Herman Miller Demonstrates Leadership in Environmental Stewardship Through level certification
NSF International today announced that Herman Miller, Inc. has earned level certification to a new sustainability-focused standard for commercial furniture.
Level is the certification program for the BIFMA e3-2008: Business and Institutional Furniture Sustainability Standard (BIFMA e3). The level conformance mark ensures a comprehensive, independent, and impartial assessment of the environmental and social impacts of a product's manufacture. Level makes it easy to identify products that have been evaluated against the consensus-based, multi-attribute sustainability standard. The certification also provides benchmarks for continual improvement and innovation within the furniture industry.
Level was developed in cooperation with the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA). Once companies, such as Herman Miller, satisfy the initial prerequisites, additional credits are granted based on compliance to various criteria in four key areas: materials, energy and atmosphere, human and ecosystem health and social responsibility.
"Level certification allows companies to design and develop products that make them more competitive in a global marketplace while helping to protect the environment," said Petie Davis, Business Unit Manager of NSF's Sustainability Programs. "By achieving certification, and playing a leading role within the diverse stakeholder group involved in the standard's development, Herman Miller is setting the bar for corporate and environmental responsibility within their industry."
For obtaining NSF certification, Herman Miller products will be authorized to use the level certification mark. Products can be certified to the BIFMA e3 standard to three increasingly rigorous designations; level 1, level 2 or level 3.
NSF International has certified several Herman Miller product lines. The product lines certified at level 2 include Aeron, Mirra, Celle, Embody, Caper stacking, and Foray seating, as well as Tu and Meridian storage. The product lines receiving level 1 certification include Equa, Ergon, Reaction, and Ambi seating. Also receiving level 1 certification are the Action Office, Ethospace, Vivo Interiors, My Studio Environments, Resolve, Passage, Series 5000 and Abak furniture systems, as well as the company's Eames tables, and Avive tables.
"As one of the chief proponents for this stringent new certification, we welcome the level program and the positive impact it promises to have on commercial interiors. The level certification recognizes and rewards rigorous, environmentally sensitive design across a spectrum of achievement, encouraging investment in breakthrough innovation, as well as incremental improvement," noted Brian Walker, Herman Miller's CEO.
As an ISO 14001 registered company, Herman Miller maintains a strong reputation for environmental stewardship. Some of their environmental efforts include Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) verification, a 79 percent environmental footprint reduction and a 91 percent hazardous waste reduction since 1994. The company aims to be fully sustainable, with the elimination of all solid, hazardous, air and water waste, and 100% green energy reliant, by the year 2020.
Background on the BIFMA e3 Standard
BIFMA e3 standard was developed to harmonize sustainability standards for the office furniture industry and help distinguish environmentally-preferable business and institutional furniture. The standard applies to all business and institutional furniture, including moveable walls, systems furniture, desking systems, casegoods, tables, seating and accessories, and materials and components manufactured by suppliers to furniture manufacturers.
BIFMA and NSF partnered on the development of this standard over a year ago, gathering a diverse group of stakeholders to participate in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited consensus development process. Representatives from academia, the architectural and design community, end-users, regulatory agencies, federal and state government, certification bodies, environmental groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), manufacturers, suppliers, product designers and others have been engaged in development of the standard.
Additional information on certification to the new BIFMA e3 standard for furniture can be found at http://www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/pdf/su_bifma.pdf or by contacting Petie Davis at 734-827-6810 or davis@nsf.org.
About Herman Miller: Herman Miller works for a better world around you—with inventive designs, technologies and related services that improve the human experience wherever people work, heal, learn, and live. Its curiosity, ingenuity, and design excellence create award-winning products and services, resulting in more than $2 billion in revenue in fiscal 2008. Innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have also established Herman Miller as a recognized global company. In 2009, Herman Miller was again cited by FORTUNE as both the "Most Admired" in its industry and among the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America, while Fast Company named Herman Miller among the innovative "Companies to Watch." Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.