Formaldehyde - A Bad Chemical Being Phased Out

Beginning in January 2009, the California Air Resources Board will begin phasing out formaldehyde from being used in the manufacture of fiberboard, plywood and other products prominently used in the making of office furniture.

According to the press release 08-90: "All businesses that manufacture, sell, use or supply composite-wood products to California will be subject to aspects of the regulations. These businesses include panel manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers, and fabricators of finished goods. Only composite-wood products that meet the standards may be used in the fabrication of finished goods, such as furniture, cabinets, etc. once the sell-through provisions expire. The regulation allows for current stocks of non-compliant composite-wood inventories to be sold for a period of time in California."

"The regulations are expected to increase the cost of four foot by eight foot panels by one to two dollars but they will dramatically reduce the public's exposure to this carcinogen. Phase-one will cut formaldehyde emissions by 180 tons-per-year and phase-two another 500 tons-per-year." Phase 2 will be phased in by 2012.

This may have a big impact on furniture imported from Asia, as these regulations will be the most strictly in existence.

Photo of medium density fiberboard from Wikipedia. I also told about how fiberboard is used in the construction of wood and laminate furniture in my previous post Laminate or Wood Furniture - What is the Difference?

SRK

I Don't Want My Back To The Door

"I hate having my back to the door." This is a constant refrain I here from cubicle dwellers. Gunslingers like Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name never liked doing it in the old west. And according to Dragon Feng Shui, "Facing a wall can make it seem as though you will never get ahead, as your progress is blocked." They recommend a mirror. But we can show you how to face the door without using mirrors.

With a few extra planning steps. It is a snap to configure your cubicles so that you can work on the computer and not have your back to the opening.

Just place the corner on the wing panel as shown in the first photo of Steelcase Answer cubicles. As an added benefit, this configuration results in more workspace for the person using the cube than the standard back-to-the-opening configuration. You will need to figure out how to bring power out to the corner. This can add to the expense. Of course, a cheap solution would be a long plug strip.

If the cube is at least 8x8, you can use a 36" corner and a 24" return surface to get workspace to the right of the corner. This still leaves a three-foot opening.

Another idea is to use a curved straight surface that is slightly wider on the end nearest the opening. This work especially well in smaller cubes like 6x8. In these days of flat screen monitors, you really don't need the depth of a corner worksurface to accommodate the monitor. See the second photo of Teknion Leverage cubicles.

If you can't reconfigure your cube, Dragon Feng Shui has more tips.

SRK

What the heck is a pedestal?

Being an Office Furniture Geek, I often slip into "furniture-ese", that obscure lingua franca of my fellow furniture shleppers. One of the primary terms in this language is the term pedestal.

Pedestals, BBF on the left and FF on the right.

A pedestal is a small set of file drawers that sits under a desk, or in a cubicle it sits under the work surface. Normally about 15 inches wide and 28 inches or less tall, they typically come in two varieties. Box/Box/File (BBF) or File/File (FF). A BBF is a 3 drawer pedestal that has two 6 inch tall (or box) drawers and one twelve inch tall (or file) drawer. A FF pedestal has two file drawers that are 12" tall.

Box drawers store your pencils, calculator and other small items. My Mom used to call this the junk drawer. The uncharacteristically clearly-named file drawer is for filing.

Just to confuse the issue, some people call a Box/Box/File a 6/6/12 and a File/File a 12/12. There are also B/F files with just two drawers of 6 and 12 inches, respectively. These tend to hang from the worksurface which makes them a suspended pedestal. Suspended meaning it is attached to the worksurface and does not touch the floor. Also there are mobile pedestals, which have wheels. And freestanding pedestals that are not attached to the worksurface above them. Some pedestals can have a pad on top and double as a guest chair in a pinch.

Below is a photo of what most people think is a pedestal.

Open versus Collaborative Environments

Whenever I am planning spaces for customers the issue of privacy versus openness comes up. Do we want our people to collaborate in an open environment? Or do we want more privacy so people can concentrate and do their work?

This often comes up as an issue of tall panels versus short. But it also incorporates, cubicle size, station orientation (Do I sit with my back to the opening or facing the opening?), who gets private offices and common areas like conference rooms, "all-hands areas" and informal "bean bag" areas.

Mark Erickson from Mark Erickson and Associates says it involves hi-tech versus hi-touch. "People often think they are communicating, when they are really only talking through their computers. The contact with other people is often missing."

With Mark's help, we came up with three phrases, probably not original, that describe the scenarios we see most often.

CAVE - where private offices and/or large cubicles, 8x8 or larger, with tall walls of at least 66 inches in height are used. Conference rooms are available for meetings as well.

CAVE and COMMONS - with tall cubes or mixed-height cubes where open areas are liberally interspersed throughout the space. These can be both formal conference rooms and informal areas for ad-hoc meetings.

