendations
Hybrid system recommendations
Material substitutions
Recommendation explanations
Confidence levels
Evidence references
Known limitations
Tradeoff analysis

AI-generated recommendations shall not override deterministic constraints or verified requirements.

LocaleScore Module

The LocaleScore Module shall provide a transparent scoring framework for comparing materials and construction systems.

Scoring factors shall include, where applicable:

Regeneration rate
Renewable availability
Resource abundance
Embodied energy
Embodied carbon
Transportation distance
Transportation energy
Water requirements
Land requirements
Toxicity
Worker exposure considerations
Occupant exposure considerations
Durability
Repairability
Reusability
Recyclability
End-of-life impact
Waste generation
Local economic benefit
Supply-chain resilience
Climate resilience
Resource dependency

Scoring weights shall be configurable.

The system shall expose the factors, weights, assumptions, and calculations contributing to each score.

Local-First Sourcing Module

The Local-First Sourcing Module shall identify material sources according to geographic proximity and project requirements.

The module shall search for:

On-site resources
Local producers
Farmers
Fiber producers
Timber producers
Sawmills
Clay sources
Aggregate sources
Lime producers
Salvage yards
Reuse centers
Demolition inventories
Material exchanges
Cooperatives
Independent manufacturers
Processing facilities

The module shall compare geographic distance, availability, price, transportation requirements, lead time, and supply reliability.

Grow-It-Yourself Module

The Grow-It-Yourself Module shall identify materials that can potentially be produced from locally grown biological resources.

Features shall include:

Suitable crops and species
Geographic suitability
Soil requirements
Water requirements
Growing requirements
Seasonal requirements
Time to maturity
Harvest cycles
Expected yield
Acreage requirements
Harvest methods
Processing methods
Drying requirements
Storage requirements
Equipment requirements
Labor requirements
Estimated production costs
Regrowth cycles
Material yield calculations
Agricultural integration opportunities

The module shall compare growing and processing a material against purchasing and transporting an equivalent material.

Material Production Module

The Material Production Module shall provide pathways for making or processing locally available materials.

Features shall include:

Raw material identification
Ingredient requirements
Processing requirements
Equipment requirements
Labor requirements
Material ratios where appropriately documented
Drying requirements
Curing requirements
Storage requirements
Quality-control checkpoints
Testing requirements
Production cost estimates
Expected yields
Production risks
Material preparation workflows

The system shall clearly identify processes that require professional expertise, testing, certification, or regulatory approval.

Lifecycle Cost Module

The Lifecycle Cost Module shall calculate the actual economic cost of material and construction decisions.

Calculations shall include:

Material purchase cost
Labor
Equipment
Transportation
Processing
Installation
Maintenance
Repair
Replacement
Energy implications
Disposal
Salvage value
Reuse value
Expected service life
Cost volatility
Lifecycle cost

The module shall support comparisons between upfront cost and total lifecycle cost.

Multi-Objective Optimization Module

The Multi-Objective Optimization Module shall allow users to establish project priorities.

Optimization factors shall include:

Lowest upfront cost
Lowest lifecycle cost
Maximum local sourcing
Maximum regeneration
Lowest transportation
Lowest embodied energy
Lowest embodied carbon
Maximum durability
Maximum resilience
Fastest construction
Simplest construction
Maximum reuse
Maximum local economic retention
Minimum waste

The system shall expose tradeoffs rather than hiding conflicting objectives.

Climate Adaptation Module

The Climate Adaptation Module shall evaluate materials and construction systems against current and projected environmental conditions.

Features shall include:

Heat resilience
Flood resilience
Moisture resilience
Humidity analysis
Mold-risk considerations
Wildfire considerations
Wind resilience
Freeze and thaw resilience
Drought considerations
Storm resilience
Long-term climate scenarios
Short-term resilience analysis
Long-term resilience analysis

The module shall provide:

Current optimal recommendations
Future-resilient recommendations
Low-cost resilient alternatives
Resilience tradeoff analysis

AI Design Co-Pilot Module

The AI Design Co-Pilot Module shall assist with early-stage building and site planning before final material selection.

