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(01/04/2008) AHFA Companies Pledge Environmental Improvements

By: Jackie Hirschhaut

High Point, NC – The American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) announces that C.R. Laine, Century Furniture, Fairfield Chair, Hickory Chair, Hooker Furniture and the case goods division of La-Z-Boy all have pledged to become better environmental stewards by implementing an industry-specific environmental management system developed by AHFA.

Called “EFEC” for “Enhancing Furniture’s Environmental Culture,” the program was launched in 1999. Three of the country’s top residential furniture producers already have U.S. plants that are EFEC-registered: Stanley, La-Z-Boy Upholstery and Vaughan. Bernhardt enrolled all five of its domestic facilities, including its corporate headquarters, in EFEC in 2007 and is expected to complete the registration process early this year. Vaughan-Bassett also is in the process of completing the program.

Interest in EFEC has soared since the Alliance’s new Sustainable by Design certification program was unveiled at its 2007 Annual Meeting in Charleston, S.C., in November. Sustainable by Design is a significantly more comprehensive environmental program that calls on companies to implement sustainable business practices throughout their entire supply chain. However, companies interested in Sustainable by Design certification must first complete EFEC registration for all domestic facilities.

Becoming EFEC-registered requires a company to analyze and better understand the environmental impact of its processes, raw materials and finished products on a facility-by-facility basis. As a result of this process, EFEC-registered companies experience measurable benefits, including:

Improved regulatory compliance and better relationships with regulatory agencies;

Better management of resources and raw materials;

Reduced energy, water and waste disposal costs; and,

Improved overall operational performance and efficiency.

Environmental improvements made by EFEC-registered facilities have a local impact, as companies reduce their water and energy consumption plus improve recycling efforts.

“At the heart of EFEC is a corporate culture of conservation and environmental stewardship,” explains Bill Perdue, AHFA vice president. “Sustainable by Design extends that culture throughout the entire supply chain, so these companies have begun a process that could eventually have an impact far beyond their local communities.”

Sustainable by Design certification includes requirements for using certified wood products, conducting “life cycle analysis” of products, implementing a chain of custody program for products and components, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and assisting suppliers around the globe with sustainability programs.

“Sustainable by Design is being enthusiastically embraced by AHFA members and already has begun to impact our industry in a significant way,” Perdue points out. “The steps toward certification are challenging and require an unqualified management commitment to continual environmental improvement. We have top 100 furniture producers taking the first step – becoming EFEC registered – and that means they will be reducing their energy and water consumption, reducing their waste disposal, and managing their raw materials better in the coming year. The needle has begun to move.”

The American Home Furnishings Alliance – located in High Point, N.C., and Washington, D.C. – is the largest association of home furnishings companies in the world and represents more than 240 leading furniture manufacturers and distributors, plus about 200 suppliers to the furniture industry worldwide.