Grand Rapids, MI – The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) has set a goal to train 10,000 furniture industry professionals and end-user clients by the end of 2013. As a result, interior designers, architects, facility managers and others across all industries will be able to easily identify, and confidently specify, increasingly sustainable products from more than 36 manufacturers providing solutions in casegoods, filing, storage, systems, tables and seating.

Over the past two years, BIFMA has trained over 3500 interior designers, architects, facility managers, and others on sustainability and the level certification program. This CEU training program course has been conducted across the United States and Canada, in markets large and small.

Developed in accordance with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) procedures, level is the label awarded to office furniture products that meet numerous criteria of the stringent, multi-attribute ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard. Earning the level mark requires validation by an approved third-party certification body.

“As the ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard has grown to become the #1 furniture sustainability standard used in North America, we have recognized the importance of increasing the number of level CEU sessions as well as the number of cities that they will be held in. By the end of 2013, BIFMA and our growing number of level Faculty, will have trained more than 10,000 industry professionals on the importance of and the use of the level program”, says Tom Reardon”, BIFMA’s Executive Director. “We want to increase exposure to this important sustainability standard and certification program for commercial furniture products, and will be making the training easily accessible to those industry professionals that can benefit from it”.

level establishes measurable performance criteria to address environmental and social aspects of product manufacturing throughout the supply chain, including the areas of Materials, Energy & Atmosphere, Human & Ecosystem Health, and Social Responsibility. Choosing level certified products assures that the product produced in an environmentally and socially conscious manner and comes from a responsible manufacturer.

Check the levelcertified.org website often to view upcoming course dates and times. BIFMA will continue to update this list as additional dates and locations are set.

About BIFMA’s level Certification Program

BIFMA’s level is the multi-attribute sustainability standard and third-party certification program for the commercial furniture industry. BIFMA developed level to deliver an open and holistic means of evaluating and communicating the environmental and social impacts of furniture products in the built environment. Taking into account a company’s social actions, energy usage, material selection, human and ecosystem health, along with numerous other impacts, level addresses how a product is sustainable from multiple perspectives.

About BIFMA

BIFMA is the not-for-profit trade association for business and institutional furniture manufacturers. Since 1973, BIFMA’s role has been to sponsor the development and refining of current and future standards, educate on their importance and application, and translate their necessary complexity into more easily understood and implemented formats. We also monitor the state of the industry, serve as a forum for member cooperation and collaboration, interact with international counterparts, and advocate for regulatory conditions that foster value and innovation.