Date: May 02, 2012 Source: (
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A luminaire manufacturer from the United States has achieved Silver Cradle-to-Cradle certification for its range of lighting products for commercial, retail and educational applications.
Litecontrol, which is now represented by Storm Lighting Solutions in the UK, benchmarks its products against the certification programme that was conceived by architect William McDonough and chemist Dr Michael Braungart who formed McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). MBDC administers the Cradle-to-Cradle programme, evaluating products and awarding C2C Certification.
To gain a silver certification, products must pass thresholds for material reutilisation, and minimise the use of certain classes of harmful chemicals. Companies must also quantify and characterise the energy used in the final assembly of the product, publish water stewardship principles and a corporate ethics or fair labour statement.
Litecontrol claims its architectural lighting fixtures are the first to achieve Cradle-to-Cradle certification. Robert Davis, director of product innovation and marketing with the company told Lighting: "The biggest difficulty is getting all the information on the chemical composition of all the materials used in the fixtures. This includes not only the parts that we make ourselves but also all of the components that we purchase, so we must work closely with our suppliers. In fact, the suppliers enter an agreement directly with MBDC since they often do not want to divulge their company secrets to us directly.
"Once MBDC tells us the status of each component, the next difficulty we face is finding alternative materials if a material has been shown to have some unhealthy or dangerous chemicals."
When asked if complying with the certification process added significant cost to products, Davis said: "Some costs are added directly, but not necessarily passed on to the customer. For example, we are the only lighting company (to my knowledge) to have replaced all of the PVC-based electrical wiring components with non-PVC materials, based on concerns raised in our C2C evaluations. The non-PVC materials cost more, but we did not raise the price of our fixtures based on that increased cost. Other costs are indirect (overhead), in the amount of time and effort that our staff puts in to coordinate the annual submittals to maintain the certification, and in constantly evaluating our products and components. And of course there are the fees associated with having the materials assessed and paying the certification fees."
Litecontrol said that it didn't currently offset the carbon emissions generated by transporting the product to the UK but that it does actively offset carbon from factory electricity use in the US.
To find out more about Litecontrol's participation in the C2C scheme click here