OPEN COLLABORATIVE - with typically smaller cubes with height of less that 53" so that you can see throughout the space when standing. These may also include areas just loaded with tables. Open Collaborative spaces often have lot's of conference rooms for private meetings as well. (Above; Photo of Teknion workstation at Zazzle.)

I will be profiling different users in future blogs to point out the plusses and minuses of each design. Stay tuned.

SRK

Remanufactured Furniture

A Wall Street Journal Article titled "In With The Old", details the process of reconstruction as a green solution to both customers and producers. Furniture is featured prominently in the article.

The article describes three main processes that are encompassed by the term reconstruction: recycling, refurbishing and remanufacturing.

Recycling is breaking down products into their various components and then reconstituting them into another or similar product.

Refurbishing takes an existing product and restores it to its original condition.

Remanufacturing is like refurbishing but it aims to make the product better than the original. In the case of cubicles for instance it may add updated fabrics, finishes or features not in the original.

This process is very common the cubicle world. My experience is that the customer would save 25 to 40 percent over similar new product.

SRK

Fight Terrorism While Buying Cubicles

The U.S. is under severe pressure to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. This isn't just to keep prices down at the pump. It directly affects world politics with regard to the support of terrorism by Islamic Fundamentalists like Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Every time we buy oil from the Saudi's, we are shipping money to them. They in turn fund these groups by financing Islamic fundamentalist madrassas (schools) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many of these schools are where young people are taught the fundamentalist teachings which later make them more likely to join these terrorist organizations.

These ideas are outlined in great detail in the books Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Oliver Relin.

As Americans, every purchase we make has an effect on the world. If you want to choke off the supply of money going to these organizations, the best thing you can do is buy items that use as little petroleum in their transport and manufacture as possible.

Most office furniture these days is manufactured off-shore, primarily in China. The manufacturing process alone is petroleum intensive. But the transportation of those items to the U.S., is also petroleum based.

By purchasing previously-used furniture locally, you can eliminate almost all of the petroleum consumption. Another option is to purchase locally refurbished product, eliminating the long-haul transportation and most manufacturing.

One new line of furniture, GQA Furniture, is produced from over ninety percent repurposed content. Cubicles are recovered with fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. Pedestals and all other metal are repainted using water-based environmentally sound painting practices. Worksurfaces are used surfaces that are turned upside-down and re-laminated. They are then edged with polypropylene edge banding. All the work is done locally to reduce transportation costs. Right now GQA is just being rolled out in Northern California, with plans to expand to the larger market soon.

Whoever thought you could be a Patriot while buying a cubicle?

SRK

LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

LEED is a set of standards originally intended to promote the use of environmentally progressive and sustainable techniques in construction. As it applies to furniture, there is no clear standard at this time although it appears that several of the larger furniture manufacturers are doing their best to get specs written around their products.

In its pure form, LEED would have encouraged, the reuse and reworking of materials for the lowest possible impact on the resources of the planet. Of course it is very difficult for large manufacturers of building materials and furniture to produce what they are used to producing, when they are told not to produce it.

Instead, as I did a cursory examination of the specs as they evolved from one version to the next, I see more things getting LEED credits (More credits, higher score) for things like limiting off-gassing and 5% Resource Reuse. For instance, in LEED-NC Version 2.1, you get 1 point for 5% resource reuse and another for 10% resource reuse, but not a single point more for 100% resource reuse. So someone making a chair using 100% recycled materials would get the same credit for these items as someone making a chair with only the arms being from recycled content.

In the end, I suspect that one will have to have a high LEED score to be considered for large government and commercial projects. To get the high LEED score, one will have to submit their products to some certified provider who will charge an outrageous sum to provide the certification. Then the 10% recycled chair will have a LEED score, while a used chair from a local supplier will not. The small local supplier will not be able to afford the certification. So the 10% chair will win the bid and the used chair will go to the dump.

Probably not what LEED was originally intended to do. With a few tweaks I think LEED could be a powerful force in reducing our countries dependence on foreign oil while helping green the planet. By encouraging the re-use of materials more local labor will be employed, keeping U.S. dollars at home. The impact on our environment in both the reduction of waste and off-gassing could be substantial. Hopefully LEED will be reworked to give even more points for higher percentages of re-used content.

SRK

Laminate or Wood - What's the difference?

Desks are usually made out of wood or laminate. Generally wood is more expensive, but not always. What's the difference between wood and laminate?

To start with almost all office furniture these days is made from a thin top surface applied on a substrate of fiberboard or particle board. In other words, your wood desk isn't made from a solid piece of wood or a few boards pieced together. It probably has a piece of particle board with a very thin sheet of wood veneer or plastic laminate. There are countless grades of particle board, veneers and laminates with detailed differences which I will not go into here, but might in a future blog.

