Acelab was founded by architects and specification writers who struggled with the fragmented and inefficient process of material selection. While tools like Revit streamlined design documentation, there was no central platform for one of the most crucial aspects of building creation—choosing and specifying materials.

The founders saw valuable knowledge scattered across outdated PDFs, personal drives, and the minds of senior staff, leaving architects to waste time digging through manufacturer websites and spreadsheets. With supply chain disruptions, tight budgets, and the growing need for sustainable choices, the lack of a reliable system became even more urgent.

Acelab’s solution, the Material Hub platform, is a shared space for product knowledge and decision-making. It gives the industry a common language for materials, helping teams collaborate effectively and make better choices that elevate both individual buildings and the built environment as a whole.

Our mission is to transform how the building industry makes material decisions. Materials don’t just define how a building looks—they influence performance, sustainability, cost, and how people experience spaces. Yet architects face the daunting task of navigating hundreds of thousands of products while trying to capture and share firm-wide expertise.

Through the Material Hub, we empower architects, designers, and owners to access innovative products, preserve institutional knowledge, streamline workflows, and collaborate seamlessly with manufacturers, contractors, and clients.

Our guiding statement—Because Materials Matter—captures our commitment to elevating material selection from a fragmented process to a strategic driver of architectural excellence.

Our core Material Hub platform is forever free for architects, designers, and owners. While we offer paid plans with advanced features, our primary revenue comes from manufacturer partnerships.

Manufacturers pay an annual fee to respond when architects proactively reach out through the platform. This creates direct, project-focused connections for technical details, samples, or expert guidance.

This model keeps searches independent and unbiased while ensuring Acelab remains sustainable and valuable to all stakeholders.

No. Search results are based on how well products meet project requirements. Whether or not a manufacturer is a subscriber, their products appear if they’re the right fit.

This independence is central to our philosophy. Restricting results to paying suppliers would undermine the platform’s purpose of helping architects make the best material decisions.

Manufacturers only pay when architects reach out, which preserves transparency and ensures integrity in every search result.

The core Material Hub — including our product database, AI-powered search, firm library, project tools, and basic documentation —  will always be free for architects, designers, and owners. We believe access to product knowledge should never be a barrier to better design decisions.

For larger organizations who want more control, standardization, analysis, integrations, and AI features, we offer paid plans with advanced options. See plan information here and schedule a time with our sales team to learn about features and see pricing.

Today, over 20,000 AECO companies are registered on the Material Hub, with adoption growing rapidly across companies of all sizes. From boutique studios to multinational practices, new users are joining daily.

This growth reflects the industry’s recognition of the need for a centralized, searchable material knowledge base. As more companies participate, the platform becomes even more valuable—creating a powerful network effect that benefits everyone.

With thousands of new registrations each month and high engagement from existing users, the Material Hub is well on its way to becoming the industry standard for material specification and knowledge management.

Book a 30-minute session with our team to explore the Material Hub and get all of your questions answered. 

Yes, you can integrate your Acalab projects and Revit projects so that products saved in the Material Hub can be mapped to your Revit model. Product information will flow into Revit and, likewise, Revit information will flow into your Acelab project in the Material Hub. Learn more and download the Revit Plugin here.

Our database includes over 100,000 building products across all major categories. The manufacturers included covers primarily North America, or manufacturers outside of North America with established support and distribution in North America.

We collect publicly available and manufacturer-supplied product information across several key areas:

• Identity Data: Product names, product lines, manufacturer names, and contact details.
• Aesthetic Data: Images, descriptions, color options, and finishes.
• Performance Data: Technical specs like design pressure, fire resistance ratings, acoustic performance, and structural capacities, plus associated certifications (e.g., ASTM, ISO).
• Sustainability Data: Recycled content, VOC data, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and certifications like Greenguard, FSC, and Declare.
• Documentation & Details: Brochures, CAD/BIM files, MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheets), test reports, and warranties.

We gather data through a combination of: industry knowledge & research, web scraping & AI tools, manufacturer input and certifications, and user feedback. Once data is collected, we normalize and tag it to ensure it's consistent and comparable across products. This process allows for smarter searches, easier comparisons, and cleaner integration with your schedules and workflows.

Because data accuracy is critical to our mission, we use a multi-layered quality control system that includes: manual review, AI verification, automated controls, periodic updates, and error reporting. For more details about data collection and processing, click here.

Acelab's research team tracks over 1,500 certifications across thousands of products so you can easily reference this information in one easy place. Click here to see a list of all certifications.

Your information is secure with Acelab. We adhere to GDPR standards, ensuring high-level data protection and privacy. Our systems use advanced encryption and undergo regular security audits. We comply with international data protection laws, guaranteeing the safety of your data.

Your data is not sold to product manufacturers. It is only shared with your consent. For example, when you reach out to a manufacturer, they will have your information. If you sign-up for a webinar, they will also have your information to contact you with your certificate later.

Read more in the Material Hub Privacy Policy and Terms of Agreement.

Book a free 30-minute onboarding session here. In this session, our team will dive into the needs of your business and come up with a custom plan to help you get the most out of Acelab.

You can also create an account for free now and start exploring right away.