It’s a 50-cent word, but “dematerialization” just might save us millions, to say nothing of our planet. The basic idea is getting down to only what is essential, or, as Charles Eames said in the 1940s, “the best for the most for the least.”

Doing more with less certainly predates Mr. Eames, but dematerialization has had a resurgence lately, largely as a response to conspicuous consumption (McMansion anyone?), a throwaway culture (it’s cheaper to buy a new one than fix the old one), and planned obsolescence (as Annie Leonard says in The Story of Stuff, only 1% of things are still in use 6 months after purchase).

It’s no wonder those concerned about sustainability see promise in dematerialization, an idea whose logic train goes from using less material to eliminating material altogether while still delivering the same level of functionality. An example of this promise they often point to is music delivery. From LPs to cassettes to CDs to digital downloads, the progression eliminated lots of plastic waste and the resources and energy needed to make it. (The sustainability costs of using the Internet to download the music will be left to another discussion.)

We find examples of dematerialization closer to home. One is the Setu chair designed by Studio 7.5 of Berlin, Germany. The chair’s two spines provide tilt-like kinematics in one continuous seat and back, eliminating the need for a tilt mechanism.

Reducing material and actually improving a product’s performance is the theme of another chair, SAYL designed by Yves Béhar. In SAYL’s case, seat base, arm structure, and tilt mechanism undercarriage are fused into one, strong part that reduces material content. The chair’s The Y-Tower structure is sculpted and hollowed out, achieving strength with less material.

Eliminating an object altogether is the logical conclusion of dematerialization. Short of developing a way for people to levitate, we think making every molecule in a chair work harder is an acceptable alternative.

In 1953, Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree promised, “We will be good stewards of the environment.” That promise drives the design and innovation of our products today.

Setu’s Kinematic Spine, for example, has a not-so-secret secret—polypropylene, the same recyclable material used to make everything from toothbrushes to garbage cans. Making the plastic structure flexible and strong involved creative engineering. The result is a lightweight mechanism that lets Setu mimic your every move.

Visit us at Greenbuild 2011 in Toronto, October 4-6, 2011.

The jury selected Setu, which was designed by Studio 7.5, as the best example of sustainable design for its positive impact on business and broader society. As both wrestle with environmental demands, and as Herman Miller looked to support the ergonomic needs of mobile workers and their technology, Setu created a new benchmark for sustainability and comfort.

Always in good company, Setu appears with Method Laundry Detergent with Smartclean Technology and Nike Considered Footwear to round out the top three finalists in its category.

And it joins Herman Miller’s impressive list of previous Design of the Decade winners, including the Equa chair (80s) and the Aeron chair (90s).

It’s a great example of our commitment to problem-solving seating design and anticipating the needs of our society.

“It was such a thrill to be part of all that energy and well-wishing,” Harris writes. “Ellen gave away over $3,000 worth of gifts to each audience member. And the audience was ecstatic.”

We’re thrilled that Setu could be part of such an amazing experience for so many Ellen fans. If they’re excited now, just wait until they get a chance to sit in their new chairs!

Here’s something kind of interesting, depending on how geeky you are:

The origin of the word “comfort” is the Latin “confortare,” “to strengthen.” When you’re comfortable, you’re free from pain and trouble. All’s well. You’re rejuvenated. Stronger. Physically and mentally.

Study after study finds that a comfortable working environment improves people’s productivity and makes them happy. It really doesn’t do us any good to suffer. And that’s why for Herman Miller, comfort is one of the most critical criteria in any new product design.

But comfort isn’t just stretching out with a cold one in a Barcalounger. It’s having the proper support for your body and the freedom to move naturally. It’s good lighting and temperature, views in and out, and having everything around you under control, right where you need it. Just as important, it’s the lack of stress. Of course, stress is synonymous with work, but anything you can do to reduce anxiety is a plus.

For example, Herman Miller research shows that storage is a primary factor in a person’s satisfaction with their work space. Typical comments from research participants include: “Stuff piled on my desk makes me anxious and nervous;” “I feel much less calm and creative when I’m not organized;” “When things are really cluttered or messy, I become irritable.”

These findings were part of the inspiration for Herman Miller’s Teneo storage furniture, designed by Ayse Birsel and Bibi Seck. Certainly Teneo helps people be more organized and uncluttered, but there’s more. Teneo’s design helps an environment be harmonious and purposeful. It’s calming, providing consistency and control amid the chaos of fast-paced work. Says Ayse, “We put the person at the center of the problem and see how we can make them more comfortable, and their life easier.” Teneo also earned the coveted Gold award from the 2009 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in the Office and Productivity category.

Speaking of more comfortable, meet the Setu family of multipurpose chairs from Herman Miller. Multipurpose chairs, with their typically unforgiving, one-piece seat and back, aren’t very comfortable. So Setu designers, Studio 7.5, invented a way to mimic the synchronized motion of the separate seat and back used on ergonomic work chairs. And that means more comfort in all the places we use multipurpose chairs throughout the day, like meeting rooms, cafes, learning environments, lounges, and touchdown spaces.

Still, when we’re back in our offices, we want our work chairs to be able to keep us comfortable all day if we need it. That’s where Herman Miller’s newest work chair, Embody, comes in. It not only is comfortable, it is good for you, encouraging additional air movement into the lungs to feed your brain, increasing blood circulation, and decreasing the heart rate.

