While philosophers, economists, scientists, and artists everywhere search for more sustainable ways to build and grow post the Industrial Revolution, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) continues to chart their path. 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. Now, MBDC has created a certification process by which the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) design protocol rates and certifies all types of various building products.
Cradle to Cradle Design is a fundamental conceptual shift away from the flawed system design of the Industrial Revolution. Instead of designing products and systems based on the take-make-waste model of the last century (‘cradle to grave’), MBDC’s Cradle to Cradle Design paradigm is powering the Next Industrial Revolution, in which products and services are designed based on patterns found in nature, eliminating the concept of waste entirely and creating an abundance that is healthy and sustaining. Eco-Effectiveness is MBDC’s design strategy for realizing these results by optimizing materials to be food either for nature’s ecosystems or for humans’ industrial systems—perpetually circulating in closed systems that create value and are inherently healthy and safe.
Additionally interesting is the USGBC’s recognition of the program by awarding an Innovation in Design, or ID, credit point for any project using the Cradle to Cradle program for certified building products.
[via MBDC]