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Design for the Triple Top Line: New Tools for Sustainable Commerce

William McDonough and Michael Braungart*

The triple bottom line has been, and remains, a useful tool for integrating sustainability into the business agenda. Balancing traditional economic goals with social and environmental concerns, it has created a new measure of corporate performance. A business strategy focused solely on the bottom line, however, can obscure opportunities to pursue and create value in the design process. New tools for can refocus product development from a process aimed at limiting end of pipe liabilities to one geared to creating safe, quality products right from the start. This new design perspective creates triple top line growth: products that enhance the well being of nature and culture while generating economic value. Design for the triple top line follows the laws of nature to give industry the tools to develop systems that safely generate prosperity. In these new human systems, materials become food for the soil or flow back to industry forever. Value and quality are embodied in products, processes and facilities so ecologically intelligently designed, they leave footprints to delight in rather than lament. When the principles of ecologically are widely applied both nature and commerce can thrive and grow. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

William McDonough is an architect, industrial Tel.: q49-40-8797-620; fax: q49-40-8797-6226; , and educator. He is the founding prin- E-mail: [email protected]. cipal of William McDonough&Partners, Architec- ture and Community Design.

Michael Braungart is a chemist, university pro- fessor, and the founder of EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH, a scientific consultancy As the concept of sustainability takes root based in Hamburg, Germany. In 1995 the authors in corporate culture, many business leaders co-founded McDonough Braungart Design Chem- today are discovering what it means to meas- istry, a product and process development firm ure performance against the triple bottom assisting companies with material assessment, line. This triad of concerns – economic material flows management, and life-cycle design. growth, environmental protection and social Their new book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the equity – was once considered an impractical, Way We Make Things, was published in 2002 by blue-sky ethic. Yet today it has begun to North Point Press. define both long-term strategy and everyday *Corresponding Author: Braungart Consulting, Oster- practice for leading manufacturing corpora- strasse 58, 20259 Hamburg, Germany; tions all over the world.

W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 251 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design

Business people typically begin their com- taining rather than sustainable, which sug- mitment to sustainability with a clear under- gests to us a more fulfilling agenda than the standing of their economic goals – a sense maintenance of a damaging system. Why of purpose that comes from having built an choose a meager, limiting diet when we can create real sustenance with as safe, nutritious and productive as those nature Creating a sustaining industrial gives us? system calls for a new definition of quality in product, process Creating a sustaining industrial system calls for a new definition of quality in product, and facility design. process and facility design. From our per- spective, quality is embodied in designs that enterprise that creates wealth and provides allow industry to enhance the well being of jobs – and a belief that they would like to nature and culture while generating economic ‘‘do better by the environment’’. Often, sus- value. Pursuing these positive aspirations at tainable business practices generated from every of commerce anchors intelligent, this perspective tend to be resource efficien- sustaining design deep within corporate cy measures or ‘‘end-of-pipe’’ initiatives that business strategy. And when good design meet the triple bottom line by minimizing the drives the business agenda, the path toward impacts of industry. These are important first sustainability turns from trying to be ‘‘less steps toward identifying problems, but ulti- bad’’ to identifying new opportunities to gen- mately they are strategies for managing neg- erate a wide spectrum of value. If one ap- ative effects – an agenda built on trying to proaches the design process asking, ‘‘How be ‘‘less bad’’. can I grow prosperity, celebrate my commu- w1x nity, and enhance the health of all species?’’ But is being less bad being good? the results are likely to be far more positive and enriching than those gained by using We don’t think so. Minimizing the impact of less material to make an existing product or industry might slow down ecological destruc- measuring its performance against a bottom tion; an efficient use of resources might keep line standard. the engines of commerce running a few more years. But waste reduction and other pallia- We could call this change of perspective a tives aim for mere sustainability, which is, shift from the triple bottom line to the triple after all, a minimum condition for survival – top line. The triple bottom line, a concept hardly an inspiring prospect. developed by John Elkington, has been, and remains, a useful tool for integrating sustain- We are pursuing something entirely different. ability into the business agenda. Balancing It’s a strategy of change that sees today’s traditional economic goals with social and as the first steps in a transition environmental concerns, in language that from the maintenance of an aging system to works in the boardroom, it has created a new the creation of a new one. Rather than trying measure of corporate performance. Unfortu- to limit economic growth or reduce the im- nately, in ways Elkington did not intend, the pact of industry, we are creating the foun- triple bottom line often becomes a measure dation of a system in which products and of the degree to which a company has mini- industrial processes are so intelligently de- mized a liability. The concept of the triple top signed they don’t need to be regulated. In- line moves accountability to the beginning of stead, they create wholly positive effects, a the design process, assigning value to a large and beneficial ecological footprint. We multiplicity of economic, ecological and so- might call this new world of commerce sus- cial questions that enhance product value.