After this sheet of particle board with a surface of veneer or laminate is put together, it is banded around the edge with another piece of wood or some type of plastic edge. These pieces are then put together to make a desk.

Wood veneer is actual wood. (See photo of DFm wood desk above.) It is sliced in very thin sheets, often somewhere between 1/16 and 1/8 inch thick. Almost any wood species can be used. Most popular in the U.S. are cherry, mahogany, walnut and maple. Usually a matching edge of wood is put on the edge of the top. More expensive desks use thick pieces of this wood edge banding, making for a very durable edge. The whole thing can be stained and finished just like a solid piece of wood. It is also as sensitive to damage as any other piece of wood.

Laminate is made of resin, paper and plastic. The paper can have a multitude of patterns, including wood patterns. The resulting laminate surface is applied to the fiberboard in a similar fashion to veneer. The edge is usually a PVC, plastic or polypropylene strip glued to the particle board. Laminate tops are generally more durable than wood. Resisting water, heat and impact better depending on the quality of the laminate. Also, you can get a very consistent look with laminate from one desk to the next. Where-as wood can very, expecially if a new piece is ordered after a long period of time. (Photo of laminate desk below.)

There is a less expensive product often referred to as melamine that is cheaper and less durable than laminate. It is difficult to see the difference at fist look.

So which is better? It depends what you want. If you want a unique finish, warm touch or opulent look, veneer usually does that better. If you want a durable, consistent less expensive piece, you might consider laminate.

Just to confuse the issue, you can also have a laminate top with a wood edge.

Filing Proficiently Saves Money and Space

Sometimes it amazes me how much air people file in their file cabinets. Why would someone want to pay good money for a file cabinet and then have it take up valuable floor space and not fill it up? I guess they just want to keep furniture dealers like me in business by buying more files.

A classic example is a 36 inch wide lateral file. If you are like most people and file letter-size hanging-files, you should never buy a 36 wide file cabinet. Let me explain.

A lateral file is a file cabinet that is wider side-to-side than it is deep front-to-back. (See photo at right.) Typically 18 to 20 inches. They come in three widths, 30, 36 and 42. The most efficient way to file in lateral file is front-to-back, rather than side-to-side.

A hanging letter-sized folder is typically 13" wide. The dimensions of a file drawer will be typically 16" deep on a 18"deep lateral file. The width of the drawer will be 39" on a 42" wide lateral file and 33" on a 36" wide lateral file.

To measure how much filing fits in a drawer is easy. In a 36" wide file you get 33" of filing side-to-side. Since a hanging file is 13" deep, side-to-side filing results in the back 3" of the drawer empty, filing air. If you hang your files front-to-back you get two rows 16" deep or 32" of filing. But the middle 6" of the drawer file air.

A 30" wide lateral file drawer would have also 32" of front-to-back filing for less cost and floor-space than the 36". It files no air in the middle.

A 42" wide lateral file is the big winner though. Side-to-side filing gets you 39" per drawer, although you still file some air in the back. But front-to-back you can fit three rows of 16" for 48" total. 50% more filing than the 36" file for only 17 percent more floor space taken up and now air filed.

Conclusion, spend a little more and get a 42" wide lateral file with front-to-back filing. Make sure you get at least 4 drawer high as well, as long as you don't need to put it under a desk top (2 drawer) or want to have a standing height counter on the top (3 drawer).

Filing Chart Per 18" deep drawer
STS - Side-to-side
FTB - Front-to-back

30W - 27" STS, 32" FTB
36W - 33" STS, 32" FTB
42W - 39" STS, 48" FTB

Shown at right is a 42W lateral file drawer with front-to-back filing.

Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.

Green Furniture - What does that mean?

What do people mean when they say furniture is green? I am not talking about the color. I mean the green as in earth-friendly. To me, the most green solution is re-using furniture, that is bought locally. See my post about New vs. Used Furniture. Let's look at the shades of green.

If you want green, you also should look at where and how new items are made. An item made in China, under lower controls on pollution and waste produced is also shipped thousands of miles before it reaches its final location in the U.S. There are many products manufactured primarily in the U.S., but they often cost more because of the
extra restrictions and higher labor costs.

Lot's of manufacturers of new furniture tout their sustainability and green credentials. But basically, if something is manufactured and transported, it burns energy and probably consumes other resources. There are some nice efforts to make items from recycled products, like TerraTex a fabric made from 100% recycled materials.

Other strategies include making a product recyclable. But in this case, the onus is on the purchaser to properly dispose of the product at the end of its life or usefulness. Often, breaking an item down into it's recyclable elements costs more than it is worth.