Intent furniture, another new Herman Miller product, was designed by Joey Ruiter with familiar residential references, because, he says, “They add beauty and trigger a feeling of comfort. You can imagine yourself in it,” he says. Check out Intent’s raised storage deck, cabinets, and sliding-door units. See if they don’t make you feel at home.

Eyes get uncomfortable at work, too, and lighting can be to blame. It’s an often-overlooked aspect of comfort and well-being in the workplace. Being able to control lighting in your workstation can help prevent Computer Vision Syndrome, an increasingly common issue resulting from glare generated on backlit surfaces. Herman Miller’s new Twist and Flute LED task lights give you the control you need for proper illumination and vision comfort.

So you might as well get as comfortable as you can at work. And if your boss thinks you don’t look miserable enough, say, “I’m getting stronger by the minute.”

By Bill Holm

Herman Miller hit the mark in seating and lighting, reaping two Gold and two Silver Best of NeoCon Awards. See how these award winners are helping improve the human experience in the videos below.

Our drive at Herman Miller to make the human experience better has yielded many innovations. Over the last 30 years, each of our seating products has built the foundation of research and knowledge for the next. Setu and Embody once again extend Herman Miller’s legacy of leadership in design, innovation, and sustainability.

Setu Chairs
Our new family of multipurpose seating, Setu, won the Gold Award in the Conference Seating category and the Silver Award in the Sofas and Lounge Seating category. Setu—the chair for how you work and live now—was designed by the Berlin design group Studio 7.5, who also designed the Mirra chair, a NeoCon Gold Award winner in 2003.

Learn more about Setu and Studio 7.5.

Embody Chair
Designed by Jeff Weber and the late Bill Stumpf, the Embody chair—the first work chair to support both the mind and the body—won the Silver Award in the Ergonomic Task Seating category. Jeff Weber of Studio Weber + Associates is also the designer of our Caper seating, which won a NeoCon Gold Award in 1999. Bill Stumpf, in collaboration with Don Chadwick, designed the Equa and Aeron chairs.

Learn more about Embody and Jeff Weber.

Twist LED Task Light
Yves Béhar, founder of fuseproject, has once again partnered with Herman Miller to create an innovative lighting solution. The result is the Twist LED task light, winner of the Gold Award in the Specialty Lighting category. Twist, an energy-efficient, eco-friendly undershelf LED light for systems furniture, provides value, simplicity, and personal control for office workers. Béhar also designed the Leaf personal light, winner of the Gold Award in the Lighting category at NeoCon 2006, as well as the Ardea personal light.

Intent Furniture and Energy Manager
Our space featured two other new products: Intent Furniture and Energy Manager.

Intent furniture, designed by Joey Ruiter of JRuiter + Studio, offers a new furniture solution that extends from the private office to systems workstations in the open plan. Intent furniture has a crisp, clean appearance and was designed to integrate physically and aesthetically with Vivo interiors.

Learn more about Intent furniture and Joey Ruiter.

Energy Manager is an electrical circuit control system connected between building power and Herman Miller systems modular power. It can provide programmed or occupancy-based control of power delivery to two of the typical four circuits within a cluster of up to eight Herman Miller workstations. This allows individual worker or owner control of powered devices so they are on only when needed, and off when workstations aren’t occupied. That saves you energy and reduces costs.

Learn more about Energy Manager.

By Marcia Davis

The Herman Miller showroom in the Merchandise Mart (Booth 321) spotlights four distinct workplace scenarios, and each has its own tale to tell. They illustrate a range of real-life situations where Herman Miller has created cost-effective, customer-focused, eco-friendly solutions with a variety of integrated Herman Miller products, including their new Setu chairs, Embody chairs, and Intent furniture.

You’ll hear about real, relevant problem solving instead of just the (yawn) nuts, bolts, and benefits of products. It’s a great way to discover how Herman Miller makes a better world around you.

The Leaders
They have thrived for years in the big city. Portraying a solid, successful image is a given for this leadership team, but they also want to show that they’re forward-thinking, not stuck somewhere in the last century. They need private offices for client confidentiality, as well as workstations for staff. Plus, everyone relies on collaboration, so gathering places are critical.

How does Herman Miller provide an affordable, elegant solution? Tune in to the Herman Miller showroom for answers.

Go Team
You know how project teams are. People come together, then some move on to other projects, and others join as needed. You need to work alone and with others, and you need to react quickly to change, not to mention the dreaded unexpected. Things can get messy, in more ways than one. The project itself is temporary, too, and soon a new team will take over the space.

How does Herman Miller help keep the team moving forward? Find out at Booth 321.

Ghost Town
Where did everybody go? A tumbleweed could roll from one end of this field office to the next and not scratch anybody. But in this case, it’s good news, because the people who work here are out visiting customers, not lollygagging around the office. The bad news is there’s lots of wasted, costly space, and it’s not really equipped to support them when they are there.

Can Herman Miller bring this facility back to life? The answer (we bet it’s yes) is coming, June 15-17.

Coming to America
They’re young, sophisticated, and on the cutting edge in Europe. Now a global company wants to export its European planning standards to its U.S. facilities. They know that linear planning would leave more room to support their primary work style—collaboration—and let people more easily communicate and interact.

Can Herman Miller, from small, quiet Zeeland, Michigan, go international? Oui, si, and most definitely da.

By Bill Holm