Designing for sustainability

Date: October 30, 2009

From Where I Sit

We have all heard the catch phrases floating around the manufacturing world like "Design for Manufacturing," "Design for Recycling" or "Design for the Future." Now "Designing for Sustainability" is one more to throw into the bucket.

"Designing for Sustainability" is neither a new nor radical approach to product, consumer or industrial design: designing for sustainability has been a part of our civilization for several centuries.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, sustainable agriculture practices fueled the economies of all Western countries. We now produce 10 times more grain, vegetables, meat and poultry products with less than one third of the land resources of 100 years ago. We have no shortages of leather, wool or feathers.

Farmers harvested the wind to drive mills that pumped water. Dams were first built to mill grain, then to create electricity. Laundry was dried by exposing it to the wind and sun. Early settlers on many continents harvested wood, stone, coal and other minerals to build homes, factories and businesses. When you think about it, we still do.

Petroleum-based products that started in the 19th century flourished during the 20th. Nuclear energy as a civil or commercial fuel source became an option by the mid and latter 20th century. In our early 21st century, so called "alternative" energy sources like solar, tidal, wind and geo-thermal are regaining momentum.

I'm not sure if anyone can pinpoint the date — or even the specific decade — when the world embarked on the movement towards sustainable business practices. But after watching Ken Burns' PBS series on our national parks, I suspect that we may want to start more than 100 years ago with President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

Sustainability is not just about conservation, recycling, reduced energy use, nor smaller carbon footprints. It is neither part of a political agenda, nor a fad. It is about the responsible and conscious application of the gifts and tools that nature has granted to us, with the recognition that each of them arrives with an undetermined expiration date.

The office furniture industry has been a leader in sustainable business practices far longer than most people recognize. While I don't typically single out individual companies for accolades or special recognition, in my opinion both Herman Miller Inc. and Knoll Inc. have led their peers through times before it was "fashionable to be green;" well prior to when it was as important as it is today.

Steelcase, Haworth, HNI, Kimball, Global, Teknion, KI and dozens of others are all performing individually, and collectively, as mentors and examples of extraordinary leadership in sustainability practices. The collective leadership of BIFMA International has created the world's first industry-wide sustainability standard, called level, (www.levelcertified.org) that actually measures a company's ability to quantify different sustainable performance levels.

As a multi-attribute standard, its third-party certification program has been created to deliver the most open and transparent means of evaluating and communicating the environmental and social impacts of furniture products in the built environment.

It also takes into account each company's social actions, energy usage, material selection and human and ecosystem health impacts. The standard addresses how a product is sustainable from multiple perspectives.

Designing for sustainability doesn't just mean that each company meets an "industry" or "international standard" published by some government agency or external think tank. Here are a few examples and goals of how the office furniture industry thinks today, without external provocation:

• The complete removal of all VOC (volatile organic compounds) in all manufacturing processes by 2010.
• The 100 percent use of water-based adhesive materials by 2011.
• The absence of PVC (polyvin-ylchloride) chemicals or processes in all materials used in the manufacture of office furniture by 2012.
• The elimination of formaldehyde in the production of MDF (medium density fiber-board) and particle board products from outside suppliers.
• The standardized application of chrome-free leather products used on seating surfaces.
• The exclusive use and specification of wood products from certified forests.
• The shift from polyurethane-based foam to soy-based materials.
• The total elimination of heavy metal finishing processes, including chrome, nickel, zinc and cadmium.
• The establishment of collaborative recycling centers for all commercial furniture produced after 2001.

I applaud BIFMA International, its member companies, and its leadership on all levels for not simply accepting a consensus agenda, but stepping out beyond and not accepting the comfort of the status quo. Other industries need to use this as a model. Who is listening?

That's how I see it, From Where I Sit!