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With McDonough as Guide, China Goes Green
By Julia Mandell
JANUARY 21, 2003 -- > green Is it survival of the fittest? Like a fast-growing vine, William McDonough's influence continues to spread. After bringing eco-enlightenment to a multitude of multinational corporations, he is now preparing to preach the gospel of green business to all of China. This year McDonough became chair of the U.S. Board of Councilors for the
China-U.S. Center for Sustainable
Development, an organization formed in 1999 to bring American technological know-how and economic brawn to the greening of China. The center, a joint undertaking of the Ministry of Science and Technology in China and the state of Oregon, is backed by both national governments and hopes to take sustainable development to a new level. "The idea is to create businesses, not to create grants," says McDonough.
At the first joint board meeting in Beijing in September 2002, the Chinese Secretariat adopted the design principles laid out by McDonough in his book (with
Michael Braungart), Cradle to Cradle. The center has three projects on the boards: a large-scale wind-power initiative with
Gamesa, a Spanish wind-turbine manufacturer; a solar initiative partnered with
BP Solar; and a model sustainable village built using Cradle to Cradle principles. Over the long term, according to
Rick Schulberg, executive director of the International Sustainable Development Foundation and the China-U.S. Center's U.S. secretariat, "The goal is to build the capacity in China to implement this on its own."
Having an architect spearhead sustainable energy initiatives in the largest Asian nation is a surprising twist. Regarding the choice, Schulberg says, "Bill's architectural leadership was an incredibly attractive feature: It meant he was really thinking about how we design and produce things."
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