The BIFMA e3-2008 Furniture Sustainability Standard has been developed by BIFMA, the Business and Institutional Furniture Manfuacturer's Association. As the trade association for the segment of the furniture market, they have developed sustainability standards to connect their manufacturing members with the wider market of corporations and government buyers who need to fulfill corporate social responsibility and carbon reduction footprints.
The ANSI/BIFMA standards are intended to provide manufacturers, specifiers, and users with a common basis for evaluating safety, durability, and the structural adequacy of the specified furniture, independent of construction materials. The standards define specific tests, laboratory equipment to be used, the conditions of test, and the minimum acceptance levels to be used in evaluating these products. Copies of obsolete editions of the various standards are available upon request.
The ANSI/BIFMA Safety and Performance Standards are developed by the BIFMA Engineering Committee. The standards are reviewed every five years according to guidelines established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
All accredited standards developers must follow the ANSI Essential Requirements and their own set of written procedures in the process of developing new or revising existing standards. To obtain a copy of the ANSI Essential requirements go to http://www.ansi.org. If you are interested in the procedures that BIFMA uses in developing standards you may download a copy from the following: BIFMA Revised Proc_14June07.pdf
Also, BIFMA is accredited by ANSI to be the administrator of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO Technical Committee TC-136 Furniture. This has been very useful for BIFMA in our involvement with International Standards for office furniture. However, ISO TC-136 covers ALL furniture, not just office furniture. If you have an interest in International Standards for furniture that would be other than office furniture, BIFMA would like to hear from you.
BIFMA e3-2008 Furniture Sustainability Standard and level™ Certification Program
Certified Products
BIFMA member firms Allsteel, Gunlocke, HON Company, Herman Miller, Kimball Office,
National Office Furniture and Steelcase have products that meet the standard's requirements and have received third party certification by either NSF or SCS.
BIFMA International and NSF International (NSF) announced the release of BIFMA e3-2008 Furniture Sustainability Standard to the NSF consensus ballot process and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) public comment period in June of 2008. The standard is an open, consensus based method to evaluate the sustainable attributes of furniture products. It addresses all three aspects of sustainability (environmental, economic and social) and includes criteria for evaluating human & ecosystem health, energy, natural resource and corporate social responsibility impacts. The draft standard is downloadable here:
BIFMA e3-2008.pdf.
In June of 2009, BIFMA announced the premier of the product certification program, level™. For more information, the news release is available at http://bifma.org/news/newsrelease.pdfs/level_PR_05.pdf and the level™ website is:
http://levelcertified.org
The ANSI/BIFMA standards are intended to provide manufacturers, specifiers, and users with a common basis for evaluating safety, durability, and the structural adequacy of the specified furniture, independent of construction materials. The standards define specific tests, laboratory equipment to be used, the conditions of test, and the minimum acceptance levels to be used in evaluating these products. Copies of obsolete editions of the various standards are available upon request.
The ANSI/BIFMA Safety and Performance Standards are developed by the BIFMA Engineering Committee. The standards are reviewed every five years according to guidelines established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
All accredited standards developers must follow the ANSI Essential Requirements and their own set of written procedures in the process of developing new or revising existing standards. To obtain a copy of the ANSI Essential requirements go to http://www.ansi.org. If you are interested in the procedures that BIFMA uses in developing standards you may download a copy from the following: BIFMA Revised Proc_14June07.pdf
Also, BIFMA is accredited by ANSI to be the administrator of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO Technical Committee TC-136 Furniture. This has been very useful for BIFMA in our involvement with International Standards for office furniture. However, ISO TC-136 covers ALL furniture, not just office furniture. If you have an interest in International Standards for furniture that would be other than office furniture, BIFMA would like to hear from you.
BIFMA e3-2008 Furniture Sustainability Standard and level™ Certification Program
Certified Products
BIFMA member firms Allsteel, Gunlocke, HON Company, Herman Miller, Kimball Office,
National Office Furniture and Steelcase have products that meet the standard's requirements and have received third party certification by either NSF or SCS.
BIFMA International and NSF International (NSF) announced the release of BIFMA e3-2008 Furniture Sustainability Standard to the NSF consensus ballot process and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) public comment period in June of 2008. The standard is an open, consensus based method to evaluate the sustainable attributes of furniture products. It addresses all three aspects of sustainability (environmental, economic and social) and includes criteria for evaluating human & ecosystem health, energy, natural resource and corporate social responsibility impacts. The draft standard is downloadable here:
BIFMA e3-2008.pdf.
In June of 2009, BIFMA announced the premier of the product certification program, level™. For more information, the news release is available at http://bifma.org/news/newsrelease.pdfs/level_PR_05.pdf and the level™ website is:
http://levelcertified.org
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