Corporations increasingly subscribe to the principles of corporate sustainability, which is generally described as the integration of economic, environmental and social dimensions. Of particular interest are sustainabilityoriented product innovations: products are perceived to be a major source of sustainability issues and crucial for tapping into new customer segments and new markets. Yet sustainability-oriented innovations are very risky: Not only is the product’s market success uncertain, but also the direction of innovations’ sustainability effects, i.e. whether they contribute positively or negatively to sustainability. This paper presents a generic model termed ‘Sustainability Innovation Cube’ for structuring innovations’ sustainability effects and, thus, enabling business to minimize the ‘directional risk’ of sustainability-oriented innovations. A qualitative expert study reveals the opportunities and challenges related to the developed model. Limitations are discussed and a brief outlook is given.