Cradle to Cradle Judges Vote ROMA Paint Products to THE TOP 10 Finalists for the Innovation Challenge and What’s Next in Green Building Technology!
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is a non-profit organization created to bring about a new industrial revolution – their mission is to redefine eco-sustainability and create positive changes for society, economy, and the planet with a systemic approach to product innovation that spurs the creation of truly beautiful, high-quality products.
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, in partnership with Make It Right, launched its first ever Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge in November 2012. By June, over 100 products had been entered in the Challenge.The Challenge: Create a building product that is safe, healthy, affordable, effective, and designed to be returned safely to nature or industry after use.To win the Challenge, products must emulate the criteria of the Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM Product Standard: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy & carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness.Winning products must also be accessible for the affordable housing market, where health impacts from conventional building materials are rising at an alarming rate. Taylor Royle of Make it Right explains the significance of the Innovation Challenge for the future of affordable, green homes, “At Make It Right, we are trying to revolutionize the affordable home industry. We believe that well designed, sustainable, Cradle to Cradle-inspired homes can be built for the same price as conventional homes. If this is true, we have no excuse to build any other way. We are constantly looking for new products that would make our homes more sustainable, more affordable, or ideally, both.”
“We are delighted at the response to the challenge and the quality of the submissions,” said Bridgett Luther, president of the Institute. “These innovations embody shared values of practical sustainability and entrepreneurship.”From insulation grown from fungi, to roofing made from waste limestone and recycled plastic, to bricks grown by living organisms, the finalists are showing what’s next in the green building scene. The ten finalists represent alternatives to a range of traditional building products, including insulation, paint, drywall, siding, roofing, bricks, and construction panels.The finalist include:
- Ecovative – Mushroom Insulation
- Bellwether Materials – Softbatts Sheep’s Wool Insulation
- ROMABIO – Domus Mineral Paints
- StormWall Industries – StormWall panels
- GR Green Building Products – GR Green Roofing and Siding
- bioMASON – Biobrick
- Ecococon – Straw Panels
- HaploBuilt – HaploBlocks
- ECOR – Universal Construction Panels
Dutch Design Initiative – Reinforced Wood Wool Cement Board More About the 10 Finalists Winners will be announced November 15, 2013 at theInstitute’s Innovation Celebration in New York City. The event will recognize leaders in product design and innovation for their efforts to create better products for our world using the Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM program principles. Some of the biggest brands in the world will be honored along with stories of emerging technologies and a look into the future of sustainable design. Winners will be announced November 15, 2013 at the Institute’s Innovation Celebration in New York City. The event will recognize leaders in product design and innovation for their efforts to create better products for our world using the Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM program principles. Some of the biggest brands in the world will be honored along with stories of emerging technologies and a look into the future of sustainable design. Jury members who will select the winners include executives from Make It Right, US Green Building Council, Google, First Community Housing, The Honest Company, Schmidt Family Foundation, Delta Development Group in the Netherlands, and GIGA in China. A full listing of the judges is available here.The Challenge is made possible with the generous support of the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Dutch Postcode Lottery.
About the Innovation Challenge Hosts
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is a non-profit organization created to bring about a large scale transformation in the way we make things. The mission of the Institute is to turn the making of things into a positive force for people, the economy, and the planet.
Make It Right – Founded by Brad Pitt in 2007, Make It Right builds homes, buildings and communities for people in need. All Make It Right projects are LEED Platinum certified and Cradle to Cradle inspired – meeting the highest standards of green building.
The Schmidt Family Foundation supports efforts, using best expert information, to help transform the world’s environmental and energy practices in the 21th century. Its mission, at its broadest, is to advance the creation of an increasingly intelligent relationship between human activity and the use of the world’s natural resources.
Since 1989, the Dutch Postcode Lottery has been raising funds to support organizations working in the areas of development cooperation, human rights and the environment. Fifty percent of its income goes to charity. The lottery has grown to become the Netherlands’ biggest charity lottery, supporting more than 80 nongovernmental organizations with more than 3 billion Euros since its founding.
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