OUR COMMON VALUES: WAGING PEACE THROUGH COMMERCE BY DESIGN
CRADLE TO CRADLE • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS • CIRCULAR ECONOMY
WILLIAM McDONOUGH + PARTNERS | MBDC | McDONOUGH INNOVATION TABLE OF CONTENTS
OUR SHARED APPROACH 1 The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability 1 Design for the Triple Top Line 3 Cradle to Cradle 5 From Values to Value 8 The Upcycle 9 Our goal is a delightfully diverse, safe, Cradle to Cradle Design™ and The Circular Economy 11 healthy, and just world, with clean air, water, History of the Circular Economy 13 A New Language for Carbon 15 soil and power – economically, equitably, The Carbon Positive City 17 ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.1
WILLIAM McDONOUGH + PARTNERS 20 Architecture
MBDC 74 Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Assessment
McDONOUGH INNOVATION 100 Cradle to Cradle Design™ for the Circular Economy THE HANNOVER PRINCIPLES: DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY (1992)
The Hannover Principles were commissioned of William McDonough + Partners by the City of Hannover, Germany, to guide the design of the 2000 World’s The Hannover Principles are committed to transformation and growth Fair. They continue to inform the ever-evolving conversation on design in the understanding of our interdependence with nature and may be for sustainability. At a time when urgent eco-efficiency was the standard adapted as our knowledge of the world evolves. practice, The Hannover Principles sought to reframe design for sustainability as both a signal of positive human intentions and a means to achieving them.
Insist on the right of humanity and nature to coexist in a healthy, supportive, Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life cycle of products 1 diverse and sustainable condition. 6 and processes to approach the state of natural systems, in which there is no waste.
Recognize interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their upon the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design creative force from perpetual solar income. Incorporate this energy efficiently and safely for 2 considerations to recognize even distant effects. 7 responsible use.
Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever, and design settlement, including community, dwelling, industry and trade, in terms of existing and evolving does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of 3 connections between spiritual and material consciousness. 8 nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not as an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct 4 well-being, the viability of natural systems and their right to coexist. and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link 9 long-term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility and to reestablish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity. Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with 5 requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential dangers due to the careless creation of products, processes or standards.
1 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 2 DESIGN FOR THE TRIPLE TOP LINE TRIPLE TOP LINE - REVENUE
Representing the ecology of human concerns, the fractal triangle shows how ecology, economy and ECONOMY equity anchor a spectrum of value and how, at any level of scrutiny, each design decision has an impact on all three. As we plan a product or system, we move around the fractal inquiring how a new ECONOMY EQUITY ENVIRONMENT Are we making a Are people Are we cost- design can generate value in each category. The goal: to maximize value in all areas of the triangle financial profit? earning a living efficient in operation through intelligent design. wage? and minimizing ecological burden? ENVIRONMENT
REVENUE - GROWTH TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE - PROFIT TRIPLE TOP LINE EQUITY ECONOMY EQUITY ENVIRONMENT Are men and Are people being Are employees women paid the treated with working in a safe and PROFIT - GAIN same for the respect? healthy workplace? TRIPLE BOTTOM same work? LINE
ENVIRONMENT ECONOMY EQUITY ENVIRONMENT Are we providing Are we enhancing Are we following ecological benefit the atmosphere, the laws of nature? while doing rivers, etc. for future business? generations? EQUITY ECONOMY
diagram ©2010-2018 MBDC, LLC.
3 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 4 CRADLE TO CRADLE
In their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, The book put forward a design framework characterized by three principles derived from nature: architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart presented NUTRIENT METABOLISMS a science-based design framework that eliminates the concept of waste Everything is a resource for something else. In nature, the and provides enduring benefits for society, from safe materials and “waste” of one system becomes food for another. Everything circular economies to clean air, water and energy. can be designed to be disassembled and safely returned to the soil as BIOLOGICAL NUTRIENTS, or reutilized as high-quality BIOLOGICAL materials for newTECHNICAL products as TECHNICAL NUTRIENTS without NUTRIENTS contamination. NUTRIENTS
Use clean and renewable energy. Living things thrive on the Waste Equals Food energy of current solar income. Similarly, human constructs can utilize clean and renewable energy in many forms—such as solar, NUTRIENT METABOLISMSDiagram ©MBDC. Used with permission. Use Current Solar Income wind, geothermal, gravitational energy and other energy systems being developed today—thereby capitalizing on these abundant Respect Diversity resources while supporting human and environmental health.
BIOLOGICAL TECHNICAL Celebrate diversity. Around the world, geology, hydrology, NUTRIENTS NUTRIENTS photosynthesis and nutrient cycling, adapted to locale, yield an astonishing diversity of natural and cultural life. Designs that respond to the challenges and opportunities offered by each place fit elegantly and effectively into their own niches.