In my opinion, the greenest solution is to reuse, purchasing from a local source. This means finding good quality used furniture. A close second is locally remanufactured furniture using as much used content as possible. Remanufactured furniture takes used and spruces it up to make it have most of the characteristics of new. Kind of like a certified pre-owned car.


Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.

What is a remanufactured cubicle?

Remanufactured or refurbished cubicles typically have a combination of new and used components. Typically, you can expect that every thing you can see is new, been repainted or has new fabric. Normally, a fully refurbished cubicle will cost 20 to 30 percent less than used.

Advantages of refurbished cubicles are:

1. Quick lead time - usually 2 to 3 weeks
2. "Green" solution - re-used panels and other components
3. Choice of colors, finishes and fabrics
4. Cost savings from new
5. Similarly priced add-on components for future use
6. Any size and height available

There may be a few disadvantages to refurbished versus new. For instance, the price differential narrows or disappears on larger jobs as the manufacturers of new cubicles get more aggressive with pricing. Also, there are limited choices available for refurbishing. Newer systems are not available in ample quantities to be used as raw materials for refurbishing. The most common systems available include:

1. Herman Miller Action Office
2. Haworth Unigroup
3. Steelcase Avinir
4. Teknion TOS

What components are typically new, used or refurbished?

1. Panels - New fabric.
2. Panel Trim and Top Caps - Repainted or new.
3. Base trim - Repainted, new or occasionally used
4. Overhead Cabinets - New Fabric, Repainted or new
5. Lights - Repainted
6. Pedestals (filing) - Repainted or new
7. Worksurfaces - New or Used
8. Electrical - New or Used

Make sure to ask your refurbisher what items are new, used or refurbished. The more used (or as-is) components there are, the more you will need to see the product before purchasing. Also, the lower the price should be. Some try to just put new fabric on a used cubicle and call it refurbished. I call this a "refabricked" cubicle.

Finally, ask to see an installation before you buy. This can give you a good idea of the quality of the vendor's work.

Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.

New vs. Used Cubicles

What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying new versus used cubicles? There are several advantages with new and just a few with used, the biggest being substantial cost savings, usually between 75 and 50 percent discount from new. Just remember that installation costs are the same or maybe even higher with used. The product may have to be pulled from a warehouse or trailer and transported to site.

Advantages of Used Cubicles:

1. Significant cost savings
2. Immediate availability
3. Local source saves freight costs
4. More "green" - Reusing existing material rather than burning natural resources.

Advantages of New Cubicles:

1. Choice of finishes and fabrics
2. Any size and height available
3. Additional matching cubicles available in the future at similar cost
4. Manufacturer's warranty
5. Up-to-date aesthetics
6. Easier to reconfigure in the future due to product availabilty

Of course, there are always refurbished cubicles. I will discuss this in another post.

Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.

Ergonomic Desk Set Up - Why Spend the Money?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that data-entry workers missed an average of five days of work and secretaries missed an average of 4.5 days due to repetitive strain injury in 2002. This translates into $900 for a $52,000 per year employee. Not to mention costs for replacement workers and increased insurance premiums.

If you have intensive computer use employees like programmers or others typing at a keyboard all day there are a few things you can do, probably for well under $900.


Make sure they have a good chair ($185-$450), good and well-positioned monitor ($185 to $624 for a 19" to 24" flat screen) and that these along with their keyboard are at the right position (Free to $200 for a consultation and remedial labor). You can add a monitor arm for between $185 and $300 so that they can position comfortably and change frequently as required for different task. Total ranges from $755 to $1574. The solutions will last for at least five years. Saving an average of at least $4500 for a $52,000 per year employee and a lot more for most.

To do something for free, check out the OSHA website for ergonomic positioning and pass along to your employees. Though free, this simple action may save your business a large amount.

Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc

How many people will fit in this office space?

I am often asked how many people will fit in an office space when a broker or customer is considering taking it. Off course, without knowing what size offices and cubicles and many other issues, there is no exact answer. But there is a rule-of-thumb I use that is usually pretty close.

I call it five-per-thousand. Five people for every one thousand square feet of usable space seems to be a pretty good rule. Usable space is the space you are actually occupying, not counting load factors like common (shared with other tenants) hallways, lobby, bathrooms and other things often added into the "rentable" square footage you are paying for.

As an example, if you are considering a 20,000 square foot space. Multiply five times the number of square feet in thousands. Twenty times five is one hundred. So about one hundred people will fit in a 20,000 space.

Mitigating factors can push this number off. So if the space contains warehouse space, labs, an excessive number of private offices or a grandiose lobby with spiral staircase and customer lounge, you might not get so many people in the space.

Also, you might want to think about parking. If the building only gives you three spaces per thousand square feet, you might be out of parking before every seat is occupied. Or do like Google and hire a fleet of buses to get people from public transit to the office.

Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.