INTRODUCTION

October 14th, 2009

In the face of our planet’s daunting challenges, C2C promotes a positive vision of the future. It celebrates the abundance of human creativity, culture and productivity, while rejecting the false dichotomy between human growth and environmental health. C2C reframes design as a beneficial, regenerative force – eco-effective- abandoning the standard approach of minimising the harm we inflict – eco-efficiency. The concept is based on these main design-principles: waste equals food – eliminate the concept of waste; use current solar income; celebrate diversity and anticipate evolution.

CHALLENGE

Until now, our work has implemented a holistic, humanistic and environmental design method, all the while developing delightful and innovative buildings. We have built energy efficient, CO2 neutral, autonomous buildings. C2C goes beyond all this. Our goal now is to go further and create buildings that recover nutrients and allow for material flow management. To fully implement C2C in architecture we need to enhance our working knowledge on materials and building products and their continuous cycles.

OUR INTENTION

Although a few projects demonstrate certain aspects, a fully C2C building or urban plan does not yet exist. Hence, we have undertaken the task of identifying the characteristics that define C2C built environment, with the goal of providing project stakeholders with a tool to set C2C milestones that are within reach. We will separate the totality of architectural considerations into distinct, measurable C2C parts. This manifesto also calls for new business relations in the process of designing, building, using and maintaining our built environments.

ACTION!

Within the context of Architecture, several specific and focussed milestones are to be carried out, some of which are within reach as of now, and others serve to signal our intent.

ECOLOGY

MATERIALS

• Eliminate waste: only use materials that will become resources for further biological or technical production loop.
• Only use materials whose impacts are measurably beneficial for human health and environment.
• Design buildings free of radioactive, hazardous and toxic off-gassing materials.
• If hazardous materials are necessary, they are not released in the environment and are completely recoverable in technical pathways.

ENERGY

• Use only energy from present solar income.

SITE

• Create topsoil, clean water and clean air and improve biodiversity as a result of human intervention.

ECONOMY

• Design buildings that can be mined for materials in the future. If waste is a resource, materials become the new currency.

• Promote building products leasing and by doing so make producers responsible for them.

EQUITY | SOCIETY

• Create a diverse environment of equal opportunity. Create a healthy, safe and inspiring environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The manifesto “C2C in Architecture” has been written by an international group of architects selected by the founders of the C2C paradigm, Michael Braungart and Bill McDonough, for their complementary approach to solving environmental challenges. The group is composed of:

• Art & Build Architect (Belgium, France, and Luxemburg)
• RAU architects (The Netherlands)
• A00 architects (China, Canada)
• Zahn Architektur (Germany)
• OPAi, the oneplanetarchitecture institute, acts as chairman of the group

This manifesto was written as an invitation to built environment related actors – designers, consultants, construction companies, material producers developers and investors – to join and commit. It is a call for the professional, political and academic world to share and invest, to innovate and work on an effective future. This document is a common starting point, a place of no return. Within the coming months, we will gather examples and case studies of C2C in architecture, publish further reading on C2C, expand our list of priorities and collaborate on projects.

NEW:

CHARTER BY MCDONOUGH AND BRAUNGART

In October 2009, a Charter on Cradle to Cradle in Architecture written by a group of C2C practitioners coordinated by William McDonough and Michael Braungart has been published as an authoritative and inspiring point of reference for our journey of constructive celebration.