Herman Miller Eames Soft Pad Chair - Environmental Product Summary - Manual

Our sustainability goals by the year 2020:
• Zero carbon footprint
• Zero landfill
• Zero hazardous waste generation
• Zero air emissions (VOCs)
• Zero process water use
• 100 percent renewable electrical energy use via renewable
energy credits and a power purchase agreement
• Company buildings constructed to a minimum LEED Silver certification
• 100 percent of sales from DfE approved products
Environmental Product Summary
Eames ® Soft Pad Chairs
Design Story: Timeless Collector’s Classics
Cloud-nine comfort meets classic design. Charles
Eames based this 1969 lounge chair on the aluminum
group design he completed 10 years earlier as a special
project for a private residence being designed by
Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard. To a light aluminum
frame and base with a slim, continuous fabric piece
slung between the frame’s side ribs Eames added
plush, 2-inch thick seat and back cushions for a softer
but equally comfortable feel.
Herman Miller’s Design Protocol
Our commitment to corporate sustainability naturally
includes minimizing the environmental impact of each
of our products. Our Design for Environment team (DfE)
applies environmentally sensitive design standards to
both new and existing Herman Miller products.
Our DfE Protocol goes beyond regulatory compliance to
thoroughly evaluate new product designs in four key
areas:
• Material Chemistry and Safety of Inputs—
What chemicals are in the materials we specify, and
are they the safest available?
• Disassembly—Can we take products apart at the
end of their useful life, to recycle their materials?
• Recyclability—Do the materials contain recycled
content, and more importantly, can the materials be
recycled at the end of the product’s useful life?
• LCA—Have we optimized the product based on the
entire life cycle?
Material Content
Components for the Eames Soft Pad chair are constructed
from aluminum, steel, fabric, foam, plastic and other
materials.
The Eames Soft Pad chair is up to 97 percent
recyclable at the end of its useful life.
Eames Soft Pad chairs are comprised of up to
57-percent recycled materials. This figure breaks down
to 31-percent post-consumer recycled content and
26-percent pre-consumer recycled content.
• Die-cast aluminum components are typically made
from more than 95-percent recycled material and
are 100 percent recyclable.
• Steel components contain approximately 35 percent
recycled content and are 100 percent recyclable.
• Most metal components have a powder-coat paint
finish that emits negligible volatile organic compounds
(VOCs).
• Plastic components are identified with an ASTM
recycling code whenever possible, to aid in returning
these materials to the recycling stream.
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® Y and Z and Eames are among the registered trademarks of Herman Miller, Inc.
® GREENGUARD is a registered trademark of the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute.
© 2012 Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan
ALUMINUM 46%
STEEL 31%
FABRIC 12%
FOAM 5%
PLASTIC 1%
OTHER 5%
POST-CONSUMER
RECYCLED CONTENT 31%
PRE-CONSUMER
RECYCLED CONTENT 26%