Cradle to Cradle
You may have heard of Cradle to Cradle, but are wondering what it is. Watch the short video below to find out more.
Cradle to Cradle is built upon three key principles:
- Waste is food. As in the natural world, all materials are considered as ‘nutrients’ for something else;
- Use of current solar income; promoting the sole use of solar energy to meet energy needs; and
- Celebrate diversity; the promotion and combination of biological, cultural and conceptual diversity.
In the UK, Suffolk is leading on the Cradle to Cradle Network (C2CN) project, and Suffolk County Council is seeking to showcase projects from across Europe that have a core focus on sustainability and exhibit some of the features or ‘principles’ of C2C design. ‘Cradle to Cradle’ has gained widespread recognition in mainland Europe and the philosophy has been informing policies, plans and decisions in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States and other countries for a number of years.
Partner organisations in Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Romania, France and Hungary are sharing these ‘good practices’ to facilitate the transfer of knowledge between regions so that a project from one region can be emulated in another. The project has been broken down into four key disciplines for which one of the lead regions has responsibility; area spatial development, governance, industry and build – which is being led by Suffolk County Council. The C2CN ‘Perspectives study: Build theme' offers a detailed insight into C2C and the built environment.
To find out more and download the other C2CN publications click here.
SGBN and Cradle to Cradle
The ‘Cradle to Cradle’ concept (often referred to as C2C) offers a new way of looking at sustainability – by challenging traditional approaches, and is one that complements well the work that has been undertaken to date by the Suffolk Green Buildings Network. A clear link exists between C2C and the Suffolk Green Buildings Network in encouraging and driving the continued improvement and raising of already high ambitions in the East of England relating to the build environment. C2C provides a significant, and necessary challenge – that society will have to progress beyond minimising adverse impacts and move to a focus on the delivery of a net benefit. We believe being green will ultimately be defined by the extent to which a design delivers positive impacts through material re-use, renewable energy production, water recycling, the provision of habitat forwildlife and creation of healthy and inspiring environments to live and work in.
Could a building be constructed using locally sourced materials, utilising natural materials wherever possible and recycled materials otherwise, generating more energy than it consumes, capturing rainwater, providing additional habitat for biodiversity and forming a living or working space that offers a truly enjoyable and inspiring space to live or work in? Clearly at this stage, C2C is an aspiration; we are some way away from being able to build a fully Cradle to Cradle building. However this aspiration can help to guide current plans and decision making as C2C has to be embraced from the outset – it cannot easily be ‘bolted on’.
The Suffolk Green Buildings Network and Greenest County initiatives along with a ‘Cradle to Cradle’ ambition offer a great foundation on which to develop a progressive vision for green buildings in the East of England and further strengthen Suffolk’s Greenest County aspirations. This platform offers a substantial knowledge base from which Suffolk can lead the development of a new generation of buildings inspired by the C2C philosophy.
Several of the Suffolk Green Buildings Network case studies are featured in the Cradle to Cradle Network Good Practice Handbook as projects that incorporate the kind of measures future C2C buildings could incorporate.
Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and made possible by the INTERREG IVC programme.