Developing a data-driven approach to certified sustainable products

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2C PII) is renowned for stewarding the “gold standard” certification for sustainable products. But they faced challenges with the underlying data essential for product certification. Workshop partnered with the Institute and took a design thinking approach to develop a comprehensive data platform.

• Streamlined certification: The new platform made it easier for the Institute to certify products and supported a more rigorous certification process.
• Enhanced data collection: Data became more automated and accessible, reducing manual effort to collect underlying data.
• ‍Design thinking approach. Built capacity and knowledge across the Institute’s team on key design thinking approaches and methodologies.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute maintains a portfolio of sustainable product certifications. But the process of certifying products is complex. It involved analyzing chemical compositions, human health impacts and environmental effects. All of this relies on quality data, but data was inconsistent and inaccessible. The Institute needed a robust solution to centralize data and optimize the certification process.

• Discovery phase: We initiated stakeholder interviews and strategy sessions. During this phase, we learned that the core problem was not a lack of tools for data, but standardizing and improving the data itself.
• Stewardship phase: Through our facilitation, we helped C2C PII map out the architecture for a data solution that would not only centralize key data, but also automate certain aspects of data collection, quality and governance.
• ‍Validation phase: The prototype platform was presented to stakeholders and potential users to ensure that the final product would be user-friendly, efficient, and successful.