Sustainable building and construction Towards a sustaining architecture for the 21st century: the promise of cradle-to-cradle design William McDonough, William McDonough + Partners, Architecture and Community Design, 410 E. Water Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902, USA (
[email protected]). Michael Braungart, EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH, Feldstrasse 36, 20357 Hamburg, Germany (
[email protected]) tain human health and economic growth. But Summary using less fuel to heat energy-efficient highrises or Cradle-to-cradle design is an ecologically intelligent approach to architecture and industry sending less building material to landfills does not that involves materials, buildings and patterns of settlement which are wholly healthful and address the deep flaws of contemporary architec- restorative. Unlike cradle-to-grave systems, cradle-to-cradle design sees human systems as ture and industry; it simply limits the negative nutrient cycles in which every material can support life. Materials designed as biological nutri- impact of poor design. ents provide nourishment for nature after use; technical nutrients circulate through industrial systems in closed-loop cycles of production, recovery and remanufacture. Following a science- The result, an easing of ecological stress, has based protocol for selecting safe, healthful ingredients, cradle-to-cradle design maximizes the been an important step towards a more just and utility of material assets. Responding to physical, cultural and climactic settings, it creates healthful world.