Braungart developed a radically new way of classifying products called the “intelligent product system” that forms the basis of a new Green economics. A chemist and chemical engineer, Braungart founded the Hamburg Environmental Institute and is the managing director of the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA), a scientific advisory organization consulting in environmentally friendly production, recycling, wastewater management, and clean air techniques. EPEA has offices in Hamburg, New York, Moscow, London, and São Paulo.