Diagram ©MBDC. Used with permission.
Rather than seeking to minimize the harm we inflict, Cradle to Cradle reframes design as a positive, regenerative force—one that creates footprints to delight in, not lament. This paradigm shift reveals opportunities to improve quality, increase value and spur innovation. It inspires us to constantly seek improvement in our designs, and to share our discoveries with others.
diagrams ©1995-2020 MBDC, LLC.
5 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 6 THE PRODUCT STANDARD FROM VALUES TO VALUE™
The Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard takes a comprehensive Using a design lens and multi-disciplinary approach, we work with our clients to innovate new systems and approach to evaluating the design of a product, the practices employed in solutions for some of the toughest challenges they face. Our process begins with your values. manufacturing the product, and its potential for use and reuse.
The Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard is managed and updated by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s Certification Standards Board. Products are assessed in five categories: VALUES QUALITY
Material Health (Biological and Technical Metabolisms) Product ingredients are inventoried throughout the supply chain and evaluated for impacts on human and ecological health. The criteria at each level build toward the PRINCIPLES expectation of eliminating all toxic and unidentified chemicals and becoming nutrients for safe, continuous cycling. VISIONS Circular Economy: Material Reutilization Products are designed to either biodegrade safely as biological nutrients or to be recycled into new products as technical nutrients. At each level continued progress must be made GOALS toward increasing the recovery of materials and keeping them in continuous flows.
Renewable Energy & Carbon Management STRATEGIES The criteria at each level progress toward the goal of completely carbon-neutral manufacturing operations that are powered with 100% renewable energy. TACTICS Water Stewardship Manufacturing processes are designed to regard water as a precious resource for all living things and at each level progress is made toward the goal of all effluent being METRICS clean enough to drink.
Social Fairness Company operations are designed to celebrate all people and natural systems and QUANTITY VALUE progress is made toward the goal of having a wholly beneficial impact on the planet.
7 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 8 THE UPCYCLE THE UPCYCLE CHART INNOVATION + CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The Upcycle is a design and constant improvement tool based on Cradle to The Upcycle Chart enables many industry sectors, including product Cradle. It allows many industry sectors, including product manufacturers, to manufacturers, to 1) inventory, 2) assess and then 3) optimize products, inventory, assess and then optimize products, processes and systems with processes and systems with positive intentions and beneficial goals. positive intentions and beneficial goals.
Drawing on a decade of lessons in putting Cradle to Cradle Design™ concepts into practice around the world, McDonough and Braungart’s book, The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance, published in 2013, presents a persuasive and inspiring argument for moving beyond conventional approaches to sustainability that seek to merely minimize damage to the environment and human health. By adopting Cradle to Cradle values and principles, and seeking continuous improvement, companies are able to direct innovation in a coherent and positive trajectory.
Eco-efficient approach = “Less Bad” Trajectory Reduce Carbon Minimize Chemicals of Concern Energy Efficient 0 0 Reduce Water Consumption Goal of Zero Hazards
Eco-effective approach = “More Good” Trajectory Increase Positive Ingredients Energy Positive Improved Water Quality Increased Biodiversity Goal of 100% Positive / Beneficial Products, Processes and Systems diagrams ©2010 MBDC, LLC. We welcome proper use of this chart. For use, please contact Jay Bolus ([email protected])
9 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 10 CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN™ “The circular economy is a resourceful economic system and innovation THE QUALIFICATION OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY engine, providing benefits to society in the present and the future. It is designed to endlessly recirculate clean materials, energy, water and human Inspired by the Cradle to Cradle Design Framework, our multi-disciplinary ingenuity. In essence, the circular economy puts the ‘re’ back in resources.” team innovates for the circular economy at all scales. –William McDonough
TO BUILDINGS, TO REGIONS, COMMUNITIES COUNTRIES FROM THE MOLECULE... TO THE PRODUCT... AND CITIES... AND THE PLANET.
