Jun 9 2008
Conventional wisdom assumes 'green' products also are boring, bland ... or worse ... downright ugly. Guess what: Conventional wisdom is misguided.
As commitment to environmental responsibility continues to grow, the need has also increased for better looking and better designed products with sustainable attributes, especially those we see and work with every day, such as office furnishings and lighting. Companies want to go green, but they want to do it in style.
To meet these increasing needs, manufacturers have started to work closely with the contract design industry to solve the conundrum of how to create products that look great but also are environmentally preferred.
Experts at the Sustainable Style Foundation stress the world is full of opportunities "to live well, do good and look fabulous". So today, implementing environmentally responsible practices in the workplace doesn't mean you have to sacrifice aesthetics or functionality to do what's right. You can have the best of both worlds.
Upholstered furniture now has green elements, with chairs, sofas and more clad in such eco-friendly fabrics as organic cotton, modal and hemp. Traditional carpets now feature more renewable natural fibers such as wool, jute and sisal, and they can be installed as tiles, providing a high recycled fiber content.
Even lighting has become increasingly "greener," with traditional incandescent bulbs being replaced by such advances as long-lasting LED technology. Consider one of the newest, most innovative task lighting products on the market - the Ninety task light from Luxo. This recent Best of NeoCon winner features cutting-edge LED technology combines sustainable attributes, better lighting ergonomics and modern design to one slim, chic package. Ninety makes a statement on an executive's desk, an open-work environment or in a trendy home office.
In fact, Ninety is the world's most energy-efficient task light as its four high-power LEDs use just 1.4 watts each and have a 45,000-hour life span. That equates to 25 years of normal office use - meaning you won't have to throw away the light source for an entire generation. The lengthy life span comes from Ninety's innovative light diode system that produces optimal light with low energy use.
"We wanted to create a light with the lowest possible energy consumption, while still combining great design, superior light output and distinct ergonomic benefits," said Luxo President Sam Gumins. "Ninety's the result."
Other notable, stylish -- and sustainable -- products in today's workplace include:
Attract(TM) Executive Seating -- Designed by Terrance Hunt and manufactured by Gunlocke, these chairs are a smart, sleek and proactive solution for swivel chair environments. Their elegant slim profile is ideal for tighter, smaller spaces in conference room settings or the ever-decreasing office footprint. Yet these chairs are made up of significant portions of recycled steel and have received the Indoor Advantage(TM) Certification from Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). This means the seating collection meets or exceeds the most stringent indoor air quality standards.
Initiate(R) panel system with Nature Core(TM) -- Sophisticated. Stylish. Sustainable. These three words aptly describe the Initiate panel system with Nature Core from The HON Company. This flexible, patent-pending workstation solution (better known as a cubicle) delivers aesthetic impact with true environmental responsibility.
Its panel substrate, Nature Core, is made from a blend of synthetic fibers and an annually renewable agri-fiber, kenaf. The system recently won a 2008 Platinum ADEX award for design excellence and also was the first panel system to receive the Indoor Advantage(TM) Gold certification from SCS.
Square(R) modular tiles -- When you have floors that move - reusability - that's the true form of recycling. Square resilient floor tiles from Johnsonite(R) are designed to install so they can easily be moved and re-used. These vinyl tiles deliver a high-performance sustainability solution, as they require far less use of harsh cleaning chemicals and water as well as energy- absorbing maintenance efforts.
FloorScore(TM) certified to also meet indoor air solutions, these high- performance acoustic modular tiles come in five contemporary designs to create warm, welcoming office interiors that can complement any décor. Whether they are rich, natural colors or wood grain-like textures replicating teak or mahogany, Square tiles provide complementing finishing borders and accessories to create powerful effects in most any contemporary space.
These products represent a mere sampling of the stylish, sustainable options available for furnishing today's environmentally friendly workplace. Now, it truly is possible to have an office that's green and looks good.