What should interior designers consider regarding responsible sourcing, and where should they start? We spoke with Ren DeCherney, Global Lead for Built Environment at the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, to get her insights and recommendations.
Ren DeCherney
Global Lead for Built Environment,
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
Ren DeCherney is a licensed interior designer with 10+ years of experience. Today she 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 Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, she worked in Portland as an interior designer, where she took her firm PVC-free. She was then the Director of Industry Transparency at the digital materials platform Source, where she built tools and filtering systems to integrate sustainability seamlessly into the design process.
Further, she has been overseeing the Declare and Living Product Challenge programs at the International Living Future Institute. There she worked with both designers and manufacturers to understand the current market incentives for sustainable practices and how to implement sustainability strategy into everyday practices.
Ren’s 5 tips: How to get started
Here’s Ren DeCherney’s best advice to other interior designers wanting to integrate more sustainable products in their projects:
The leading global sustainability standard
“Cradle to Cradle Certified® is the leading global standard for products which verifies the sustainability performance of products across five categories to make it easy to find products that are healthy, circular, and equitable all at once,” Ren DeCherney begins.
“Products are evaluated across five categories, including material health, product circularity, clean air and climate protection, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness. At their core, Cradle to Cradle Certified products are designed with both people and the planet in mind, ensuring they are responsibly made”, says Ren DeCherney, who has dedicated her career to translate companies’ sustainability pledges into reality.
Holistic approach considering the full life cycle
Since 2005, the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard has been regarded as the most trusted and advanced science-based standard for designing and manufacturing safe, circular and responsibly made products that maximise health and wellbeing for people and the environment.
Being Cradle to Cradle Certified® involves balancing requirements within all five categories of certification. The certification is always third party verified, meaning that independent professionals have assessed the impact of the product as well as company governance.
“As a designer, I loved using Cradle to Cradle Certified because it meant someone smarter than me had verified the claims a manufacturer was making. Then I was able to focus on aesthetics, knowing I was working with a product that ticked all the sustainability boxes at once,” Ren DeCherney explains.
Continual improvement in products and processes
All Axminster and Colortec carpet solutions from Dansk Wilton are Cradle to Cradle Certified®. Dansk Wilton decided on this certification due to the holistic approach and the high documentation level guaranteed by the certification.
“We consider Cradle to Cradle the most ambitious and comprehensive certification program within social and environmental responsibility. To us, Cradle to Cradle is more than a certification – it is our tool and guideline within each area of certification. Cradle to Cradle Certified® requires continual improvement in products and processes,” says Lone Ditmer, responsible for the Sustainable Business Development at Dansk Wilton.
“Sustainability goes beyond CO2 emissions or recycling. It involves looking at every stage of a product’s life cycle, from its production and the materials used to its durability and end of use scenario. Simply being recycled doesn’t automatically make a material sustainable. Maintaining this balance is key when considering sustainability in interior design projects”, Lone Ditmer highlights.
A way to maximise positive impact
According to Ren DeCherney, the best thing about Cradle to Cradle Certified® products is that it enables designers to make a measurable difference.
“Specifying Cradle to Cradle Certified® products is a great way to maximise your positive impact on the planet. Reports estimate that a single designer has 26x the spending power of an average consumer. This means that the choices we make matter a lot,” she states.
At the same time, these products make it possible to check several ESG (Environmental Social Governance) boxes at once:
“Clients are asking designers to prioritise many sustainability concerns at once – including requests for non-toxic materials, products that are made equitably, products that contribute to healthy indoor air quality, and responsibly sourced materials. It can feel overwhelming to do this work, especially when it feels like you need to do everything at once. As a designer I therefore loved Cradle to Cradle Certified® products because it turns out; by using a multi-attribute standard, I could actually do all at once.”
Even one product makes a difference
If it feels overwhelming working with certified products, the most important thing to remember is that even just one product can make a difference in the overall project.
“Even specifying just one certified product in a project can have a huge impact – from the people making the product in the supply chain, to the contractors installing the product, to the communities who will be using the building for years to come,” says Ren DeCherney.
“I always encourage designers to find the thing that resonates with them the most and just start in one room or one section – and build on what you learn from one project to the next. Maybe you can’t get a client onboard with going fully PVC free for a project, but maybe you can try in some high impact areas like front of house, hallways, guest rooms, or conference rooms. Don’t feel discouraged if you can’t do everything all at once. Doing one thing still has a large impact.”
Identify the clients’ priorities
Ren DeCherney’s recommended approach is talking to the clients about their goals and priorities – and go from there.
“I hear designers tell me all the time that they struggle with talking to clients about sustainability or tying it into larger project goals. The great news is that goals can be connected to each other! There are many ways to take what a client is asking for and relate it to other sustainability goals or financial goals to help them see the value,” she claims, and explains her three-pronged approach.
The first approach is “it’s the right thing to do”:
“There are tons of reasons why choosing products that meet high sustainability requirements is the right thing to do. All you have to do is read the news these days.”
Her second approach is called the “Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)” approach:
“Some clients really want to be the first to accomplish a sustainability goal. Some are more reticent and want to make sure it’s been proven before taking the leap. In these cases, I would look at other firms to see if they had case studies that would help make my case.”
The third approach is purely financial:
“There are many reasons that sustainable options are more financially viable! Does your client have public climate or sustainability goals? If they’ve mentioned anything about documenting responsible sourcing, talk about how using certified products in their buildings can help meet that goal. Is the client talking about wellbeing? Healthy materials are a great way to connect goals about wellbeing and a healthy indoor air climate to sustainability. Once you understand where your client is coming from, there are many ways to frame or perhaps reframe sustainability goals and responsible sourced products in a way that resonates with them.”
Lifecycle costs are key
In the end, the purpose of Cradle to Cradle Certified® products is to look at the lifecycle impact of a product. Therefore, designers also need to consider the lifecycle cost of a product, when talking to clients.
“This is a very real challenge for many designers. Sometimes, products that are cheap to install are expensive to maintain, so if you can find data on those costs it can help. I’ve also had success in finding a backdoor into this conversation by relating it to larger company sustainability goals or to increasing the rental values of properties,” Ren DeCherney explains.
“With the development of new AI tools and databases, I see the data about products getting streamlined quickly so designers can easily understand the impacts of the products; and communicate this to the clients,” she concludes. In this data driven context, however, we really need to make sure that we compare apples to apples, having the same data background, same method of calculation and same prerequisites.
Want to know more?
If you as an interior designer are curious to learn about how to integrate more responsible products in your projects, Ren DeCherney would be happy to share her knowledge and answer your questions in an informal online meeting. Feel free to reach out to us to hear more:
Ren DeCherney
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
rdecherney@c2ccertified.org
Lone Ditmer
Dansk Wilton
ld@dansk-wilton.dk
Find responsibly sourced products in the product registry
The Cradle to Cradle Certified® product registry gives you access to around 900 certified products worldwide. The registry continues to grow as more brands and manufacturers commit to the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard, adopting circular economy principles and forward-thinking solutions.
If you would like to know more about the Cradle to Cradle certification of our carpet solutions or would like to book a meeting for you and your team to gain more knowledge on the certification, we are more than happy to support you.
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