Furniture miles

Calculating food miles is a sure method of buying from sustainable and ethical sources. This form of analysis is now being applied to workplace furniture, and this article looks at the concept of 'product miles' in relation to office furniture.

The concept of product miles aims to illustrate how much energy goes into getting a product to the customer, a notion first aired as 'food miles'. Product miles are not a complete answer however, but many think that it is the best yardstick we currently have.

Typically there are many 'invisible miles': the transport from factory to user (miles out), and the transport of raw materials (miles in). However, if a company makes its own shelves and drawers, 'miles in' are less than for a similar manufacturer who buys fittings from China.

Also, 'miles out' are not as simple as might appear; a simple how far is not enough, because of special trucks used to maximise capacity. And even then, overseas companies will argue that a shipboard container will have less impact per mile than a truck.

Calculating values

Some architects and designers are already viewing product miles as an answer to their problems. However, product miles are easily distorted, and this is why a Government task force has been challenged with creating an internationally common set of criteria for measurements of carbon footprint.

A good start for evaluating product miles might be the British Institute of Facilities Management's (BIFM) Sustainable FM knowledge transfer project, which aims at creating a best-practice guide to help distinguish between marketing and real, measurable claims.

Evaluate the company as a whole: this is the aim of EMAS, the EU Eco-management Audit Scheme (EMAS), which advocates the reduction of road use as one of many criteria.

However, the first move at rating individual pieces of furniture has not come from one of the big names; it has come from Chest of Drawers, a London-based supplier. They have invented a novel star-rating in which legally sourced timber gets a star, with other certifications of sustainability earning more. Product miles are included, and the customer can see the ratings for any single item. However the company states that this is new and very complex territory. Even buying locally may be too simplistic an answer, because some European manufacturers purchase timber that is sent from Western Europe to Asia for processing before being shipped back to the manufacturing plant.

The newest attempt at producing a reliable rating is from the British Contract Furnishing Association (BCFA), which has produced a spreadsheet format in which manufacturers enter weights of all materials, travelling distances in and out, energy and fuel usage, materials recycled and materials sent to landfill, etc. It is expected that this will produce a similar rating as on the Carbon Label, newly introduced by the Carbon Trust.

Current methods

Where suppliers are unable to account in detail for their energy emissions, a current tactic is to show their credentials in carbon offsetting. Carbon trading and offsetting can make sense in the short term as it allows negative factors to be offset by genuine positives. However, a supplier should be able to show how they have improved their own environmental performance before looking to offset emissions that are unavoidable.