Green Products Sweep the Market
September 25, 2006
CHICAGO, Illinois – The industry was seeing green this past June at Neocon, as everyone seemed to be pushing their own version of environmentally friendly, sustainable products.
But what exactly does it mean to be "green?" During the show and after, we learned that there are many different ways to answer that question, and that one organization is finally coming up with a definitive industry standard to live up to.
McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) was the talk of the town at Neocon, with many now striving to achieve recognition for their product with MBDC's Cradle to Cradle™ Certification. HBF Textiles featured Gesture, a 100 percent Eco-Intelligent Polyester® (an antimony-free polyester utilizing optimized dyes) that is Cradle to Cradle certified as a "technical nutrient." Another exhibitor, Steelcase can boast that their "Think" chair was the first product ever to receive Cradle to Cradle Certification from MBDC. The "Leap" chair received a Silver Cradle to Cradle certification and is GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified.
Under review with MBDC for Steelcase is the Siento chair.
It's not just manufacturers that are jumping on the green bandwagon. They don't have much of a choice in fact, considering many of their customers (and their customers clients) are demanding it of them.
"Recycled polyester and green fabrics and textiles – that peaks our interest when people bring things in that have the GreenGuard seal," said Marcia Vanden Brink, interior design manager with HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm that specializes in healthcare design.
They were ranked as the number one healthcare design firm by Modern Healthcare's 2006 ''Annual Construction & Design Survey of Healthcare Architects."
"We've gotten more clients looking for green solutions," Vanden Brink said. "We as designers are trying to balance the product – whether it be how it performs, how it looks visually, how much it costs – with some of the green attributes."
Two vendors which Vanden Brink highlighted were DesignTex, whom she said "always has some really good green solutions," and Nora rubber flooring.
"We're seeing the use of rubber flooring as a really big trend," she said. Rubber can be used in operating rooms, is a non-PVC product, is seamless in sheets rather than squares and is resistant to stains such as betadine.
Vanden Brink said both the firm and their customers are paying close attention to "what the life of the product is going to be. Can it be turned into anything at the end of its building life?" With the Cradle to Cradle certification program, MBDC has been able to evaluate questions such as these.
"It was hard for them to tell the story of what they had gone through," said MBDC's Jay Bolus, executive vice president of the certification program, about those companies who had come to MBDC in the past to make their product more sustainable.
MBDC has been around for a decade but their certification program is only about a year old, Bolus said. This "green label" of sorts was created because it could give their customers proof that they had gone through the process with the MBDC of making their products more environmentally responsible. The certification is product specific.
With the certification program, Bolus said they are "trying to get at both the system and the product."
The program encompasses five main areas:
"We want manufacturers who are good stewards of the water shed," Bolus said. A company's use of water is evaluated, because "we think it's one of our rarest natural resources." The energy used to manufacture the product is also evaluated. "We're trying to promote the use of renewable energy. It just makes good business sense."
All chemicals used during the process are also examined to determine the product's impact on human and environmental health.
The ability of a material or a product to be a technical or biological component is also examined. Lastly, a company's treatment of its employees is also placed on the chopping block.
Once evaluated, a product might receive a silver, gold, or platinum certification.
"It's not just pass, fail. It's based on continual improvement," Bolus said. Many can achieve silver, but gold and platinum are on another level, he said.
"At the gold or platinum level you can't have any problematic substances. For silver, if you do have any, you have to have a plan to phase those out."
For silver, if a company is not using renewable energy, they must have a plan in place to switch over to it.
"I feel that consumers in general are becoming more educated on the subject and the demands on the market are shifting," said William McGovern, project designer with ForrestPerkins. "In addition, increasingly large numbers of cities are requiring that all new construction projects be LEED certified, encouraging clients and designers to be more educated on the subject."
"Yes, I try to use sustainable products when the approach and cost is effective," he said. "Since the sheer scale and design lifecycle of hospitality projects have a huge impact on the environment, it seems nonsensical to use products that are not rapidly renewable and reusable, particularly when in many cases the technology already exists. The challenge comes with trying to find sustainable products that have the look and feel expected by the luxury market. Many manufacturers are beginning to respond to the demand for sustainable luxury materials and in a lot of cases are more than eager to work with designers to develop new lines to meet these needs."
Another company that takes their commitment to traditional, natural processes very seriously is Tufenkian Artisan Carpets.
"Every part of our rugs are done by hand," said Merridy Gerlach, co-manager of the Tufenkian Oregon showroom.
"Every part of the process is done the same way it's been done for centuries," she said, from the washing, carding, spinning, dying and knotting.
She described Tufenkian rugs as "a very hands-on, traditional old-world product."
According to Gerlach, the Tibetan wool used is from Tibetan highland sheep. The dies used are Swiss metal complex dyes.
Tufenkian also established the first water purification plant in Nepal (for the water used in the washing process), to make sure that step would have no effect on the environment.
The company also created gardens around the facility to stabilize the area, Gerlach said.
Taking the "green" label to a new level is Associates III in Denver, Colorado. This design firm will publish a book this fall entitled "Sustainable Residential Interiors," based on their pamphlet entitled "Turning Green: A Guide to Becoming a Green Design Firm."
"As a green design firm, our goal is to embody earth-sustaining principles in our work, to use resources wisely, make choices that benefit our communities as well as the earth and to create nurturing, healthy interior environments," said Debbie Hindman, marketing coordinator for Associates III and one of three authors of the soon-to-be published book.
"We try to adhere to as many green design principles as we can on our projects," she said.
"Design professionals are asking for green products and materials. We're asking suppliers and manufacturers to tell us how their products are made and disposed of – about things such as the content of their products, where the materials come from, whether they are safe, whether their products are made in a healthy and supportive environment to the worker. By taking responsibility for our part and working together, we help each of us recognize our roles in sustaining the earth."