Science-Based Analysis Product and Packaging Design Architecture Strategic Thinking to the Parts per Million Assessments for the Cradle to Cradle Built Environment Consulting CEO / Government Advising Material Health Assessments Certified™ Products Program: Urban Strategy International Speeches Globally Recognized Standard Product Optimization Multi-Attribute City Visioning / Principles Business Consulting Third-Party Verified Renewable Energy Optimization
11 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 12 HISTORY OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY Prepared by ABN AMRO
2002 2005 2011 2014 2015 2016 2017 William The Chinese China Announces The World China Announces their The Netherlands Update on the EU’s McDonough Edition of Cradle their 12th Five-Year Economic Forum 13th Five-Year Plan expresses a circular economy and Michael to Cradle is Plan called “The commits to the called “Implementation commitment to the package and Braungart publish published as: Promotion of the circular economy of the Circular circular economy “Achieving Growth Cradle to Cradle: Cradle to Cradle: Circular Economy” and William Economy” and The Within” is published Remaking the Way The Design of the McDonough is Ellen MacArthur We Make Things Circular Economy named Chair of Foundation publishes the Meta-Council “Growth Within: a on the Circular circular economy for Economy competitive Europe” and “Delivering the circular economy: a toolkit for policymakers”
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
13 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 14 Working carbon is a subset of all three categories and defined as a material being put to human use. For CARBON IS NOT THE ENEMY example, working living carbon is cultivated in agricultural systems. Working durable carbon is recycled, Nature, November 2016 reused and reprocessed in circular technical systems; and working fugitive carbon includes fossil fuels used for power. William McDonough has developed a New Language for Carbon that seeks to clarify the terms typically used to describe efforts to reduce carbon The new language also identifies three strategies for carbon management and climate change: emissions and define new, innovative ways in which carbon can be used Positive Behavior: actions converting atmospheric carbon to forms that enhance soil nutrition or safely, productively and profitably. In this new paradigm, which was originally to durable forms such as polymers and solid aggregates; also recycling of carbon into nutrients from published in Nature, the life-giving carbon cycle becomes a model for human organic materials, food waste, compostable polymers and sewers designs, enabling us to cultivate urban food systems and closed-loop flows of Neutral Behavior: actions that transform or maintain carbon in durable Earth-bound forms and cycles durable materials in which carbon is an asset rather than a liability. across generations; or renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydropower that do not release carbon
Carbon is not the enemy. Climate change is the result of breakdowns in the carbon cycle caused by us: it Negative Behavior: actions that pollute the land, water and atmosphere with various forms of carbon, is a design failure. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere make airborne carbon a material in for example, CO2 and methane into the atmosphere or plastics in the ocean the wrong place, at the wrong dose and wrong duration. It is we who have made carbon a toxin—like lead in our drinking water. In the right place, carbon is a resource and tool. Offering an inspiring model for climate action begins with changing the way we talk about carbon. Our goal is for all to embrace this new language and work toward a Carbon Positive design framework; and in doing The world’s current carbon strategy aims to promote a goal of zero. Predominant language currently so we may together support a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world—with clean air, soil, water includes words such as “low carbon,” “zero carbon,” “negative carbon” and even a “war on carbon.” and energy—that is economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.
The new language signals positive intentions, leading us to do more good rather than simply less bad. It identifies three categories of carbon:
CO2 CAPTURE + CO2 TO CO2 TO SOIL Living carbon: organic, flowing in biological cycles, providing fresh food, healthy forests and fertile SEQUESTRATION PLASTICS soil; something we want to cultivate and grow
Durable carbon: locked in stable solids such as coal and limestone or recyclable polymers that are used and reused; ranges from reusable fibers like paper and cloth, to building and infrastructure elements that can last for generations and then be reused r i g r i g r i g agric r r d c s Fugitive carbon: has ended up somewhere unwanted and can be toxic; includes carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, ‘waste to energy’ plants, methane leaks, deforestation, much industrial agriculture and urban development CH CO2 H FUGITIVE CARBON DURABLE CARBON LIVING CARBON
2Originally published as ”Carbon is not the enemy” in Nature, 17 November 2016, Vol. 539, pages 349-351 NEGATIVE E AVIOR NEUTRAL E AVIOR POSITIVE E AVIOR ©2016 McDonough Innovation ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION 15 ©2020 MCDONOUGH INNOVATION ©2019 WILLIAM McDONOUGH 16 THE CARBON POSITIVE CITY
William McDonough’s concept for the Carbon Positive City brings the new language for carbon into a tangible design framework.
The Carbon Positive City integrates agriculture, regenerative land management practices and urban design at a regional and international scale. It recognizes both local and distant effects of cities and envisions a R holistic, synergistic system to transform fugitive carbon into durable carbon, such as plastics and building materials, as well as into living carbon, such as healthy soils, gardens, crops and landscapes.
City infrastructure adapts to the new idea: for example, sewage treatment plants are reconceived as fertilizer factories and intensive integrated agriculture systems—what we call solar orchards—provide clean energy, clean food, clean water and jobs simultaneously. AT S IC CA TI I TI I AR ON AR ON I AS I I ATI C ST C SOLAR IND DRO I DS S ENERG RAIN ATER I ST C
S I CA C CT A D S C SS AT S ST ATI C D SAT
RETURN I AST RETURN TO INDUSTR TO SOIL A
LIVING DURA LE AR ON AR ON R
SOIL GRE ATER