Sidebar: Can Products Do More Good Than Harm? The Living Product Challenge
The Living Product Challenge vs. Cradle to Cradle
LPC enters a crowded field of green product certifications. In its visionary bent and wide-ranging applicability, it most resembles the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification, a standard administered by the Cradle to Cradle Production Innovation Institute (C2CPII).
BuildingGreen asked Stacy Glass, vice president for the built environment at C2CPII, how she sees the emergence of the first certification to approach C2C in its scope and rigor. “Architects and specifiers want just one answer,” she acknowledged, but “in reality there need to be multiple tools. We’re all working toward the same goal.” Glass said, “We are working with ILFI to harmonize in those places where we have overlap so manufacturers get consistent messages.”
Some key similarities between C2C and LPC:
- Setting a very high bar: despite years in the market, no product has been certified to C2C’s highest (Platinum) level.
- A visionary basis with a focus on a positive future, not doing less bad
- Covering a range of attributes, including social issues
- Although focused on building products due to how both standards have grown out of that industry, they can apply to any products.
- Both are third-party certified. C2C started as a proprietary standard and added third-party auditors a few years ago. According to ILFI, LPC will have third-party auditors, though it needs to get specific about its requirements first.
Some key differences:
- C2C has hundreds of companies offering certified products; LPC is just getting started.
- While not easy at any level, C2C is more approachable at lower certification levels than LPC.
- C2C allows companies to advertise their final score under the certification without divulging details like the chemicals identified in the materials assessment. LPC incorporates transparency in nearly all its requirements.
- Although they generally cover similar categories at a broad level, the specific requirements are very different. LPC covers some areas not touched by C2C, such as connections to nature.
