Balance Newsletter

Haworth Joins Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments

ASBE Staff

MILWAUKEE, WI (March 15, 2010) - Haworth, Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of office furniture and organic workspaces, has joined the Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments, a select group of industry leaders who practice and are recognized for leadership in sustainability.

Founded in 2003, the mission of the Alliance is to transform the marketplace: to make green building best practices industry standards. To that end, it strives to raise awareness of sustainable development and promote the triple-bottom-line benefits delivered through high performance green buildings. Members include Eaton Corp., Forbo Flooring, Johnson Controls Inc., Kohler Co., KONE, Milliken & Company, Philips Lighting, USG Corporation, Watertronics, and now Haworth.

"We are extremely pleased to have Haworth join the Alliance," said Craig Zurawski, executive director of the Alliance. "From architectural elements to freestanding furniture, the company's sustainability approach to their entire product line ensures the solutions they offer are not only great in and of themselves, but also allows them to work together in a holistic environment that can be quickly, easily and inexpensively altered as needs change. This has a profound impact on the sustainability of a building throughout its lifecycle."

In addition to its commitment to creating products that contribute to a high performance green building, Haworth was invited to join the Alliance because of its recognition of sustainability as a critical part of its business strategy and its commitment to greening its own facilities and manufacturing processes.

Haworth has seven LEED-CI Gold-Certified showrooms (Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Pune, India, San Francisco, and Shanghai, China) as well as four other showrooms that are registered LEED-CI or built to LEED standards (Calgary, Alberta , Canada, New York, Toronto, Zurich, Switzerland). In addition, the company's headquarters building in Holland, Michigan, is LEED-NC Gold-Certified.

"Haworth conducts its day-to-day business using practices that result in the least environmental harm," said Todd James, vice president of Global Sales of Haworth. "We also encourage our suppliers, dealers, customers and members to seek sustainable solutions in the choices they make every day. When it comes to leaving the world a little cleaner, healthier and more plentiful than how we found it, we believe we need to manage all our assets with a view toward our future. The result is a business model that emphasizes people as much as environmental performance - otherwise known as the triple bottom line."

Haworth is well positioned to meet the demand for more sustainable products. The company's approach to product development - life cycle thinking - emphasizes the design of integrated, flexible workspace solutions in addition to stand-alone products. As technology changes how people work, Haworth's flexible interiors are poised to evolve and help lead change.

Family and privately-owned since 1948, Haworth, Inc. is a global leader in office furniture and organic workspaces, including raised access floors, moveable walls, systems furniture, seating, storage and wood casegoods. Haworth serves markets in more than 120 countries through a global network of 600 dealers. The company had net sales of US $1.11 billion in 2009. Visit them at www.haworth.com.

The Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments is a group of industry leaders who practice and are recognized for leadership in sustainability; that is economic, social and environmental responsibility. It is committed to delivering high performance sustainable solutions for the built environment. To learn more about the Alliance, its members and the green building industry, go to www.greenerfacilities.org or call 866-913-9473.