Cradle to Cradle has for many years inspired architects to design and construct buildings based on the idea of circular design and circular value chains. In this way, materials in buildings sustain their value and can therefore function as banks of valuable materials.
Instead of tearing a building down when not used any more, such “material banks” allow the building sector to reuse materials to a much broader extent than now, helping produce less waste, use less virgin resources, and improve human health.
Vugge til Vugge ApS has contributed to the book, Building a Circular Future, and co-adviced in developing a Cradle to Cradle inspired hotel on Bornholm in Denmark, named Green Solution House. We can help you with your building project as well.
The six key concepts of Cradle to Cradle in the built environment is:
- Circular Design
All materials are resources for something else. The concept of waste is eliminated. - Material Health
All materials are healthy for both the environment and for the people who produce them, work with them and live around them. - Design for Disassembly, Reuse, and Recovery
Buildings can be deconstructed and materials, products and components easily be recovered, retaining their value. - Value Chain Collaboration & Integration
Engagement and collaboration is found throughout the whole supply chain in order to innovate and accelerate circular solutions. - Qualifying and Quantifying Value
Material Passports help retaining value over the use and reuse cycles of a product or building. - Policies and Standards
Governments affect preconditions for a circular building industry through incentives, policies, standards and regulations.
Find more inspiration
You can find an overview of Cradle to Cradle inspired projects on c2c-buildings.net. You can also subcribe to the newsletters from Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute targeted the construction industry.