Herman Miller Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman - Environmental Product Summary - Manual

Environmental Product Summary
Eames ® Lounge Chair and Ottoman
Design Story: Treasured, Collected, Enduring
“Classic” is a word often applied to everything from
fast food to last week’s No. 1 pop song. For a different
perspective, consider instead the Eames lounge chair
and ottoman. Since its introduction in 1956 it has
been regarded as among the 20th century’s most
significant—and enduring—furniture designs.
Treasured by collectors worldwide and manufactured
with attention to detail (all pieces are hand-assembled),
the Eames lounge and ottoman just gets better with
time—not a bad definition for “classic.” And while it’s
true it can disassembled and its material components
recycled, the Eames lounge chair and ottoman is more
likely to be handed down to future generations.
One more important environmental fact: In 1991
Herman Miller stopped using rosewood, an endangered,
non-sustainable wood, to build its Eames lounge chair
and ottoman, and replaced it with cherry and walnut
from responsibly managed forests.
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.
The DfE Design 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 and Recyclable Content
Eames lounge chair and ottoman components are
constructed from wood, aluminum, foam, leather,
steel, and plastic.
The Eames lounge chair and ottoman are up to
65 percent recyclable at the end of their useful life.
The Eames lounge chair is up to 63 percent recyclable
at the end of its useful life. The Eames ottoman is up
to
69 percent recyclable at the end of its useful life.
The Eames lounge chair and ottoman are comprised
of
28-percent recycled materials. This figure breaks
down to 14-percent post-consumer and 14-percent
pre-consumer recycled content. The Eames lounge
chair is comprised of
27-percent recycled materials.
This figure breaks down to 14-percent post-consumer
and 13-percent pre-consumer recycled content. The
Eames ottoman is comprised of
30-percent recycled
materials. This figure breaks down to 14-percent post-
consumer and 16-percent pre-consumer recycled content.
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® Y and Z and Eames are among the registered trademarks of Herman Miller, Inc.
© 2012 Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan
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