Cradle to Cradle

No more efficiency: in Cradle tot Cradle it is al about effectiveness. In this vision of industry that does not damage ecosystems or social systems, Cradle to Cradle Design moves beyond the "less bad" aims of eco-efficiency.

C2C proposes, instead, a new strategy called eco-effectiveness. By learning from nature's design principles, eco-effective design conceives industrial systems that emulate the healthy abundance of nature.

William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart founded MBDC in 1995 to promote and shape what they call the "Next Industrial Revolution" through the introduction of a new design paradigm called Cradle to Cradle Design, and the implementation of eco-effective design principles". Their new management system recognizes products that conform to MBDC's Cradle to Cradle (C2C) principles. Although certification is not necessary for the Cradle to Cradle design paradigm it is helpful for the industry and design to make choices. The certification system offers a flexible "menu" of certification levels that should meet the needs of all manner of product designers. MBDC also is creating a system by which companies who have certified products can license the use of the Cradle to Cradle™ brand for marketing. Therein lies the power.

The Cradle to Cradle Product Certification contains the following five categories of metrics: Materials, Material Reutilization/Design for Environment, Energy, Water and Social responsibility.  These categories have several criteria which can be found at the page of MBCD.

All material components must be identified (down to the 100 ppm level) and  extremely toxic substances must be reported and evaluated at any concentration. LCAs and other certification programs typically only examine ingredients present at 5% (i.e. 50,000 ppm) or higher.

The product should be defined with respect to the appropriate cycle (i.e., technical or biological) and all product inputs should be defined as either biological or technical nutrients. If the product combines both technical and biological nutrients, they should be clearly marked and easily separable. This is more of a strategic criterion and therefore there is no calculation or metric associated with it.

Based on the interpretation of the data for all criteria, chemicals and materials will be “scored” for their impact upon human and environmental health. A key factor in this evaluation is the risk presented by the substance, which is a combined measure of hazards and routes of exposure for specific chemicals and materials. The “score” is illustrated by colors: 
green = Little to no risk associated with this substance. 
yellow = Low to moderate risk associated with this substance.
red = High hazard and risk associated with the use of this substance. D
grey = Incomplete data. Cannot be characterized. 
Depending on how a product performs in the categories, it can be certified at a Silver, Gold, or Platinum level.

The MBDC brand has panache and the firm's principals are widely recognized. If the MDBC certifications become popular, it could transform the very definition of "green design". In fact it could have great impact on the designer who already sees their practice as "green", even more than on the material suppliers and traditional designers whose products are stereotyped as creating toxic exposures. The pioneers of green design can have widespread societal impact only if their work is protected and nurtured by formal standards with "teeth".