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
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
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.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, August 11, 2008
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
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
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