More Sustainable Standards for Furniture

First came LEED certification, next came the CALGREEN requirements (for those of us in California), now we can all breathe a sigh of relief because ANSI (American National Standards Institute) has approved and released the ANSI/BIFMA e3-2010 Furniture Sustainability Standard.

The e3 standard defines the technical requirements of the Level product certification program. The Level program is actually a useful tool, in that it provides the industry a standard benchmark to evaluate whether or not office furniture is manufactured in a sustainable manner using sustainable materials. This separates the truly sustainable products and organizations from the posers.

If past history is guide, the larger manufacturers will conform to the Level product requirements, and the smaller manufacturers (and specifically import manufacturers) will not.

Newest GREEN Building Standard is Released

First there was the LEED standard, next came the CALGREEN standard, and now we have, THE INTERNATIONAL GREEN CONSTRUCTION CODE...

The IGCC, created by the ICC (International Code Council, and yes, I'm having fun with the acronyms), is targeted at regulating the construction of new and existing commercial buildings, and aims to significantly reduce energy usage and greenhouse gasses. The code was publicly unveiled today after having been in development since mid-2009.

The code is sponsored by the "heavyweights" in the building industry including; the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the global standards firm ASTM International, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

You can download a copy of the International Green Constuction Code Version 1.0 (HERE).

Is your furniture certified green?

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA), has been implementing its "level" sustainability standards program since mid-2009, and has now certified over 200 office furniture products, according to a recent article on greenerbuildings.com.

As defined on their website, the level program is "a multi-attribute, sustainability standard and third-party certification program for the furniture industry. It 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." In plain English, level was developed to implement an industry standard by which to measure and verify manufacturer's claims of product and practice sustainability. This will also go a long way to cleaning up the "green-washing" or misleading claims regarding the "green" story of certain products and manufacturers.

Industry leaders such as Allsteel, Gunlocke, Herman Miller and Steelcase, have already had a full range of products certified. If you are a specifier, or purchaser of office furniture, make sure to ask if the products you are looking at have been level certified.

For a list of products that have received certification, click (HERE), and to view the level website, click (HERE).