How To: Furnish a "Green" Home

Research by the American Home Furnishings Alliance out of High Point, NC, reveals three interesting points about consumers purchasing furniture: (1) they are quick to show interest when the subject of sustainability is raised, (2) buying from local manufacturers and smaller enterprises is appealing, and (3) there is a perception that furnishings made in the U.S. are more durable. 

CHANGING FURNITURE SCENE

The green movement has emerged as the most compelling story in furniture over the last few years, according to Jeff Hiller, owner of PROaction Marketing Group in Austin, Texas, and founding board member and marketing chair for the Sustainable Furniture Council in Chapel Hill, NC. The green idea, he says, is driving the industry to manufacture, bring to market, and sell products in a manner that minimizes negative environmental effects, is socially responsible in the treatment of workers, and allows the business to make a fair profit while supporting local communities.

A non-profit coalition of home furnishings manufacturers, importers, retailers, designers and major nongovernmental organizations, the SFC is spearheading the commitment to promoting sustainable practices. With nearly 250 members, the SFC was founded in October 2006 and published the first comprehensive set of industry sustainability standards based on the LEED model in commercial building. Its mission is education—to increase awareness, assist development and bring to market products that meet the consumer mandate for style, value and eco-responsibility.

IMAGINATIVE RESPONSES

While there is no standard definition yet for a “green” product, certain attributes arise, which include independent third-party verification; use of renewable, reclaimed, recycled, or sustainably harvested materials; little or no use of chemicals; local sourcing; and socially and environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.

The marketplace has been imaginative and responsive. Here are a few examples.

Health-driven concerns. A customer's need for a healthy home environment gave one Boston area company a new direction. Barry Shapiro, the fourth generation in the Brighton Upholstering and Brighton Mattress Company, said the company got a request for a custom sofa from a woman with a compromised immune system who could not tolerate ordinary furniture.

After three years of research, the company developed a sofa using only chemical-free components. The satisfied customer spread the word among those with chemical sensitivities and requests poured in. What had been one project led to orders from around the world. Shapiro launched a new company, Furnature, in Watertown, MA, to develop the special products. The company makes furniture using certified organic fabrics, cotton canvas and wool, and water-based glues and stains without volatile organic compounds.

With proprietary information restrictions, he adds, “consumers often don’t know what they are getting,” Shapiro says. “We hear all the time about indoor air quality, sick building syndrome. These people are the canaries of our generation; their immune systems can’t tolerate these things. It’s all about health for people first and that ties in with health for the planet,” says Shapiro.

Stylish and sustainable. Knú LLC in Zeeland, MI, mixes the commercial office and healthcare furniture expertise of its parent company, Industrial Woodworking Corporation, with the creativity of its CEO and designer Brad Davis to create stylish furniture designs for the residential market.

Knú sells online (no printed catalogs) and through showrooms in Savannah, Boulder and Brooklyn. Director of Marketing Jerome Alicki notes that Knú uses FSC-certified wood whenever possible, which has been 100 percent so far. Knú uses a low-VOC varnish, furniture legs are of recycled-content steel and lead-free dyes that give bright colors to its children’s furniture. Wood components are produced from FSC-certified, multi-ply Baltic birch. Lamination uses a polyvinyl acetate adhesive that contains no volatile organic compounds. Alicki says Knú is dedicated to working with local suppliers who have demonstrated a commitment to sustainable, low-impact raw materials and 90 percent are within a 50-mile radius.

Its eco-friendly aspects go beyond the furniture. Knú and Industrial Woodworking Corp. teamed up with the Carbonfund.org to offset carbon-emitting forms of energy. For example, All electricity, natural gas, air travel, and vehicle use is offset using Green-e certified alternative energy credits and through its support of Carbonfund.org's CarbonFree’ program.

Recycled and outdoor-ready. Impressed with the durability of components used in their previous business—creating skateboard parks for municipalities—one group of entrepreneurs started an outdoor furniture business. Loll Designs of Duluth, MN, uses the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from recycled plastic milk jugs to create outdoor furniture and the paper-based composite Richlite (certified by the Greenguard Environmental Institute) for its tabletops.