Sustainable Furniture

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International Standards:  FSC  GREENGUARD™  ISO National Standards:  LEED™  MTS Meeting the Standards: International, National, and Third-Party Certification

Over their total life cycle, sustainable products provide:  Social  Economic  Environmental benefits The Triple Bottom Line

Sustainable Manufacturing Issues: Furniture  Eliminate Toxins from Manufacturing Process  Employing Clean Technology  Systemized Environmental Programs  Resource Reduction  Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

A Corporate Example: Knoll’s Policies Eliminate Toxins from Manufacturing Process Lead, heavy metals and hazardous chlorinated compounds completely eliminated from production processes State-of-the-art waste water treatment

Technical changes to process Clean Technology: Developed and manufactured for clean technology from start to finish, including returnable, reusable packaging. Eliminated VOCs and ODMs from manufacturing processes Invested in UV curing systems Switched to water-based paints and adhesives Developed company-wide use of hot-melt glues Introduced 100 percent recyclable fabrics

Sustainable Design Issues: Furniture  Materials  Indoor Environmental Quality  Social Aspects  Protecting the biosphere

 Independent testing  In-house standards for low-emitting materials  GREENGUARD™ certification Adopting Standards: Indoor Environmental Quality

 Resource reduction  Materials protocols  Environmental management plans Adopting Standards: Systemized Environmental Programs

Adopting Standards: Resource Reduction  Design for reduced material content in products  Establish minimum recycled content for raw materials  Use Techwood man-made veneers, reduce wood waste by 60 percent  Recycle all scrap metals, fabric, cardboard and paper  Invest $500K in returnable, collapsible shipping containers  Offer FSC-certified wood

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Establishes standard, respected worldwide principles of Forest Stewardship using “chain of custody” for users, such as Knoll. Promotes:  Environmentally responsible forest management  Socially beneficial  Economically viable management of the world’s forests Third-party Certification

Chain of Custody from FSC  Ensures credibility  Enables immediate verification of provenance

Environmental Management Programs Comprehensive internal Environmental Health and Safety Plan ISO certification for manufacturing plants, such as Knoll’s East Greenville, Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Toronto facilities

Materials Protocols Protect environmental integrity of products as design evolves Facilitate a change management process Balance environment, function and aesthetics Monitor company-wide compliance

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Analyzes the environmental impact of a product from beginning to final disposal  Design  Production  Transport/distribution/packaging  Usage  Disassembly/reuse, recycling, and end of life management

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Design Strategies  Low impact materials  Clean manufacturing  Healthy workplace/indoor air quality  Waste reduction/efficient use of resources  Durability/extended product life  Reuse and refurbishment  Ease of disassembly  “Recycle-ability”

Using National Standards: LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Purpose: Define “green building”/establish common standards Promote integrated design practices Recognize environmental leadership Stimulate green competition Raise awareness of green building benefits Transform the building market

LEED Opportunities using Furniture  Recycled content  Rapidly renewable materials  Regional materials  Low-emitting materials  Certified wood  Textiles  Waste management  Green housekeeping

Existing Building pilot projects:  Knoll Lubin manufacturing facility, East Greenville, PA  Knoll San Francisco showroom New Construction projects:  United Nations Department of Protection  The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation  NRDC Centers for Disease Control Lubin Building Knoll LEED™ Projects

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