But what exactly does it mean to be "green?" During the show and after, we learned that there are many different ways to answer that question, and that one organization is finally coming up with a definitive industry standard to live up to.
McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) was the talk of the town at Neocon, with many now striving to achieve recognition for their product with MBDC's Cradle to Cradle™ Certification. HBF Textiles featured Gesture, a 100 percent Eco-Intelligent Polyester® (an antimony-free polyester utilizing optimized dyes) that is Cradle to Cradle certified as a "technical nutrient." Another exhibitor, Steelcase can boast that their "Think" chair was the first product ever to receive Cradle to Cradle Certification from MBDC. The "Leap" chair received a Silver Cradle to Cradle certification and is GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified.
Under review with MBDC for Steelcase is the Siento chair.
It's not just manufacturers that are jumping on the green bandwagon. They don't have much of a choice in fact, considering many of their customers (and their customers clients) are demanding it of them.
"Recycled polyester and green fabrics and textiles – that peaks our interest when people bring things in that have the GreenGuard seal," said Marcia Vanden Brink, interior design manager with HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm that specializes in healthcare design.
They were ranked as the number one healthcare design firm by Modern Healthcare's 2006 ''Annual Construction & Design Survey of Healthcare Architects."
"We've gotten more clients looking for green solutions," Vanden Brink said. "We as designers are trying to balance the product – whether it be how it performs, how it looks visually, how much it costs – with some of the green attributes."
Two vendors which Vanden Brink highlighted were DesignTex, whom she said "always has some really good green solutions," and Nora rubber flooring.
"We're seeing the use of rubber flooring as a really big trend," she said. Rubber can be used in operating rooms, is a non-PVC product, is seamless in sheets rather than squares and is resistant to stains such as betadine.
Vanden Brink said both the firm and their customers are paying close attention to "what the life of the product is going to be. Can it be turned into anything at the end of its building life?" With the Cradle to Cradle certification program, MBDC has been able to evaluate questions such as these.
"It was hard for them to tell the story of what they had gone through," said MBDC's Jay Bolus, executive vice president of the certification program, about those companies who had come to MBDC in the past to make their product more sustainable.
MBDC has been around for a decade but their certification program is only about a year old, Bolus said. This "green label" of sorts was created because it could give their customers proof that they had gone through the process with the MBDC of making their products more environmentally responsible. The certification is product specific.
With the certification program, Bolus said they are "trying to get at both the system and the product."
The program encompasses five main areas:
"We want manufacturers who are good stewards of the water shed," Bolus said. A company's use of water is evaluated, because "we think it's one of our rarest natural resources." The energy used to manufacture the product is also evaluated. "We're trying to promote the use of renewable energy. It just makes good business sense."
All chemicals used during the process are also examined to determine the product's impact on human and environmental health.
The ability of a material or a product to be a technical or biological component is also examined. Lastly, a company's treatment of its employees is also placed on the chopping block.
Once evaluated, a product might receive a silver, gold, or platinum certification.
"It's not just pass, fail. It's based on continual improvement," Bolus said. Many can achieve silver, but gold and platinum are on another level, he said.
"At the gold or platinum level you can't have any problematic substances. For silver, if you do have any, you have to have a plan to phase those out."
For silver, if a company is not using renewable energy, they must have a plan in place to switch over to it.
"I feel that consumers in general are becoming more educated on the subject and the demands on the market are shifting," said William McGovern, project designer with ForrestPerkins. "In addition, increasingly large numbers of cities are requiring that all new construction projects be LEED certified, encouraging clients and designers to be more educated on the subject."
"Yes, I try to use sustainable products when the approach and cost is effective," he said. "Since the sheer scale and design lifecycle of hospitality projects have a huge impact on the environment, it seems nonsensical to use products that are not rapidly renewable and reusable, particularly when in many cases the technology already exists. The challenge comes with trying to find sustainable products that have the look and feel expected by the luxury market. Many manufacturers are beginning to respond to the demand for sustainable luxury materials and in a lot of cases are more than eager to work with designers to develop new lines to meet these needs."
Another company that takes their commitment to traditional, natural processes very seriously is Tufenkian Artisan Carpets.
"Every part of our rugs are done by hand," said Merridy Gerlach, co-manager of the Tufenkian Oregon showroom.
"Every part of the process is done the same way it's been done for centuries," she said, from the washing, carding, spinning, dying and knotting.
She described Tufenkian rugs as "a very hands-on, traditional old-world product."
According to Gerlach, the Tibetan wool used is from Tibetan highland sheep. The dies used are Swiss metal complex dyes.
Tufenkian also established the first water purification plant in Nepal (for the water used in the washing process), to make sure that step would have no effect on the environment.
The company also created gardens around the facility to stabilize the area, Gerlach said.
Taking the "green" label to a new level is Associates III in Denver, Colorado. This design firm will publish a book this fall entitled "Sustainable Residential Interiors," based on their pamphlet entitled "Turning Green: A Guide to Becoming a Green Design Firm."
"As a green design firm, our goal is to embody earth-sustaining principles in our work, to use resources wisely, make choices that benefit our communities as well as the earth and to create nurturing, healthy interior environments," said Debbie Hindman, marketing coordinator for Associates III and one of three authors of the soon-to-be published book.
"We try to adhere to as many green design principles as we can on our projects," she said.
"Design professionals are asking for green products and materials. We're asking suppliers and manufacturers to tell us how their products are made and disposed of – about things such as the content of their products, where the materials come from, whether they are safe, whether their products are made in a healthy and supportive environment to the worker. By taking responsibility for our part and working together, we help each of us recognize our roles in sustaining the earth."