252 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design

When asked upfront, these questions can insights offered by the fractal triangle turn drive intelligent product development and this notion on its head: Intelligent design, lead to design decisions that yield positive rather than balancing economy, ecology and effects rather than limited liabilities. equity can employ their dynamic interplay to generate value (see Figure 1). When designing a new textile line, for ex- ample, we asked how an upholstery fabric The fractal triangle, first of all, reminds us could replenish nature, totally eliminate that every product, whether or not it is de- waste, and provide a safe working environ- signed with environmental health in mind, is ment for the employees of a textile mill. The produced and used in an interconnected result was a beautiful fabric created with world. This is the fundamental insight of ingredients so safe it filtered the water run- ecology and the reason why the famous triad ning through the mill during production, mak- of sustainable development is on the table in ing regulations and health concerns obsolete. the first place. But our value systems often After its useful commercial life as an uphol- obscure that fact; most of us still in some stery fabric, the material can be composted way identify with one of the prevailing ideol- and used to restore soil – the trimmings from ogies of the 20th century. the mill, in fact, become mulch for the local garden club. Distributed by an international firm, the fabric has been a Capitalism, even in a social market economy, splendid success. No waste. No liabilities. identifies value almost exclusively in the ec- Lower costs. Higher margins. In short, only onomic realm. Yet products designed for assets and positive effects. economic gain have an enormous impact on the social and ecological world as well. The The triple top line doesn’t obviate the need environmental groups and regulatory agen- for triple bottom line accounting. Keeping cies that have emerged in response to the close track of the bottom line is indispensa- unintended consequences of industry tend ble: You won’t achieve sustainability unless to identify value primarily in preserving envi- you stay in business. In practice, however, ronmental health. Social movements that see triple bottom line accounting tends to focus economic aims as threatening are inclined to on economic concerns, with ecological or value the pursuit of equity most highly. social benefits sometimes considered as an afterthought. Lost in this scenario are rich opportunities to transform triple bottom line analysis into a strategic generat- ing new business opportunities and triple top line growth.

Understanding Values with the Fractal Triangle In our work with corporate clients such as Ford Motor Company, Nike, Herman Miller and BASF we have found that a visual tool, a fractal triangle, helps us apply triple top line thinking throughout the design process. Typically, meeting the triple bottom line is seen as a balancing act, a series of compro- mises between competing interests played out in product and . The key Figure 1

W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 253 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design

