Foundational Principles

William McDonough Foundation is founded on principles developed over McDonough's 50-year career.

These principles, once novel, now serve as a compass for sustainable design and redesign happening around the world today. The Foundation will continue to share and teach these principles as the vision for a sustainable planet is realized.

Diagram of biological and technical cycles showing lifecycle stages of products; left side depicts biological nutrients with icons for soil, plants, production, use phase, and bio-degradation; right side depicts technical nutrients with icons for production, use, return, and disassembly.

Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle represents a holistic design approach where products and materials are intentionally designed and crafted to cycle endlessly, eliminating waste and environmental harm, and ensuring their continuous renewal and utility in a regenerative, closed-loop system, also known as the Circular Economy.

Circular economy diagram showing biological and technical nutrient cycles with renewable energy, rainwater, greywater, soil, and carbon processing in an urban setting.

Safe then Circular Economy

A Safe then Circular Economy embodies a strategic framework in which economic activities prioritize the safety of people and ecosystems, while concurrently ensuring the perpetual circulation and restoration of resources, fostering resilience and prosperity for generations to come.

Diagram illustrating carbon behavior types: Fugitive Carbon (negative), Durable Carbon (neutral), and Living Carbon (positive). It shows processes like CO2 capture, sequestration, and utilization in fuel, products, and agriculture.

Circular Carbon Economy

A Circular Carbon Economy reimagines carbon as a valuable resource, leveraging its potential to contribute positively to the environment while perpetuating its beneficial use within a regenerative, closed-loop system. “Carbon is not 
the enemy.”