Herman Miller, Inc. will showcase its advances in sustainable design, prominent in its facilities, products and practices, at the 6th annual Greenbuild Conference and Expo held at Chicago's McCormick Place from November 7-9, 2007.
"Our comprehensive approach to environmental stewardship starts with our buildings," says Paul Murray, director of Environmental Health and Safety at Herman Miller. "Through our understanding of green building design and related issues we're able to significantly reduce operating costs, decrease waste, and develop complementary technologies and products that can help us and our customers reduce our environmental impact."
The company's longstanding commitment to sustainability is most visible through its 11 LEED-certified facilities--the most in its industry--and multiple Cradle-to-Cradle certified products. These accomplishments are a reflection of the Herman Miller's Perfect Vision plan, a strategy introduced in 2004 to achieve a wide range of sustainability targets by the year 2020, including zero waste to landfills and zero hazardous waste generation.
The Perfect Vision plan mandates company building projects be constructed to a minimum LEED Silver certification. True to its commitments as a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Herman Miller is striving to make all of its facilities environmentally friendly--beginning in 1995 with its GreenHouse in Holland, Michigan, a LEED Pioneer facility, and most recently with LEED (CI) Gold certification for its Atlanta National Design Center and LEED (CI) Silver certification for its IT North renovation, an area within the company's Main Site headquarters facility in Zeeland, Michigan.
In addition, the recently completed B West renovation, also located at Main Site, is being evaluated for LEED (CI) Platinum certification. Designed by George Nelson, Building B opened in 1968 as Herman Miller's seating production facility. In 1980, Building B, including the former truck well, underwent a dramatic conversion to office space and became the company's primary administrative center.
The 2007 renovation reinvigorates George Nelson's original design by capturing more natural light through 40 new windows and seven new skylights. The lighting closest to the skylights also is equipped with daylight harvesting dimmable ballasts. Natural elements, such as bamboo, plantscapes, and images of wildflowers printed on hanging screens, surround the 31,500 square-foot space. Large graphic prints of Alexander Girard patterns, a contemporary designer and friend of Nelson's, also accent the building.
Convia
B West lighting is connected to the Convia system, a programmable, modular electrical and data infrastructure developed by the Herman Miller Creative Office, Applied Minds, and Kennedy & Violich Architecture. The system's wall switches are wireless and can be programmed through the infrastructure to control any or all of the electrical fixtures. The connections can be instantly and easily reprogrammed through the use of Convia's two-button wand or its Web-based portal.
Celebrating its one-year anniversary at Greenbuild, Convia is transforming how facility managers approach power and data management. The inherent nature of the network makes full-building lighting and data control simple and extremely cost effective. Convia reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent versus the ASHRAE 2004 code and also monitors and tracks electrical use. Equally important, it eliminates construction costs and landfill waste with reusable parts that may be reconfigured within minutes.
My Studio Environments
My Studio Environments was designed and developed according to the MBDC Cradle-to-Cradle protocol and also recently achieved MBDC Silver certification. It will be displayed at Greenbuild with its standard offering of environmentally friendly components, including work surfaces produced with Formcoat and square-edge veneers.
"We thought it was important to offer a standard, fully-outfitted system that complied with MBDC's Cradle-to-Cradle certification," noted Casey Bond, product manager for My Studio. "Seeking certification based on limited, special order specifications and at a higher cost to our customers just wasn't an option for us."
Introduced at NeoCon in 2006, My Studio is up to 69 percent recyclable, contains 30 percent recycled content and is also GREENGUARD certified.
The Be Collection
The Be Collection, a comprehensive portfolio of personal workspace accessories, was purposefully designed with the environment in mind. With environmentally friendly materials and a fresh approach to design, The Be Collection enhances the relationship between people and their work environments.
Unveiled in June 2007 at NeoCon, the collection includes C2, a unique, desk-top personal climate control device that both warms and cools, using a fraction of the energy consumed by a typical space heater. Ardea, designed by Yves Behar, is a high efficiency, compact fluorescent task light solution for the desk top. Other products in The Be Collection include a next generation enhancement of the company's award-winning Babble voice privacy technology, Behar's celebrated Leaf light, and numerous other accessories for technology and work process support.
Celle
A new enhancement to the Celle chair also will be displayed at Greenbuild. For added visual flexibility, the chair now may be ordered with a smooth Latitude upholstery option for the seat pad. Introduced in 2005, the Celle chair achieved MBDC Gold certification for its 33 percent recycled material, 99 percent recyclability and ease of disassembly. It also is GREENGUARD certified.
A Better World
Herman Miller also will introduce at Greenbuild its second sustainability report entitled, "A Better World." The comprehensive report measures the company's progress toward meeting key economic, social and environmental objectives during its 2007 fiscal year.
"For us, contributing to a better world takes many forms, including environmental advocacy, corporately-sponsored and individual volunteerism, and financial support to great causes. We see each as an important element in being a good corporate citizen," states Herman Miller CEO and President Brian Walker. "We believe building a better world should be every person's goal, and every company's."
The designs and services of Herman Miller enhance the performance of human habitats worldwide, making customers' lives more productive, rewarding, delightful, and meaningful. The company's award-winning products, complemented by furniture management and strategic consulting services, generated over $1.9 billion in revenue during fiscal 2007. Widely recognized both for its innovative products and business practices, Herman Miller is a recipient of the prestigious National Design Award for product design from the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and in 2007 the company was once again cited by FORTUNE magazine as the "Most Admired" company in its industry and included among CRO magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." The company trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.
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