Features shall include:

Site-responsive building concepts
Building-form recommendations
Orientation recommendations
Passive solar strategies
Passive cooling strategies
Natural ventilation strategies
Material-minimizing design strategies
Climate-responsive layouts
Local construction-method recommendations
Building-system comparisons
Preliminary material quantity estimates
Design alternatives

The module shall provide preliminary planning intelligence and shall not represent conceptual AI outputs as stamped architectural or engineering documents.

Regional Material Ecosystem Module

The Regional Material Ecosystem Module shall provide geographic intelligence about the material resources and production capacity of a region.

Maps shall support:

Material abundance
Material scarcity
Agricultural resources
Forestry resources
Industrial byproducts
Agricultural waste streams
Salvage inventories
Reclaimed materials
Processing capacity
Manufacturing capacity
Supply gaps
Supply dependencies
Transportation routes
Regional production opportunities

The module shall support analysis of regional material self-sufficiency.

Circular Material Economy Module

The Circular Material Economy Module shall identify opportunities to keep materials and components in productive use.

Features shall include:

Salvaged-material discovery
Reclaimed-material matching
Demolition-material recovery
Construction-waste matching
Material reuse planning
Component reuse
Surplus-material exchange
Local material marketplaces
Regional material loops
Industrial symbiosis
Agricultural-to-construction resource matching

Construction Systems Module

The Construction Systems Module shall organize materials into complete building assemblies.

Supported systems shall include:

Wall systems
Roof systems
Floor systems
Foundation systems
Insulation systems
Exterior finishes
Interior finishes
Moisture-management systems
Drainage systems
Passive heating systems
Passive cooling systems
Natural ventilation systems

Each system shall support:

Required materials
Quantities
Assembly sequence
Performance characteristics
Climate suitability
Cost
Maintenance requirements
Expected service life
Risks
Alternatives

Code Compliance Module

The Code Compliance Module shall connect material recommendations with applicable construction requirements.

Features shall include:

Jurisdiction identification
Applicable-code identification
Code requirement mapping
Material-to-code crosswalks
Performance requirement identification
Documentation requirements
Alternative-material pathways
Testing requirements
Engineering requirements
Compliance gap identification
Permit documentation assistance

The module shall clearly distinguish informational code analysis from official regulatory approval, professional engineering, architectural services, inspections, and certifications.

Verified Assembly Module

The Verified Assembly Module shall maintain construction assemblies supported by appropriate documentation.

Records shall support:

Test data
Engineering data
Fire testing
Moisture testing
Thermal testing
Structural testing
Manufacturer documentation
Published research
Building-code references
Geographic suitability
Climate suitability
Installation requirements
Version history
Evidence provenance

Verification status shall be clearly displayed.

Construction Package Module

The Construction Package Module shall transform recommendations into project documentation.

Generated outputs shall include:

Material schedules
Bills of materials
Quantity estimates
Cost summaries
Tool lists
Construction sequences
Material preparation instructions
Maintenance plans
Compliance summaries
Sourcing reports
Environmental impact reports
Lifecycle-cost reports

Material Substitution Module

The Material Substitution Module shall identify alternatives when recommended materials are unavailable or impractical.

Substitutions shall be evaluated according to:

Functional equivalence
Local availability
Climate suitability
Performance
Cost
Regeneration
Embodied energy
Transportation
Installation requirements
Durability
End-of-life characteristics

The system shall explain the consequences and tradeoffs of substitutions.

Material Testing Module

The Material Testing Module shall provide a framework for recording material and assembly validation.

Supported records shall include:

Laboratory tests
Field tests
Moisture measurements
Thermal measurements
Strength measurements
Durability observations
Fire testing
Aging observations
Installation results
Quality-control results

Test records shall retain provenance and applicable metadata.

Failure and Performance Module

The Failure and Performance Module shall maintain real-world information about successful and unsuccessful material applications.