Each of these schools of thought – capital- Figure 2). As we plan a product or system, ism, socialism, ecologism – was inspired by we move around the fractal inquiring how a a genuine desire to improve the human con- new design can generate value in each cat- dition. But taken to extremes – reduced to egory. Again, the goal is not to balance isms – the stances they inspired can neglect competing perspectives but to optimize and factors crucial to long-term success. Even maximize value in all areas of the triangle ecological concern, stretched to an ism, can through intelligent design. Often, we discover neglect social, cultural, and economic inter- our most fruitful insights where design deci- ests to the detriment of the whole system. In sions create a kind of friction in the zones short, holding one of these concerns as the where values overlap. Returning to the eco- ultimate goal often puts economy, ecology logical metaphor, we might call these areas and equity at cross-purposes. So does ecotones, the boundaries between natural measuring your performance by how well you communities notable for their rich diversity of are managing the bottom line liabilities that species. In the fractal, the ecotones are ripe arise from these seemingly conflicting inter- with business opportunities. ests. When applying the fractal triangle to our own Triple top line thinkers, rather than trying to projects, we begin asking questions in the limit the influence of one or the other of these extreme, lower-right corner, which represents value systems, discover opportunities in hon- the EconomyyEconomy sector. Here we are oring the needs of all three. In an infinitely in the realm of extremely pure capitalism and interconnected world, they see rich relation- the questions we ask would certainly include, ships rather than inherent conflicts, much the Can I make my product or provide my service way an ecologist sees infinitely complex and at a profit? We tell our commercial clients productive natural communities where others that if the answer is no, don’t do it. As we see ‘‘nature, tooth and claw’’. see it, the goal of an effective company is to stay in business as it transforms, providing This concept is embodied in the fractal tri- shareholder value as it discovers ways to angle. Representing the ecology of human generate positive social and environmental concerns, it shows how ecology, economy effects. and equity anchor a spectrum of value, and how, at any level of scrutiny, each design Moving to the EconomyyEquity sector, we decision has an impact on all three (see consider questions of profitability and fair-

Figure 2

254 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design ness. Are the employees producing a prom- the focus of the design process from nega- ising product earning a living wage? As we tive value judgments to questions of quality. continue on to EquityyEconomy, our focus It draws attention to the fundamental ques- shifts more towards fairness – we begin to tion of design: What is my intention? see Economy through the lens of Equity. Here we might ask, Are men and women being paid the same for the same work? Are we As we survey the landscape of finding new ways to honor everyone involved, 21st century industry, we see a regardless of race, sex, nationality or relig- system that generates a host of ion? In the extreme Equity corner, the ques- tions are purely social: Will the new factory unintended consequences« improve the quality of life of all stakeholders? w2x In the Ecology corner of the Equity sector, As we survey the landscape of 21st century the emphasis shifts again; Equity is still in industry, we see a system that generates a the foreground, but Ecology has entered the host of unintended consequences – the pol- picture. The questions arising at this inter- lution, waste, and ecological destruction we section of values might explore the ways in are all too familiar with. Most of these con- which a product, such as the ecologically ditions are not the result of a grand, carefully sound upholstery fabric, could enhance the conceived plan; they are the signals of flawed health of employees and customers. Contin- design. And they are everywhere. The sys- uing to EcologyyEquity, we consider ques- tems we inherited from the Industrial Revo- tions of safety or fairness in relation to the lution are built on a ubiquitous, cradle-to- entire ecosystem: Will our product contribute grave manufacturing model that generates to the health of the watershed? products designed for a one-way trip the landfill. In fact, as much as 90 percent of the In the pure Ecology sector: Are we obeying materials used to create today’s products are nature’s laws? Creating habitat? In this realm cast off as waste, much of it toxic. we try to imagine how humans can be ‘‘tools for nature’’. Shifting to EcologyyEconomy, Environmentalists and business leaders sen- commerce reenters the picture: Is our eco- sitive to this legacy have tried to limit the logical strategy economically viable? Will it consequences of industrial production by re- enable us to use resources effectively? Fi- trofitting the systems of industry to reduce nally, we come to EconomyyEcology, where their harm. The sustainable development we encounter many questions that relate to agenda, for example, typically aims to re- the triple bottom line. Here the inquiry tends duce, re-use and recycle, creating ‘‘more to focus on efficiency: Will our production goods and services while using ever-less process use resources efficiently? Will it re- resources and producing less waste and pol- duce waste? lution’’. Each of these questions presents an oppor- tunity for creating value. Together, they signal As well-meaning as these goals may be, they the possibility of acting with positive inten- don’t change the fundamental design of in- tions across a wide spectrum of human con- dustrial production. They fine-tune the en- cerns. Such intentions introduce a new stan- gines of industry, diluting pollution and slow- dard of product quality, performance and ing the loss of natural resources without success. examining the design flaws at their source. The system remains based on a cradle-to- A New Design Standard grave model. In fact, these reforms take for One of the most refreshing benefits of using granted – institutionalize, even – the antago- the fractal triangle is the way in which it shifts nism between nature and industry. The result:

