C2C Network – Perspective study: Build Theme

This perspective study provides an introduction to the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) concept, summarising the content of the Theoretical Framework established by the Cradle to Cradle Network (C2CN). It further addresses the application of the C2C philosophy, and its interpretation through the Limburg Principles and other frameworks, to the area of ‘Build’ (building design and construction). It identifies how C2C thinking can be applied to different elements of the built environment.

This study is intended to serve as a frame of reference for future activities by the C2CN. Its purpose is to build on current knowledge, guidance and good practice to enable better exchanges of information within and outside the Network. It will encourage the wider uptake of the Cradle to Cradle approach in the built environment and in other sectors locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. It serves to investigate how the theory and aspiration reflected in the C2C principles of Braungart and McDonough can be applied beyond the field of product design, and be delivered in more complex fields.

We use the BREEAM1 framework as a start-point for the assessment. By drawing on this tool we con- sider the constituent parts of buildings, but go wider than considering buildings in the context of waste minimisation and materials management. Instead, we demonstrate a range of ways in which current development can enable transition to a more sustainable future; where sustainability and innovation are mutually beneficial and where development has a positive benefit for stakeholders.

We demonstrate how C2C elements can and are being applied to buildings at the conception, design and construction stages by drawing on good practice examples. We discuss how these examples might guide design and delivery through a transitional period necessary to achieve the ambitions ex- plored by the Network. These examples come from across Europe and both from within and outside the formal Network and their wider partners and collaborators

These good practices are not intended as examples of C2C buildings. A true C2C building does not yet exist, and it remains questionable whether it is even achievable with current systems, approaches, technologies and society. They are instead intended to represent buildings where high ambitions were established at the commission and design stages. Combined with a focus on linkages and networks, and a desire to go far beyond simple compliance or impact minimisation, this has resulted in buildings which have, in some areas, gone beyond ‘less bad’ and are on their way to being ‘good’.

Since Cradle to Cradle is more of a business concept, an approach, or a set of principles to be achieved by a project. It is central to the Cradle to Cradle approach that there is no one solution or set of solu- tions and a range of approaches and techniques will be combined through this period. It is inherent that the ‘correct’ approach is shaped by the opportunities and challenges specific to a building and its ‘metabolisms’ (energy, water, people and material flows).

We identify a number of challenges, including technological and financial barriers, to adopting the C2C approach today. We conclude that the delivery of the Cradle to Cradle principles in buildings requires an extremely high level of ambition and holistic considerations which go significantly further than general current practice. The holistic nature of the approach also means that it cannot be achieved immedi- ately, or in isolation. Rather it will be the culmination of a long period of transition. However, through encouraging and promoting ambition, and looking widely to identify benefits which might be achieved by buildings, it could be possible to drive the changes in wider society necessary to achieve an eco- effective future.