Records shall include:

Material failures
Assembly failures
Climate-related failures
Moisture failures
Pest failures
Fire failures
Structural failures
Installation mistakes
Incorrect material combinations
Maintenance problems
Cost overruns
Unexpected performance

Failures shall be treated as valuable data rather than suppressed or excluded from recommendations.

Project Benchmarking Module

The Project Benchmarking Module shall allow users to compare completed and proposed projects.

Comparison factors shall include:

Geography
Climate
Building type
Material system
Construction method
Initial cost
Lifecycle cost
Performance
Maintenance
Longevity
Environmental impact
Resilience
Local economic impact

Disaster Rebuild Module

The Disaster Rebuild Module shall support rapid material and construction planning following disruptive events.

Supported scenarios shall include:

Hurricanes
Floods
Wildfires
Earthquakes
Tornadoes
Severe storms
Infrastructure failures

Features shall include:

Rapid local-resource assessment
Salvage-resource mapping
Emergency material sourcing
Temporary shelter recommendations
Rapid construction systems
Local labor identification
Supply-chain disruption analysis
Reconstruction planning
Temporary-to-permanent transition planning
Regenerative rebuilding strategies

Regenerative Index Module

The Regenerative Index Module shall evaluate complete buildings, developments, and construction projects.

Evaluation factors shall include:

Material regeneration
Ecological impact
Soil impact
Water impact
Local resource utilization
Local economic retention
Waste reduction
Carbon lifecycle
Transportation
Durability
Repairability
Reuse
End-of-life recovery
Resilience

The system shall provide transparent project-level scores and improvement recommendations.

Finance and Insurance Module

The Finance and Insurance Module shall organize information useful for financial and risk-analysis processes.

Features shall include:

Lifecycle-cost analysis
Replacement-cost estimates
Durability information
Risk profiles
Maintenance projections
Resilience characteristics
Comparable construction systems
Supporting documentation

Outputs shall be informational and shall not represent underwriting, lending, appraisal, insurance, legal, architectural, or engineering decisions.

Explanation and Evidence Module

The Explanation and Evidence Module shall explain the basis of recommendations.

Each significant recommendation shall be capable of displaying:

Geographic reasoning
Climate reasoning
Soil reasoning
Ecological reasoning
Material reasoning
Economic reasoning
Availability reasoning
Rejected alternatives
Tradeoffs
Risks
Evidence
Confidence
Known limitations

The module shall maintain provenance for datasets, research, test results, supplier information, calculations, models, and recommendations.

Community Contribution Module

The Community Contribution Module shall allow users to contribute real-world knowledge.

Supported contributions shall include:

Materials
Suppliers
Local prices
Production methods
Construction techniques
Field results
Failures
Regional knowledge
Material availability
Material yields
Project outcomes

Contributions shall support attribution, review, validation, versioning, and correction.

Human Review Module

The Human Review Module shall allow users and qualified professionals to review system outputs.

Features shall include:

Recommendation approval
Recommendation rejection
Assumption modification
Ranking overrides
Local knowledge additions
Data-quality flags
Evidence review
Professional review workflows
Project outcome recording

Human decisions shall remain distinguishable from automated system recommendations.

Offline Field Module

The Offline Field Module shall support construction and rural environments with limited connectivity.

Features shall include:

Offline maps
Offline material information
Offline project data
Offline calculations
Offline documentation
Local dataset storage
Synchronization when connectivity is restored

API and Integration Module

The API and Integration Module shall expose LocaleMaterials capabilities to external systems.

Supported integrations may include:

Architecture software
Construction-management systems
GIS platforms
Municipal planning systems
Building-planning tools
Material marketplaces
Supply-chain systems
Research systems
Environmental databases

The API shall support modular access to data, recommendations, scoring, geographic analysis, and project outputs.

Regional Planning Module

The Regional Planning Module shall extend LocaleMaterials from individual projects to communities and regions.

