Herman Miller Casework - Environmental Product Summary - Manual

Our sustainability goals by the year 2020:
• Zero carbon footprint
• Zero landfill
• Zero hazardous waste generation
• Zero air emissions (VOCs)
• Zero process water use
• 100 percent renewable electrical energy use via renewable
energy credits and a power purchase agreement
• Company buildings constructed to a minimum LEED Silver certification
• 100 percent of sales from DfE approved products
Environmental Product Summary
Casework
Design Story: A System of Compatible Components
Robert Propst designed Action Office ® , the world’s first
open-plan office furniture system. When he brought
that same thinking to healthcare applications, he
created the model of a coherent system of compatible
components designed to efficiently store and transport
medical supplies and materials.
Herman Miller Casework follows the Propst blueprint
with an offering that includes a series of overhead
cabinets, storage cabinets, base units, and work sur-
faces with backsplashes. Matching finishes and inter-
changeable components allow our casework system
to complement and integrate with our movable modu-
lar product offering in virtually any healthcare setting.
Herman Miller’s environmental ethic is reflected in
Casework’s durability and use of recyclable materials.
Herman Miller’s Design Protocol
Our commitment to corporate sustainability naturally
includes minimizing the environmental impact of each
of our products. Our Design for Environment team (DfE)
applies environmentally sensitive design standards to
both new and existing Herman Miller products.
The DfE Design Protocol goes beyond regulatory
compliance to thoroughly evaluate new product
designs in four key areas:
• Material Chemistry and Safety of Inputs—
What chemicals are in the materials we specify, and
are they the safest available?
• Disassembly—Can we take products apart at the
end of their useful life, to recycle their materials?
• Recyclability—Do the materials contain recycled
content, and more importantly, can the materials be
recycled at the end of the product’s useful life?
• LCA—Have we optimized the product based on the
entire life cycle?
Material Content
Herman Miller Casework’s components are constructed
from wood, steel, aluminum, and plastic.
Casework is up to 27 percent recyclable at the end
of its useful life.
Casework is comprised of 68-percent recycled materials.
This figure breaks down to 6-percent post-consumer and
62-percent pre-consumer recycled content.
• Wood, while not technically recyclable, can be
cycled back to the natural environment, such as
through composting. The wood content in our work
surfaces and storage unit substrates is comprised
of 100-percent reclaimed wood, as certified by the
Composite Panel Associations EPP. This wood
content is made primarily of sawdust generated by
1
Y
WOOD 70%
STEEL 25%
ALUMINUM 4%
PLASTIC 1%
PRE-CONSUMER
RECYCLED CONTENT 62%
POST-CONSUMER
RECYCLED CONTENT 6%
® Y and and Action Office are among the registered trademarks of Herman Miller, Inc.
® GREENGUARD is a registered trademark of the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute.
© 20112 Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan