cradle to cradle remaking the way we make

At the same time, in designing the building, which is the workplace for 650 employees, the emphasis was on using Cradle to Cradle-certified building materials and on creating a good indoor climate.Ĭradle to Cradle describes how materials and nutrients can safely be incorporated into potentially endless cycles. The building was designed with reutilisation in mind, and all the materials have been registered in a material passport, which ensures that they can be easily disassembled at the end of their useful life. He cites as an example the construction of Levi Strauss & Co’s logistics centre in Dorsten, Germany.

So, the focus of one project may be on protecting water resources, while in another project the emphasis might be on ensuring recyclability and fulfilling the circular potential,” says Edwin Meijerink. “When starting a building project, we use the categories as a kind of checklist, but we also make sure that each building is uniquely ‘themed’.

This means that projects are assessed based on the categories of material health, product circularity, clean air & climate protection, water & soil stewardship, and social fairness. When applying the Cradle to Cradle principles to its projects, Delta Development starts with the five categories of criteria that are also used to evaluate products according to Cradle to Cradle. The Cradle to Cradle principles enabled us to focus our construction projects and choose quality materials,” explains Edwin Meijerink. “In the years preceding the financial crisis, the Netherlands saw a particularly large boom in construction, but the buildings were characterised by short-term design and material choices. In the years before the financial crisis, Delta Development threw itself into applying the Cradle to Cradle criteria to their construction projects, and the timing turned out to be just right. Together with Coert Zachariasse, CEO of Delta’s Dutch division, he makes up the top management of the company. “Although the primary focus of the book is to create a framework for more sustainable product development and design, in Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things we also saw a philosophy that was equally applicable in the construction industry,” explains Edwin Meijerink, CEO of Delta Projektentwicklung & Management GmbH in Germany.

Today, the Cradle to Cradle design concept is widely recognised, and has also made a huge difference to the way in which Delta Development operates. There is no doubt that the book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, which was published in 2002, has been seminal. Dansk Deutsch English Nederlands Svenska.

Cradle to cradle remaking the way we make