Features shall include:

Regional material inventories
Construction-resource planning
Material dependency analysis
Local manufacturing opportunities
Waste-stream utilization
Disaster preparedness
Housing-resource analysis
Regional resilience planning
Material self-sufficiency analysis
Regional production opportunity identification

Transparency and Trust Module

The Transparency and Trust Module shall provide visibility into system behavior.

Users shall be able to inspect:

Recommendation inputs
Scoring criteria
Scoring weights
Data sources
Calculation methods
AI retrieval sources
Confidence levels
Assumptions
Known limitations
Conflicting evidence
Model versions
Dataset versions

Optional Plugin Modules

LocaleMaterials shall support optional plugins that extend functionality without requiring changes to the core system.

Geographic Dataset Plugins

Additional soil datasets
Additional climate datasets
Regional ecological datasets
Hydrology datasets
Topography datasets
Forestry datasets
Agricultural datasets

Material Database Plugins

Natural material databases
Regenerative material databases
Reclaimed material databases
Regional material catalogs
Specialized material-science databases

Supplier Network Plugins

Regional supplier networks
Local producer directories
Salvage networks
Cooperative networks
Material exchange networks
Manufacturing networks

Building Code Plugins

National code datasets
State code datasets
Municipal code datasets
Regional construction standards
Specialized building standards

Climate Model Plugins

Climate projection datasets
Extreme-weather models
Regional resilience models
Hazard datasets

Agricultural Production Plugins

Crop databases
Fiber crop databases
Biomass yield models
Regenerative agriculture datasets
Regional growing calendars

Forestry Plugins

Regional forestry datasets
Species databases
Growth-cycle data
Timber resource inventories
Regenerative forestry information

Marketplace Plugins

Supplier marketplaces
Salvage marketplaces
Material exchanges
Cooperative purchasing systems
Local manufacturing marketplaces

GIS Plugins

Additional map providers
Specialized spatial datasets
Parcel data
Infrastructure data
Regional planning data

Construction Software Plugins

Building information modeling integrations
Estimating systems
Construction-management systems
Project-management systems
Quantity-takeoff systems

AI Model Plugins

Local AI models
Remote AI models
Specialized material-science models
Geospatial models
Construction reasoning models
Translation models

AI Requirements

The AI system shall operate as a reasoning and interface layer over structured data, deterministic calculations, retrieval systems, and validated knowledge.

The system shall:

Prefer sourced information over unsupported generation
Identify uncertainty
Cite evidence where available
Distinguish facts from estimates
Distinguish estimates from recommendations
Expose assumptions
Respect deterministic constraints
Support multiple AI models
Avoid unnecessary vendor lock-in
Permit local model deployment where practical
Preserve provenance throughout the recommendation process

The AI shall not fabricate suppliers, test results, building-code requirements, material properties, certifications, or scientific evidence.

Data Requirements

Data shall support:

Geographic provenance
Source attribution
Collection date
Update date
Geographic coverage
Data quality
Confidence level
Licensing information
Version information
Validation status

The system shall distinguish between verified, reported, estimated, modeled, community-contributed, and unverified information.

Economic Requirements

The system shall prioritize economic practicality alongside environmental performance.

Economic analysis shall account for:

Acquisition cost
Production cost
Processing cost
Labor
Transportation
Equipment
Maintenance
Replacement
Energy
Disposal
Salvage
Reuse
Service life
Price volatility
Availability
Supply-chain risk

The system shall avoid assuming that the most environmentally favorable option is automatically the most economical option.

Regenerative Requirements

The system shall distinguish between:

Renewable
Regenerative
Recyclable
Reusable
Reclaimed
Recycled
Low-impact
Non-renewable
Finite
Extractive

A material shall not be classified as regenerative solely because it is marketed as sustainable.

Regenerative claims shall be supported by documented evidence, defined criteria, or clearly identified assumptions.

Safety and Professional Review

LocaleMaterials shall identify situations requiring qualified professionals.

These may include:

Structural engineering
Electrical work
Plumbing
Fire protection
Hazardous material handling
Building-code approval
Architectural services
Geotechnical analysis
Structural testing
Professional certification
Permit approval
Insurance underwriting
Financial underwriting

The platform shall provide decision support and documentation assistance without presenting automated recommendations as professional certification or official approval.

