Ren DeCherney
from Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute

CIRCULARITY 

Ren is a licensed interior designer who uses her first-hand experience of the complexities of the building industry to help designers and manufacturers translate their sustainability pledges into reality. Prior to joining the Institute, she worked in Portland as a designer, where she took her firm PVC-free, making them the first firm in Portland to make such a commitment. She was then the Director of Industry Transparency at Source, a digital materials platform, where she synthesized design team needs and industry trends to integrate sustainability seamlessly into the design process. This included building various user tools, growing strategic partnerships, and developing all of the sustainability filters on the platform. 

Every year, the built environment consumes 40% of materials, emits almost 40% of global carbon emissions, and contributes to 40% of waste sent to landfills. It’s time to clean up our act! The Cradle to Cradle Design Philosophy is the founding concept of the circularity movement and in this session you’ll hear about tools you can use to turn the philosophy into action. Attendees will be introduced to the circular economy, how Cradle to Cradle Certified® defines and measures the circularity of products, and immediate actions designers can take to integrate circularity into their practice.  A circular economy could reduce global CO2 emissions from the built environment by 38% by 2050.