W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 255 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design business strategies built on restricting indus- one organism’s waste becomes food for an- try and curtailing growth, an unappealing other. When apply this principle – compromise based on the limitations of a waste equals food – to product conception century-old industrial model. This is a com- and material flows management, they can to mercial cul de sac, the dead end created by begin to create goods and services that flow an intention to be less bad. effectively within closed-loop systems, pro- viding after each useful life either nourish- ment for nature or high quality materials for Cradle-to-Cradle Design can lay new products. Ultimately, we think Cradle- the foundation for a transition to-Cradle Design can lay the foundation for from products designed for a a transition from products designed for a one-way trip to the landfill to industrial sys- one-way trip to the landfill« tems that restore nature, eliminate the con- w3x cept of waste, and create enduring wealth An entirely different intention, embodied by a and social value – human industry as a strategy we call Cradle to Cradle Design௣, regenerative force. offers a compelling alternative. Cradle to Cra- dle Design rejects the assumption that the The Fractal at Work: Designing natural world is inevitably destroyed by hu- New Facilities man industry, or that excessive demand for This is not just wishful thinking. The Fractal goods and services is the ultimate and inev- Triangle moves these concerns to the top itable cause of environmental ills. Industrial line in the minds of designers. In projects design is flawed because its foundations underway today we have been using the developed in a world in which few under- fractal in the design process, looking in each stood or appreciated the interconnectedness sector for ways to generate positive effects. of people and nature, the relationship be- Inquiries such as these inherently spark an tween economy and ecology, or the princi- explosion of creativity, yielding projects that ples of the earth’s natural systems. produce new value in ways that would never have been imagined when approached from Today, with our ever-growing knowledge of a purely economic perspective. the living earth – with ecological intelligence – design can reflect a new spirit. Cradle to Consider, for example, the restoration of Ford Cradle Design incorporates this new aware- Motor Company’s Rouge River plant in Dear- ness at every level of human endeavor. Its born, Michigan. Built between 1917 and principles are modeled on natural systems, 1925, the Rouge is one of the world’s largest the perpetual flows of energy and nutrients industrial sites. Once an enormously produc- that support the earth’s biodiversity. Its inten- tive complex of blast furnaces, stamping tion: to apply the intelligence and effective- mills, warehouses and assembly buildings ness of these systems to product and proc- capable of producing automobiles from raw ess design, so that commerce can grow materials, the plant fell into disrepair late in prosperity, celebrate cultural diversity and the 20th century. The aging facilities were enhance the health of all species. rusting and out of date and decades of manufacturing had taken a toll on the soil From an perspective this and water. means developing materials, products, sup- ply chains, and manufacturing processes that In May 1999, Ford decided to invest $2 billion replace industry’s cradle-to-grave manufac- over 20 years to transform the Rouge into an turing model. In its place: systems modeled icon of 21st century industry. Led by then on nature’s cradle-to-cradle cycles, in which chairman William Clay Ford, Jr., the company

