Material ConneXion, MBDC and EPEA Announce Strategic Collaboration
Partnership Establishes Global Platform for Sustainable Materials and Processes
New York, NY 2007 - Material ConneXion, Inc., McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry,
LLC (MBDC) and the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) announced today
a groundbreaking strategic collaboration to create a global platform for developing innovative sustainable
materials and products. Together, they will provide services that will help companies expand their ability
to innovate and create better, sustainable products and processes, while increasing their profitability.
“Material ConneXion’s unparalleled material expertise, commitment to sustainability, and global reach
make them the perfect partner for this collaboration,” said MBDC co-founder William McDonough.
The relationship will help to promote and disseminate Cradle to Cradle sm design principles by providing
greater global access to Cradle to Cradle material information, certification and product development. As
of January 2008, Material ConneXion’s libraries in New York, Milan, Cologne and Bangkok will feature
Cradle to Cradle Assessed and Certified materials, and, in collaboration with MBDC and EPEA, Material
ConneXion will offer Cradle to Cradle Certification, as well as innovative Cradle to Cradle development
projects.
“We are thrilled to partner with such visionaries as William McDonough and Michael Braungart,” said
Material ConneXion Founder and President George Beylerian, ”This truly will be an industry-changing
collaboration and signals an important step forward for Cradle to Cradle design.”
Given today’s demands for more socially and environmentally conscious products and materials, it is
important for companies to positively define their global impact and be leaders in environmental
performance. Material ConneXion, EPEA and MBDC, each leading experts in their respective fields, offer
specific knowledge in sustainable material solutions and practices, objective recommendations, and a
breadth of worldwide experience across multiple industries that can be instrumental in helping<
companies achieve this goal.
“Cradle to Cradle’s promise of ‘total beauty’ begins with the right material solutions and there is no better
place to find them than Material ConneXion,” said EPEA and MBDC co-founder Michael Braungart.
By pushing for better product design, smart production processes, and a greater use, re-use, and
recycling of defined, ecologically intelligent materials, companies can incorporate environmentally
conscious planning into their own framework. To facilitate this, they will jointly offer the following
services:
- Workshops: Workshops will provide an understanding of Material Intelligence, Sustainability
and Cradle to Cradle design principles. Workshops can be tailor-made to assist design teams—
from large corporations to smaller forward thinking companies—in defining these concepts as
they pertain to their own industry and work.
- Cradle-to-Cradle Materials Assessment, Process Evaluation & Certification: Material
assessment will provide material manufacturers within the Material ConneXion library with
material assessments and the tools to achieve Cradle to Cradle Certification. Certification
benchmarks the size of the environmental footprint of a product against an internationally
recognized standard that will provide companies with a new marketing and selling tool.
- Material / Product Development: This service assists companies in developing ecologically intelligent sustainable products or materials. Leveraging the combined expertise of the three partners in sustainable materials and Cradle to Cradle processes, niche sustainable products can be developed, creating a source of new and increased revenue for clients.
About EPEA (Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency)
EPEA was founded in 1987 by world renowned chemist Prof. Michael Braungart as an independent
scientific research institute based in Hamburg, that develops Cradle to Cradle product solutions.
EPEA’s interdisciplinary team aligns products to Cradle to Cradle design goals with tools that have been
developed ad hoc for this purpose. Cradle to Cradle design makes products possible that are
economically successful, healthy for users and supportive for the environment and future generations.
Their innovative design not only addresses appearance and functionality, but it also addresses the
definition of their composition and enables a new dimension of quality and security of these products
along with their material flow cycle. By integrating economic, social and environmental aspects, they are
superior to currently produced and available products.
EPEA’s driving goal is to not only reach positive effects for end users by aiding in the development of
healthy products, but also for the environment in general by way of safe products for consumption
and products for service, where technical nutrients are recovered and processed, based on
Intelligent Product System (IPS). This also applies to a next generation because the resources that are
mobilized for Cradle to Cradle products are maintained as such and effectively used. EPEA is a licensee of
the Cradle to Cradle sm Product Certification System developed by MBDC.
About MBDC ( McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC)
MBDC was founded in 1995 by internationally recognized architect/designer William McDonough
together with Professor Michael Braungart, as a strategic environmental consulting and design firm,
dedicated to revolutionizing the design of products and services worldwide using Cradle to Cradle
design. The pair teamed up to promote and shape what they refer to as “The Next Industrial
Revolution” through the introduction of a new design paradigm called Cradle to Cradle Design and the
implementation of eco-effective design principles. McDonough and Braungart are co-authors of the book
Cradle to Cradle – Remaking the Way We Make Things, published in 2002 by NorthPoint Press.
MBDC developed and offers the Cradle to Cradle sm Product Certification System that verifies
manufactures’ achievements using a series of environmental and social criteria. These criteria are based
on the principles of Cradle to Cradle Design, developed by McDonough and Braungart. Cradle to Cradle sm is a Trademark of MBDC.
About Material ConneXion™
Material ConneXion is the leading global platform for material innovation and solutions. The company
was founded in 1997 by George M. Beylerian on the belief that every idea has a material solution™.
Since then, Material ConneXion has become the trusted material advisor to Fortune 500 corporations,
smaller forward-thinking companies and government agencies seeking a competitive edge through
strategic material selections. With offices in New York, Milan, Cologne and Bangkok, Material ConneXion’s
international network of material specialists provide a global, cross-industry perspective on materials and
their potential uses.
Material ConneXion offers four indispensable assets to architects, designers, and manufacturers. The
Advanced Materials Solution Team advises in the development of materials and products by providing
crucial material intelligence gained through extensive research. Subscription-based Material Libraries on
three continents maintain over 4,000 materials reviewed by an independent jury on a monthly basis.
Material ConneXion LABS—temporary library exhibition installations—and Innovation Alerts—keep
companies, universities and non-profits on the cutting-edge.
New materials create innovative design solutions, provide more sustainable options, and accelerate the
design development process. Dynamic material dialogue is essential to this process, and so Material
ConneXion is committed to its creation through active Public Programming. This past May, Material
ConneXion presented “Matter X”, the third in its ongoing annual “Matter” conference series. This
December marks the publication of “Ultra Materials: How Materials Innovation is Changing the World”,
and in May 2008, ICFF will debut Material ConneXion’s “Materials Matter”, an exhibition of cutting edge
materials, technologies and production processes. Material ConneXion publishes “Matter”, a quarterly
magazine exploring materials and design through a variety of lenses.