CENTER FOR BUSINESS
AS AN AGENT OF WORLD BENEFIT

Bamboo Hardwoods, founded in 1990, operates a successful and environmentally sustainable company that is working to slow the degradation of natural resources. By using bamboo (which is a grass) as an alternative source material for flooring, the company has demonstrated that deforestation of traditional hardwoods can be prevented. The company values its relationships with employees and suppliers, and actively promotes their well being.

Furniture manufacturing is a messy business that produces lots of waste. Yet Herman Miller Inc has made it a goal, not just to reduce waste, but to entirely eliminate it. This commitment is more impressive because it originated as a grass-roots effort. The company consistently develops technological and organizational innovations that should lead to "total footprint elimination."

Interface, a highly regarded eco-conscious company, and one of the largest manufacturers of commercial flooring in the world, has created the industry's first post-consumer recycled polyester commercial fabric. Terratex® is made from 100% recyclable or renewable material, manufactured using increasingly sustainable processes, made to meet or exceed industry standards for quality and performance, and recyclable or compostable at the end of it's useful life. Interface believes Terratex makes an impact, not an imprint, on the environment.

Interface began the QUEST (Quality Utilizing Employee Suggestions and Teamwork) program in 1995 to identify, measure and eliminate waste. Since then, associates have contributed valuable suggestions to improve the efficiency of the equipment and processes. To date, the program has generated significant savings for the company. In 2001, Interface took QUEST a step further by engaging areas of the company, such as Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, that previously had not been as involved. Rather than hold each facility to generic guidelines, individual Interface facilities are encouraged to discover ways to reduce waste that are unique to them. Interface is expanding the breadth of the program and encouraging involvement and accountability at all levels of its operations.

KBA, a landscape architecture and environmental design firm, practices “restorative redevelopment.” This holistic approach calls for reclaiming and renewing existing property, and promotes economic development, sustainable design and ecological restoration. The company encourages learning from past practices in order to improve planning and land development.

As an industry leader in the design and manufacture of air conditioners, Lennox International has not been content to rest on its laurels. The company recently came out with the quietest, most energy efficient unit on the market. In addition, this unit uses a refrigerant that does not deplete the ozone. The new unit is actually ahead of the curve in terms of meeting government requirements, while Lennox maintains a healthy bottom line.

Scrapile is a furniture company that has created its business model based on the principles of reuse, rediscover, and re-purpose. Wood that is ‘waste’ for other companies is the raw material for scrapile furniture. This has helped in arresting the flow of discarded wood into the landfills while generating innovative products. This benefits Scrapile by allowing them to procure raw materials free of cost for manufacturing furniture, while clients gian from reducing their garbage bill by donating the scrap, and the environment id better off by decreased dumping of waste wood in the landfills.

Sustainability in architectural design is what fuels the creativity at Ten Directions Design. By employing practices like Not-So-Big House Approach, Sustainable Design, and Indoor Air Quality, the firm lives up to its name, taken from the ten directions of Buddha Land described in one of the principal works of Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra. The name implies multidimensionality and thus refers to the three-dimensional nature of this ‘green’ architectural firm’s work. Combining the analysis of a house with an understanding of the needs of the client, the firm creates a space that is a delight for the client and is friendly to the environment.