News

Cradle to Cradle® design suggests that human industry and development need not be bad for the environment if designs mimic nature and aspire to actually be ‘good’ for the environment. The concept fits in with the idea of moving to a sustainable, eco-effective society through reducing reliance on raw materials by only using materials that are non-toxic and re-useable or biodegradable.

The C2C® model can be incorporated into structural designs leading to the construction of buildings with sustainable and low, or even, positive energy – using their expelled heat to grow food, for example. The C2C® concept states that waste can be ‘upcycled’ rather than recycled and used as the ‘food’ or raw material for new products. It was developed by the chemist Michael Braungart and architect/designer William McDonough.

The European-wide project shares knowledge and develops C2C® best practice between nine European partners. Its aim is to improve the effectiveness of policies that strengthen the connection between environmental protection and economic growth, using C2C® as a driver. Suffolk County Council is leading the UK-arm of the project for the East of England which will focus on the built environment. The two-year project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and made possible by the INTERREG IVC programme.

Cllr Judy Terry, Portfolio Holder for Greenest County Suffolk County Council, said: “We are extremely pleased to be co-ordinating this innovative project for the East of England as part of our ambition to create the greenest county. We will find out how we can best design buildings and industrial processes to reduce waste in the future. We need to become a society in which environmental considerations such as waste are designed out at the beginning of a product’s life rather than being dealt with at the end. This will be better for our environment and will provide increased opportunities for innovation and economic growth in the region. Royal Haskoning has a great deal of expertise and experience with C2C® and we look forward to working with the company on this pioneering project.”

On 15 and 16 September the first Cradle to Cradle® conference is taking place in the UK. It is being held in Cambridge and will bring together project partners from across the EU to discuss the C2C® model in relation to buildings and architecture, illustrate best practice and feature study visits to C2C® examples within the region. The conference is open on a first come, first served basis to individuals and organisations not currently involved with the project. For more information or to attend contact: michael.gray@suffolk.gov.uk.

Dr Matthew Hunt, Project Manager for Royal Haskoning, said: “We are delighted to be working with Suffolk County Council on this project as the concept of Cradle to Cradle® is a very good fit with Royal Haskoning’s vision of sustainability. As this project develops, we would like to share our experience and to start a dialogue with interested organisations and individuals representing the built environment, architecture and sustainability to see how we can work together and push C2C® higher up the agenda. To that end if there are any projects outside of the East of England that are using methods or designs that chime with the C2C® concept we want people to tell us about them so we can feed these experiences into the wider project.

“Working with Suffolk, we will identify best practice from across Europe; assess which elements are transferable and use this to help strengthen regional networks. The next phase will be the development of action plans which we hope would help 100 per cent C2C® projects and buildings become a reality in the near future in the East of England and across Europe.

“Challenging climate change, the reduction of raw materials and improving sustainability is easier if we all work together and we look forward to working with Suffolk County Council and partners across the UK and Europe to help the concept of Cradle to Cradle® become the norm for building design sooner rather than later.”