Intelligent materials poolingRematerialization on a large scale can be achieved through a nutrient management system we call intelligent materials pooling. This system, designed to effectively manage flows of polymers, rare minerals and high-tech materials for industry and architecture as well as local, low-tech flows of natural resources, calls for cooperative networks geared to optimizing materials’ value.In an intelligent materials pool, multiple companies share access to a supply of a high-quality material such as nylon 6 or copper. In effect, partners draw materials from the pool to create products and replenish it with materials they have recovered after a defined period of use. Sharing resources and knowledge, information and purchasing power, partners in a materials pool ideally develop a shared commitment to generating a healthy system of material flows and to using the safest, highest-quality technical ingredients in all their products.From a strategic perspective, the process begins with an agreement by several companies to phase out an environmentally dangerous material such as PVC. Out of this shared commitment comes a community of companies with the market strength to engineer the phase-out and develop innovative alternatives. Together they specify preferred materials, establish defined-use periods for products and services, and create an intelligent materials pool.Design and the laws of natureCradle-to-cradle architectural materials realize their full potential within cradle-to-cradle buildings. The context of material use is always the larger design, and the larger design always unfolds in the overarching context of the natural world. Cradle-to-cradle building design is thus the process of discovering beneficial, fitting ways for humans to inhabit the landscape. In every landscape, nature is our guide. We study landforms, hydrology, vegetation and climate, trying to understand all the natural systems at play in each place we work. We investigate environmental and cultural history, study local energy flows, and explore the cycles of sunlight, shade and water. Out of these investigations comes an “essay of clues” – a map for eveloping healthy and creatively interactive relationships between our designs and the natural world.The sun is the key to the whole show. When sunlight shines upon the Earth, biology flourishes and we celebrate its increase – the growth of trees, plants, food and biodiversity. This is good growth. When human activity supports ecological health, that’s good growth, too. In fact, we can create buildings that make the energy of the sun a part of our metabolism, allowing us to tap the effectiveness of natural systems and apply architecture to positive purpose.At Oberlin College, William McDonough + Partners (WM+P) designed a building like a tree: a building powered by the sun, enmeshed in local nutrient flows and beneficial to the landscape. Built in northern Ohio, the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies was designed to ultimately generate more energy than it consumes. Solar power is collected with rooftop cellsand sunlight pours through southwest-facing windows into a two-story atrium, illuminating the public gathering areas. Wastewater is purified by a constructed marsh-like ecosystem that breaks down and digests organic material and releases clean water. The upholstery fabrics will feed the garden, and the carpets will be retrieved by the manufacturer and reused for new, high-quality carpets.Lit by the sun, refreshed with fragrant breezes, in tune with its place through local flows of energy and matter, the Oberlin building’s ecological footprint strongly confirms that the human presence in the landscape can be positive, restorative and 100% good.