256 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design committed to not only rebuilding the complex be trying to meet an environmental respon- but to restoring it to a healthy, life-supporting sibility as efficiently as possible. place. Here was a blue chip company with a sharp focus on the bottom line taking a step Instead, we tried to design a manufacturing toward something truly new and inspiring. facility that would create habitat, make oxy- Could inspired innovation and profits co- gen, connect employees to their surround- exist? ings and invite the return of native species. The result is a day lit factory with 450,000 square-feet of roof covered with healthy top- Well, yes. Using the Fractal Triangle as a soil and growing plants – a living roof. In design tool, we worked with Ford’s execu- concert with porous paving and a series of tives, engineers, and designers to begin to constructed wetlands and swales, the living explore innovative ways of creating share- roof will slow and filter stormwater run-off, holder value. Rather than using economic obviating the need for expensive technical metrics to try to reconcile apparent conflicts controls, and even regulations. All this with between environmental concerns and the first cost savings of up to $35 million, with bottom line, the company began to ask triple the landscape thrown in for free. top line questions. Innovations would still need to be good for profits, but Ford’s lead- This is the power of intelligent design ers began to explore how profits could be maximized by design decisions that also maximized social and ecological value. The Fractal at Work: Conceiving New Products Designers can also apply the fractal triangle Triple top line thinking energized the com- and triple top line thinking to the design of a pany’s decision-making process. Ford began single product – or even product packaging. to ask revolutionary questions: How can we Imagine that you are the CEO of an ice cream make the Rouge a place we would allow our company. You sell an all-natural product you children to play? How do we design a man- are very proud of. It brings pleasure to your ufacturing facility that creates prosperity and customers while supporting the dairy farmers health for employees? What innovations will of your region, and it generates great profits, create habitat for native species? How do too. But you have a problem: after a recent we create healthy soil? These are all positive, outdoor event downtown, hundreds of wrap- pro-active questions. They ask not how to pers from your popular ice cream sandwich ‘‘clean up’’ but how to create life-support littered the city parks. You did the right thing systems. when you sent out a crew to clean up the mess, but clearly, that’s not something you The systems for storm water management want to do for the long-term. You also realize, on the site illustrate how designs that support when forced to face this problem, that your life can create tremendous economic value. packaging is also dyed with chemicals you’d Expensive technical controls are a typical never put in your ice cream. What to do? response to storm water regulations. Ford estimated that new pipes and treatment If we were advising you, we’d suggest some plants would cost up to $48 million. If we triple top line thinking with the fractal triangle had approached the flow of water on the to try to generate an innovative solution. We Rouge site from a triple bottom line perspec- would not ask how to reduce the chemicals tive, we might have tried to cut costs by in your packaging or how to work with the using pipes made with less material, or by city on litter control. Instead, we’d wonder finding ways to treat water with fewer harmful what kind of positive effects you hoped to chemicals. If we followed this path, we would create. Maybe you’re interested in continuing

W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 257 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. Tools for Sustainable Design to provide the pleasure of a delicious sweet ate fabrics that feed the soil, giving us pleas- while offering a healthful package that cre- ure as garments and as sources of nourish- ates new value for your community. ment for our gardens. We can tap into the flows of energy and nutrients in the natural Working with the fractal, we might begin to world, designing astonishingly productive see that ice cream packaging could be de- systems that create oxygen, accrue energy, signed for biodegradability with new bio- filter water, and provide healthy habitats for polymers and safe dyes. This light, healthful people and nature. packaging could be economically produced. You might decide to provide added value by As we have seen, designs such as these are embedding the seeds of a native wildflower generators of economic value too. When the packaging designed to dissolve in a day after principles that guide them are widely applied, use – when children toss it on the ground at every level of industry, productivity and they’d be planting seeds rather than discard- profits will no longer be at odds with the ing trash. Suddenly, your problem starts to concerns of the commons. Instead, we will become an asset: You’re supporting the pop- be living in a world of sustaining prosperity, ulation of native plants; your customers are a world in which both nature and commerce excited to be young ‘‘Johnny Appleseeds’’; can thrive and grow. the city parks are blooming with colorful flowers; and your sales are through the roof. Not bad for packaging. Who knows, such a product could someday make ‘‘Adopt-a- Highway’’ programs obsolete.

Seeing the Future, Today These examples begin to suggest some of the ways in which triple top line thinking and the fractal triangle create business opportu- nities. Applied throughout the design proc- ess, they introduce a new standard of quality, adding ecological intelligence, social justice, and the celebration of creativity to the typical design criteria of cost, performance, and aesthetics. Design driven by these positive aspirations could lay the foundation for a truly inspiring era in which we transform industry by remaking the way we make things.

We will do so, we believe, by engaging in a true partnership with nature. Expressed in designs that resonate with natural systems, this new partnership can take us beyond sustainability – a minimum condition for sur- vival – toward commerce that celebrates our relationship with the living earth. We can build factories that inspire their inhabitants with sunlit spaces, fresh air, copious views of the outdoors, and cultural delights. We can cre-

258 W. McDonough and M. Braungart, Corporate Environmental Strategy, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2002) 1066-7938/02/$ - see front matter. ᮊ 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.