Products & Materials represent a cornerstone of the Cradle to Cradle® design principles and MBDC’s work. We believe that issues of ingredient toxicity and material scarcity are under-represented in most sustainability assessments. In addition, these characteristics are critical to developing biological and technical metabolisms that are safe for human and environmental health and that recover component materials for reuse in new product applications. Ideally, these attributes are designed into a product or material’s life cycle from the start, although there always is the opportunity for improvement.
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) typically do not fully measure a material’s human and environmental health footprint, and Risk Assessment focuses on controlling dose and exposure to hazardous substances. Alternatively, the Cradle to Cradle framework uses a more precautionary approach. MBDC’s material assessment methodology (see Certification Criteria and Certification Resources pages for more information) evaluates potential hazards of ingredients to provide a technically and economically feasible means for industry to filter the materials being used to make products. While a list of restricted substances (RSL) can be an important tool for initiating needed changes in a supply chain, we help our clients to characterize their products in a way that identifies more positive chemistries and materials to optimize their products over time.
In response to demands from designers and architects searching for a way to select preferable off-the-shelf products, MBDC created a system to more credibly weigh the sustainability attributes of products and materials using publicly available information, as well as facilitate a client’s procurement decisions. For this service, MBDC evaluates material options using the following five criteria and weightings:
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Human Health (weighted 3X)
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Ecological Health (weighted 3X)
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Nutrient Potential/End of Life Recyclability (weighted 2X)
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Recycled/Renewable Content (weighted 2X)
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Embodied Energy (weighted 1X)
Each product receives a score on a scale from 0-22. Accomplishment for each criterion above is scored as 2 points for a high level of achievement, 1 point for a moderate level of achievement, and 0 points for a low level of achievement.
As an outcome of MBDC helping clients establish and move toward optimization, clients’ products can be Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM against our certification criteria.
Products & Materials can be addressed across the phases of Scoping & Strategy, Inventory, Assessment, and Optimization.