CHICAGO - Nucraft Furniture Company, known for its meticulously crafted office furniture, announced that its Flow XT Conference Table has received the first Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) in the North American furniture industry, independently certified by SCS Global Services (SCS). The EPD, a transparent disclosure of environmental performance based on life cycle assessment (LCA), is on display this week at NeoCon 2013, North America's largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiors, in the Nucraft showroom at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

"Nucraft has a longstanding commitment to sustainability, as evidenced by our selection of furniture construction materials and our many certifications," said Bob Bockheim, Nucraft President. "We are pleased to be able to provide even greater environmental transparency to our customers through this new Environmental Product Declaration."

EPDs are increasingly popular in the green building and commercial interior design sectors as a new method for informing customers about the environmental performance of products. EPDs are now being reviewed for potential inclusion in industry environmental rating systems, such as LEED v4.

Prepared in conformance with international standards (ISO 14025), EPDs describe the LCA study conducted, and provide LCA results for selected environmental impact categories. The specific categories reported are determined by the published Product Category Rules (PCR) under which the EPD is published. The Nucraft Flow XT Conference Table EPD reports results for five such categories: Global Warming Potential over 100 years, Photochemical Oxidation Creation Potential (i.e., smog), Acidification Potential (i.e., acid rain), Stratospheric Ozone Formation Potential (i.e., ozone hole), and Eutrophication Potential (i.e., depletion of oxygen in water bodies caused by pollution). It is now publicly available for review in the SCS Green Products Database (scsglobalservices.com/green-products).

"Through the publication of its Environmental Product Declaration, Nucraft has taken one more step to establish its position as an environmental leader in its industry," said Stowe-Hartridge Beam, Managing Director of the SCS Environmental Certification Services division. SCS, an established third-party certification body, is an EPD Program Operator.

In addition to pursuing and publishing this EPD, Nucraft has taken a number of steps by which it has gained independent recognition under some of the most widely recognized certifications in the industry. For instance, Nucraft is a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certified manufacturer, and operates a manufacturing facility that is LEED-NC Silver certified. In addition, Nucraft offers BIFMA level® certified products, its casegoods meet the ANSI/BIFMA x7.1 Furniture Emission Standards for indoor air quality, and all tables can be specified for FSC certified wood.

SCS Global Services (SCS) (formerly Scientific Certification Systems), has been a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability certification, auditing, testing and standards development for nearly thirty years. SCS programs span a wide cross-section of sectors, recognizing exemplary performance in natural resource management, green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, retailing and more. SCS is a Certified B Corporation™, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practice. Originator of the EPD concept, SCS understands the importance of getting the science right while remaining cost-effective. SCS certifies EPDs against existing Product Category Rules (PCRs), and is driving the development of new PCRs based on the most advanced LCA available today.

Nucraft, founded in 1944, creates finely designed, inventive, and meticulously crafted furniture for conference rooms, lobby and reception areas, private offices, and training areas. Its furniture provides image-conscious organizations with solutions that elevate the aesthetics and performance of their facilities. Nucraft's Flow XT Conference Table comes in many dimensions, and features a full range of innovative technology accommodation options, including retrofittable power and data units and adjustable/expandable base options, to address the rapidly changing technology requirements of conference rooms. A broad palette of finishes and component options, all expressed through elegant design details, allows Flow to satisfy a full range of aesthetic requirements.

Source: SCS Global Services