Cradle to Cradle Certification:
A Peek Inside MBDC's Black Box

This summary is a shortened, condensed version of the Full Article.

Executive Summary

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification was developed by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) to broadly assess the environmental and human health impact of products, including building materials and consumer items. This article discusses C2C certification and the program’s strengths and weaknesses.

C2C certification evaluates products in five areas: environmental and human health impact of material ingredients; recycled content and recyclability; renewable energy use during manufacturing; water quality related to the manufacturing process; and corporate social responsibility. Based on their scores in these five areas, products are rated Silver, Gold, or Platinum. MBDC also evaluates simple product components as Technical or Biological Nutrients, and rates them based on the material health impact and recycled content categories only. Product manufacturers pay MBDC to certify their products, and the company often serves as a consultant to help companies meet C2C standards.

As it is currently implemented, C2C Silver and Gold certifications are more effective at acknowledging a manufacturer’s progress toward making its products environmentally friendly, than ensuring that the products meet the idealistic standards of the cradle-to-cradle philosophy and C2C’s Platinum rating. That distinction could easily be misunderstood by consumers, especially since no products have yet achieved Platinum certification.

The C2C certification process lacks transparency, has numerous vague and incomplete evaluation criteria, and is not the third-party certification program that many people expect in an increasingly sophisticated green products market. Improvements to the program are expected, however, and, even with its flaws, the program sets a higher bar than arguably any other.

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ARTICLE CONTENTS The C2C Standard   1.0 Material hazard assessment   2.0 The nutrient cycle   3.0–5.0 Energy, water, and social responsibility   What C2C certification doesn’t mean   Sidebar: C2C’s Nutrient Reutilization Score   C2C version two C2C Certification Process   Helping manufacturers drill down   Replacing toxic ingredients   Is Platinum attainable? A Higher Standard Multiple attribute programs Final Thoughts More Information DISCUSSIONS There are no comments for this page yet. Log in to add comments RELATED ARTICLES What’s New in Multi-Attribute Environmental Certifications EBN: Feature - December 2010 More related articles RELATED PRODUCTS EcoVeil PVC-Free Interior Shade Screening More related products RELATED GREEN DESIGN What is Green? More related green design

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