CRADLE TO CRADLE PHILOSOPHY

• Goals

  At CS our goal is to design and manufacture building products in a way that optimizes and enhances both product performance and sustainability characteristics. It’s no longer necessary to choose just one or the other. By focusing on multiple product attributes and improved manufacturing processes, CS now offers numerous product lines that meet the rigorous requirements of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard at both the Gold and Silver levels. CS subscribes to C2C® design principles that embrace continuous improvement and a focus on both the human and ecological impacts of building products.

• Approach

  Collaboration is imperative for market transformation on sustainability because it helps create critical mass that promotes innovation and market change. In addition to the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, CS collaborates closely with and supports numerous other sustainability thought leaders and difference makers, each of which makes their own contribution to advancing the sustainability agenda. We are members of the US Green Building Council (USGBC), the Health Product Declaration® Collaborative (HPDC), the International Living Future Institute’s Living Product 50, and the BizNGO among others. We also participate in the mindful MATERIALS program.

• Outcome

  CS has a well-balanced product line that offers interior and exterior products that help owners, architects, designers, and contractors satisfy the increasingly demanding performance and sustainability requirements of their projects. All of our main product lines, like Acrovyn®, Pedisystems®, CS Louvers, and CS Expansion Joint Covers, contain numerous models that are C2C® Gold or Silver certified. Many of these same products can also help contribute LEED credits towards building certifications. And our participation in the mindful Materials program supports a design industry initiative that allows manufacturers like CS to clearly communicate optimization and transparency information to make product selection easier.