BuildingGreen.com has a list of Green Furniture & Furnishings products and considerations.
Link: BuildingGreen.com - Green Product Category: Furniture & Furnishings
The introduction of furnishings that off-gas hazardous chemicals can undo all the care given to using “clean” building materials. Furniture and furnishings incorporate many separate products and all of the issues that go with them. As a result, they can be a significant source of IAQ problems—coming from binders in wood composites such as particleboard, from finishes used on the products, from flame retardants used in foam cushions, and from adhesives used to assemble the products.
Those items incorporating fabric, such as upholstered furniture and workstations, can also collect dirt and airborne contaminants, releasing them later.
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Interior Design finds that the top 100 Giants are making sustainability an important component in their projects.
Link: Giants: Green - 6/1/2008 - Interior Design.
The design community is on an eco-minded roll, as evidenced by the 2008 top 100 Interior Design Giants. Half the firms on the list have 10 or more LEED-accredited professionals on staff. As for last year's projects, a handful of which are shown here, 77 Giants specified green products—most often, that product was carpet. How's that for low impact?
- 70% of the Top 100 Giants include sustainable design in their mission statement
- In total, the 2008 top 100 Giants specified more than $5 billion worth of green products last year
- 40 of these Giants specified at least $5 million worth of green products
- 35% of all interior products specified in 2007 by the top 100 giants were green
- On average, the top 100 giants have 13 LEED-accredited professionals on staff
- Close to 33% of all projects the top 100 giants work on followed LEED guidelines
- 30 of these giants say at least 40% of their projects last year followed LEED guidelines
- 77% of the top 100 giants report that they, not the client, usually take the initial step in making a project sustainable
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Mairi Beautyman at Interior Design magazine describes Visionaire, a tower that includes solar panels, wind power, and an innovative water treatment system.
Link: "America's Greenest" Residential High-Rise Unveiled in New York - 12/17/2008 - Interior Design

Photo courtesy of Stedila Design
New York's skyline was recently graced by a new green residential tower, billed as "America’s Greenest High-Rise Condominium."
Expected to land LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the 35-story Visionaire is designed by architect Rafael Pelli of Pelli Clark Pelli Architects and developed by the Albanese Organization, in partnership with Starwood Capital. Interiors of the 251 studio-to-three bedroom residences are designed by interior designer Tim Button of Stedila Design. Visionaire is located in Battery Park City.
Pelli's design focuses on green innovation. The tower will feature solar panels, wind power, a high-efficiency air filtration system, and programmable thermostats and kitchen exhaust systems. Combined, the green features are expected to slash energy consumption by 35 percent, compared to similar code-compliant buildings. A savvy water treatment system will recycle water throughout the building, using it for an HVAC system cooling tower, and rainwater will be collected to irrigate two rooftop gardens.
Continue reading "LEEDing Edge Residential High-Rise Unveiled in New York" »
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