Designing the future - architect William A. McDonough re-engineers manufacturing processes

Nation's Business, May, 1996 by Laura M. Litvan

Growing businesses share their experiences in creating and marketing new products and services.

Many companies working to curtail their impact on the environment are well-versed in these three R's: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. In recent years, businesses of all types have drawn on these concepts, cutting back on their use of resources and turning waste into raw materials.

But William A. McDonough, founder of a 20-employee architecture firm in Charlottesville, Va., has built his business on the philosophy of a fourth R: Redesign.

Since the mid-1980s, William McDonough + Partners has been creating building designs that give priority to environmental considerations, such as improved indoor air quality or lower energy consumption. Now, McDonough is helping clients redesign their manufacturing processes. In his first major project, he recently helped a textiles manufacturer develop a biodegradable fabric that is made without the use of toxic chemicals.

While it may seem unusual for a maker of buildings to become involved in the making of products, to McDonough it's a logical link. He thinks pollution often is a sign of faulty design, and that an architect, trained in the intricacies of form and function, is well-positioned to find a solution.

"I see any emission as a signal of inefficiency," says McDonough, 45, who also is dean of the school of architecture at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. "To me, it's a design opportunity, left and right."

His interest in "green" architecture dates to the mid-1970s, when he designed one of the first solar-heated homes in Ireland while pursuing a graduate degree in architecture at Yale University.

Although he founded his firm in 1981, it wasn't until 1985 that he took on a major commercial environmental project. Ile was hired to design the New York City headquarters of the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental group whose officials made it clear that indoor air quality was a priority.

Acknowledging that concern, McDonough and his staff hunted for building materials that did not contain toxic chemicals. But it was tough, because at the time companies in the industry fiercely guarded details of their products' contents, he says. But some companies came around. In one instance, a paint manufacturer agreed to eliminate some product additives to meet McDonough's needs.

As more companies have embraced the notion of "green" architecture, McDonough has been tapped to do projects for major corporations. In the past few years he has designed a new corporate "campus" in San Bruno, Calif., for clothing retailer The Gap, and he also helped design an environmental prototype store in Lawrence, Kan., for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The U.S. Department of Energy is closely following one of his most recent works, a solar-heated factory built last year in Zeeland, Mich., for Herman Miller Inc., a maker of office furniture. Among other things, the building replaces the fresh air delivered to its 700 occupants every 30 minutes, and it has a sophisticated system for filtering storm-water runoff, a common source of water pollution.

The Energy Department is using the Michigan plant site as part of research into whether "green" buildings can improve productivity and other aspects of corporate performance.

McDonough's first foray into the re-engineering of manufacturing processes was completed last year, with the introduction of a new line of fabrics by Designtex, a textiles subsidiary of Steelcase Corp., another office-furniture maker, in Grand Rapids, Mich. McDonough helped Designtex develop an environmentally friendly fabric that is being used to upholster furniture.

Susan Lyons, vice president of design at Designtex, says the fabric line provides a competitive advantage because demand is strong for office products that are environmentally sound. She says the company has been able to surpass strict environmental standards in Switzerland, where the fabric is being made.

One Swiss rule is that textile scraps may not be deposited in landfills, but Lyons says that is not a problem with her company's biodegradable product. Designtex's scraps are made into felt, which is sold to Swiss farmers for use as crop insulation.

Lyons says McDonough is "a visionary" and that he helped the company rethink its entire manufacturing process, with an eye toward both the environment and quality.

Although building design will likely remain the chief focus of McDonough's firm, his work with manufacturers is sure to continue; he recently was signed on as a consultant to Monsanto Co., a St. Louis-based chemical company. He teaches his university students that architects can be at the forefront of a "next industrial revolution" in which businesses, not regulators, will drive environmental improvements. "I think the best way to eliminate regulation is to do it by design."