These days, we understand that the owners of buildings, venues and other public spaces are under pressure to ensure the furniture they buy is sustainable and environmentally friendly. Sound familiar? If you’re looking to buy sustainable furniture, you’ll need to know the different types of sustainability and environmental standards – which is exactly what we cover in this guide.
What are sustainable furniture standards?
Sustainable furniture standards (also sometimes referred to as certifications or labels) are a set of criteria and requirements that are established by various third party bodies (we’ll explore these in more detail below) to ‘assess and certify’ items of furniture based on their environmental, social and health impacts.
Such standards are often based on an item of furniture’s impact across the full ‘lifecycle’ e.g. from cradle to grave.
These standards allow buyers like you to determine how sustainable an item of furniture is.
Sustainability standards can vary in what exactly they assess. Take for example:
- Multi-attribute assessments: these are standards which examine several different aspects of a piece of furniture. They are essentially ‘holistic’ standards that encompass as many sustainability factors as possible.
- Material health and safety: some sustainability standards focus on the safety of certain materials e.g. the emission of volatile organic compounds from plastics.
- Responsible sourcing of materials: other standards place a focus on the provenance of materials and whether they were sustainably sourced (e.g. and can demonstrate chain of custody etc).
- Energy efficiency/carbon footprint: still other standards examine the carbon footprint, energy use and/or resource consumption of items of furniture.
- Regional/local standards: there are also sustainability standards that are specific to certain countries/regions.
Sustainability standards, then, can be viewed as ‘tools’ which help buyers purchase furniture that meets their organisation’s sustainability priorities.
The growing demand for sustainable furniture
Does your organisation have a sustainability plan? If it doesn’t, it may soon have one.
That’s thanks to a) a growing awareness amongst both employees and customers about the importance of sustainability, and b) an increased demand for organisations to take action on sustainability (e.g. purchasing sustainable items).
In fact, the eco-friendly furniture market is set to grow considerably in the coming years. According to recent research, the market for sustainable furniture will expand by 8.6% in the years to 2030.
In response to this demand, contract furniture manufacturers have stepped up their efforts to produce eco-friendly furniture (which in many cases feature the sustainability standards that we’ll discuss below).
Here at Rosehill, we work with several manufacturers that produce explicitly ‘sustainable’ furniture.
Take NowyStyl, for example.
This European contract furniture manufacturer leads the way in sustainability. In fact, the brand won the EcoVadis Platinum Medal. This is a sustainability standard that is held by only 1% of the highest rated companies.
NowyStyl also holds the following sustainability standards and awards:
- Mobelfakta – a Swedish labelling system for sustainable furniture.
- Stena Circular Economy Award – an initiative from Stena Recycling that recognises efforts towards a circular economy.
- Büro & Umwelt – a German award that recognises commitments to resource conservation in product development and manufacture.
- CO2 Performance Ladder – a certification system that encourages manufacturers to take active steps to reduce their CO2 emissions.
- FEMB Level 3 – created by the European Federation for Office Furniture Associations, FEMB sets out sustainable manufacturing practices that furniture producers must adhere to in order to receive the certification.
As you can see, NowyStyl is making stringent efforts to be as sustainable as possible. And, it’s not the only contract furniture manufacturer doing so.
Other manufacturers that have embraced sustainable design and manufacturing practices include KI, Origin, Smile Plastics and many many more.
If you’d like to know more about sustainable contract furniture brands, then the Rosehill team will be happy to help. Simply contact us and one of our team will be able to take you through your options.
What are the different sustainability certifications?
Below, you’ll find the most common sustainable furniture certifications that are commonly applied to items of contract furniture.
The FSC label
One of the most widely known sustainability certifications is the FSC label. Created by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the FSC is used to help buyers purchase furniture that has been manufactured from sustainably-sourced wood.
In order to provide both manufacturers and consumers with a greater degree of choice and flexibility, the FSC actually offers three different labels:
- FSC 100%: this is the highest level, whereby all materials come from responsibly managed, FSC-certified forests.
- FSC Recycled: this FSC label is applied to items which have been manufactured from 100% recycled materials, thus reducing resource consumption.
- FSC Mix: this third FSC label applies to items of furniture that have been made with a mixture of materials from FSC-certified forests, recycled materials, and/or FSC-controlled wood. Whilst not as stringent as FSC 100%, FSC Mix does help to mitigate the risk of the material originating from ‘unacceptable sources’.
Greenguard and Greenguard Gold
You’ve just read about one of the most well-known sustainability certifications – now it’s time to read about one of the least known.
Greenguard and Greenguard Gold are a set of certifications that have been developed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to identify and measure the chemical emissions emitted by items of furniture.
Therefore, items of furniture that possess the Greenguard certification have low levels of chemical emissions.
As the name implies, Greenguard Gold goes beyond simply measuring chemical emissions, but looks at health-related criteria, too. Furniture that meets the Greenguard Gold standard emits fewer than 360 volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Greenguard Gold certified furniture also complies with the requirements of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) standard method for the testing and evaluation of volatile organic chemical emissions from indoor sources – also known as California Section 01350.
FEMB Level
A European-specific sustainability certification, the FEMB Level certification was developed in 1972 by the European Federation for Office Furniture Associations.
The certification sets out a clear standard for environmentally friendly and sustainable manufacturing processes among European Union based contract furniture manufacturers (although it has since been adopted by companies outside the EU).
In order to receive the FEMB certification, manufacturers must be inspected and audited by an independent third party. Depending on the findings, the manufacturer will be awarded a certain ‘level’ FEMB certification e.g. FEMB Level 1, FEMB Level 2, or FEMB Level 3.
BIFMA LEVEL®
Another sustainability certification that has been developed by an industry association is the BIFMA certification.