Modularity Requirements

Modules shall:

Have defined interfaces
Minimize unnecessary dependencies
Be independently testable
Support independent updates
Support optional activation
Support replacement where practical
Preserve core functionality when optional modules are unavailable
Maintain documented inputs and outputs

Optional plugins shall not be required for the core recommendation system.

Local-First Architecture

LocaleMaterials shall support local-first operation wherever technically practical.

The architecture shall support:

Local data caching
Local databases
Offline operation
Self-hosted deployments
Regional deployments
Community-managed instances
Synchronization
Federated data possibilities

Technical Stack

Backend

Python
FastAPI
Pydantic
GeoPandas
Shapely
Rasterio

Geospatial and Data

PostgreSQL
PostGIS
DuckDB
Parquet
GeoJSON
Raster datasets
Vector datasets
Spatial indexing

AI

Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Embedding-based retrieval
Deterministic scoring
Rule-based constraints
Explainable recommendation logic
Confidence estimation
Model-independent AI interfaces
Local and remote model support

Frontend

Progressive Web App
React or SvelteKit
Responsive interface
Map-driven workflows
Offline-capable functionality

Infrastructure

Containerized deployment
API-first architecture
Modular services
Local-first operation
Self-hosted deployment
Regional deployments
Community-hosted instances

Development

GitLab
Automated testing
Continuous integration
Continuous deployment
Version-controlled source code
Version-controlled datasets
Version-controlled scoring models
Modular plugins
Documented APIs

Open-Source Requirements

LocaleMaterials shall remain an open-source project licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

The project shall support:

Forking
Self-hosting
Modification
Redistribution
Regional deployments
Community datasets
Independent modules
Plugin development
Auditable algorithms
Transparent scoring
Collaborative development
Network-deployed open-source versions

Project Outputs

LocaleMaterials shall be capable of producing:

Material recommendations
Material comparisons
Local sourcing reports
Grow-it-yourself plans
Material production pathways
Lifecycle cost comparisons
Climate adaptation reports
Design recommendations
Regional material maps
Construction-system recommendations
Code analysis
Compliance documentation
Bills of materials
Construction packages
Material substitution reports
Performance reports
Failure reports
Disaster rebuild plans
Regenerative Index reports
Finance and insurance support reports
Regional resource assessments

Primary Decision Framework

LocaleMaterials shall continuously evaluate the following questions:

What resources are available at the project location?
What resources can regenerate in that location?
What materials can be grown?
What materials can be produced locally?
What materials can be reclaimed or reused?
What materials can be sourced locally?
What materials must be transported?
What is the true lifecycle cost?
What environmental impacts result from each option?
What construction system best fits the location?
What will perform under current conditions?
What will remain resilient under changing conditions?
What regulatory requirements apply?
What evidence supports the recommendation?
What uncertainties remain?
What alternatives provide better outcomes?

Long-Term Vision

LocaleMaterials shall provide a general-purpose intelligence layer for place-based construction.

The system shall connect:

Geography → Resources → Materials → Design → Construction → Economics → Resilience → Regeneration

The long-term objective is to enable buildings and communities to make better use of the resources available around them while reducing unnecessary extraction, transportation, waste, supply-chain dependency, and lifecycle cost.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
Copyleft enforced for network deployments
Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- https://www.roxanneardary.com/

Optional

Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope
- https://roxanneardary.com/localematerials/

License & Notice Requirements

LocaleMaterials is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
LocaleMaterials specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments. Any updates that add contributors or modify attribution must update notice.md.
When submitting pull requests, ensure new files maintain attribution headers where applicable.
Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – LocaleMaterials

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – May 9, 2026
Created the LocaleMaterials repository and defined the foundational architecture for a modular, open-source AI system that recommends regenerative, locally sourced building materials based on geography, climate, and real-world supply chains.
[Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – LocaleMaterials

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.