6.28.06 | Washington, DC | The US Green Building Council (USGBC) may change its policy regarding wood in the LEED rating system, which is currently opposed by the timber industry, according to an article (“USGBC Seeks to Make LEED More Wood Friendly” by Jessica Boehland in Environmental Building News. Last fall, the USGBC’s Board of Directors asked EBN executive editor Alex Wilson to prepare a white paper with suggestions for resolving the problem. Mr. Wilson worked with a life-cycle assessment (LCA) expert, Greg Norris, Ph.D., of Sylvatica in North Berwick, ME, on the report. As of now, LEED offers “one point for the use of wood that is certified according to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards and another point for the use of ‘rapidly renewable materials,’” according to the article. Non-FSC-certified wood can be used, but it does not contribute to LEED points.
Mr. Wilson and Dr. Norris’s report suggests expanding the “rapidly renewable materials” credit “to include all biobased materials, including wood, as long as the wood is known to come from legal sources,” Ms. Boehland writes. “The second change would expand the ‘certified wood’ credit to include non-wood biobased materials that meet the highest standards of environmental performance, including waste agricultural fibers. In effect, wood certified under the timber-industry-endorsed Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) would count toward the achievement of a point under the first credit, while FSC-certified wood would count toward two points (one under each credit).” The USGBC board has accepted the paper and referred the issue to its “LEED committees to develop a resolution with member and stakeholder participation,” Ms. Boehland concludes.
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6.26.06 | Itasca. IL | Second Systems, Inc., in Itasca, IL, has formed a new division – Business Interior Solutions – that will focus on selling new furniture from manufacturers including Kimball, National, HON, and AIS. Second Systems will continue to sell used and remanufactured furniture.
Mfg. & Distr. >>
6.26.06 | LaGrange, GA | MilliCare, a provider of commercial textile and carpet care that is a business unit of global Milliken & Co., is one of five companies to receive the "Best Of" distinction in the 2006 ReBrand 100 Global Awards. MiliCare began working on its rebranding with The Moderns in 2004.
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6.26.06 | Cranbury, NJ | Dave Fleck has joined the bfi-New York Sales Team as an Account Manager. Eric Reitter has joined bfi as a sales Representative in the Parsippany office
Mfg. & Distr. >>, People >>
6.6.06 | Chicago, IL | With more than 30,000 attendees expected at this year’s NeoCon World’s Trade Fair, the cab line can be a bit daunting. However, one NeoCon exhibitor has a solution – rather than hail a taxi; why not take a pedicab? Allsteel will have a dozen brightly colored, human-powered pedicabs in and around the Merchandise Mart to take NeoCon attendees to and from the show on June 12 and 13 from 8am to 6pm
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6.23.06 | Muscatine, IA | Allsteel, a leading contract furniture designer and manufacturer, announced that its Merge™ tables were honored with the Best of NeoCon Gold award in the Conference Tables category.
Mfg. & Distr. >>, Products >>
6.23.06 | Dallas, TX | Paul Sobczak has been appointed Herman Miller’s Sales Manager for the North Texas Region. A resident of the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1992, Mr. Sobczak was most recently a Senior Field Market Manager with the Herman Miller Out and About Team sales and dealer training organization. Prior to joining Herman Miller he was the principal owner of a firm that conducted team building and leadership development programs, and before that spent ten years affiliated with Knoll in marketing, dealer development, sales and sales management. He has also been a principal and partner for a Knoll dealership in Dallas.
Mfg. & Distr. >>, People >>
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