Developed by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), an American based standards body, the BIFMA LEVEL® certification was introduced in 2009.
As per BIFMA themselves, ‘The LEVEL® mark attests that the product, the manufacturing facility, and the company responsible for the product brand, have been evaluated against the multi-attribute criteria of the ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard by independent, third-party certifiers’.
LEED ID+C
Although perhaps well known as a green building standard, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (the company behind the LEED certification), has introduced a certification for interior design.
LEED for Interior Design and Construction (LEED ID+C) allows project teams to develop indoor spaces that are better for the planet and for people.
The LEED ID+C certification is primarily aimed at office fit out projects, but can also be applied to retail and hospitality fit out projects, too.
ECOLOGO
First developed in 1988, ECOLOGO is another certification from Underwriters Laboratories (the developers of the Greenguard labels).
ECOLOGO is a multiattribute certification that looks at the complete life-cycle of an item of furniture.
All products that receive the ECOLOGO certification have passed every single one of the listed criteria associated with ECOLOGO. These criteria include; materials, energy, manufacturing and operations, health and environment, product performance and use, and product stewardship and innovation.
CarbonCare
There’s lots of talk about manufacturers reducing their carbon footprints, but now there’s a certification to help them prove it.
CarbonCare was developed as a means of recognising companies and organisations that are tackling climate change and achieving carbon reduction/neutrality by ‘Measuring, Reducing and Offsetting (MRO) their carbon footprints’.
CarbonCare in fact offers several different sustainability certifications including:
- CarbonCare Label – as above, this certification is awarded to companies that are measuring, reducing and offsetting their carbon footprint.
- CarbonCare ESG Label – a certification that recognises companies that adhere to environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.
- CarbonCare Construction Label – a certification focused on the carbon footprints of construction projects.
- CarbonCare Circularity Label – focused on recognising companies that have adopted circular economy principles.
- CarbonCar Star Label – a special award that recognises exceptional efforts in the field of sustainability.
Carbon Neutral Product Certification
Conceived by Carbon Reduction Institute, the Carbon Neutral Product Certification is applied to products that are truly carbon-neutral.
This is assessed based on a full life cycle analysis of the item in question. This looks at everything from the CO2 used in the raw materials to the CO2 generated by fuel, electricity and waste as a result of production.
Certipur
This is admittedly a rather niche certification, but Certipur is a voluntary standard that has been developed to ‘advance the safety, health and environmental (SHE) performance of flexible polyurethane foams used in bedding and upholstered furniture.
In order to qualify for Certipur, manufacturers must have their foams laboratory tested against a set of strict criteria.
Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program
The Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program is a stringent sustainability certification that requires applicants to prove that their products meet multiattribute criteria. These criteria include:
- Using materials that are safe for human health and the environment.
- The use of product design that incorporates material reutilisation – such as recycling or composting.
- Use of renewable energy in the manufacturing process.
- The efficient use of water (as well as the maintenance of water quality during production).
The Cradle to Cradle certification is awarded in four forms depending on how a product meets the relevant criteria. These four forms are; Cradle to Cradle Bronze, Cradle to Cradle Silver, Cradle to Cradle Gold, and Cradle to Cradle Platinum.
Global GreenTag Certified
An internationally-applicable sustainability standard, GreenTag is positioned as a product rating and certification system that is based on life cycle assessments. In order to qualify, products must pass multiple criteria, including:
- Greenhouse emission point (ISO 14067).
- Human health and eco toxicity (REACH and US EPA).
- Life cycle assessment (ISO 14040-44).
- Biodiversity and resource consumption.
- Corporate social responsibility (ethics, ILO, ISO 8000 and Devel Programs).
Recognised in over 70 countries, the GreenTag certification is already used by interior design and furniture manufacturers.
SCS Indoor Advantage
The SCS Indoor Advantage certification is an air-quality related standard which ensures that awarded products meet certain indoor air quality standards.
In a similar fashion to Greenguard, SCS Indoor Advantage has a particular focus on chemical emissions (such as volatile organic compounds). An enhanced version of the certification – SCS Indoor Advantage Gold – meets California Section 01350 IAQ standards for both residential and commercial application. It also can be applied to products beyond furniture, such as paint, carpet, and insulation.
SCS Recycled Content Certification
Also from SCS is the Recycled Content Certification which – as the name makes obvious – evaluates products made from pre-consumer or post-consumer material diverted from the waste stream.
Ultimately, receipt of the certification depends on the product/item containing at least 5% recycled content. SCS has also recently been made an ‘Endorsed Certifier’ for the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR).
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
Established in 1997, the EPD is arguably the world’s leading environmental product declaration system.
The EPD is designed to demonstrate a manufacturer’s commitment to measuring and reducing the environmental impact of their products and to report said impacts in a ‘hyper-transparent’ way.
Oeko-Tex Standard 100
The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is a label that is applied to textiles that have been tested for harmful substances.
Textiles that hold this standard will have been tested against a list of over 1,000 harmful substances and will ensure it is compliant with global regulations, including annexes XVII and XIV of the REACH directive, CPSIA, and ECHA-SVHC candidate list.
Leading contract fabric manufacturers such as Gabriel and Camira (with whom we work here at Rosehill) routinely have their fabrics tested against and approved for the Oeko-Tex Standard 100.
Looking for sustainable furniture?
Then look no further than Rosehill! We are experts at sourcing sustainable furniture for public spaces of all kinds, from education and healthcare, to culture and hospitality (and everything in between).
Our team can help you research and choose the perfect furniture for your space – and, thanks to our long-standing relationships with the UK and Europe’s leading contract furniture manufacturers – we can help you secure deals you just won’t find anywhere else.
Speak to Rosehill about your sustainable furniture needs now
For more commercial and contract furniture buying guides, advice and information, read the Rosehill blog…
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