BIFMA wins ASID Innovation Award
Furniture sustainability standard approved by ANSI
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) International was honored to be notified of selection by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) this week as recipient of the 2011 ASID Innovation Award. The annual ASID awards honor the achievements of individuals and companies in the field of interior design.

level(tm) certification is a multifaceted approach to sustainability certification. Based on the ANSI/BIFMA e3 standard, level(tm) is a third-party verification program that provides manufacturers with valuable resources for evaluating and communicating the environmental and social impacts of their furniture products, company and processes. Under the level(tm) program, products and processes are evaluated based on criteria including: materials, use of energy, atmospheric impacts, human & ecosystem health, and social responsibility. Certification allows a manufacturer to ensure greater sustainability for their products and throughout their entire supply chain.

BIFMA Executive Director Tom Reardon stated, "We are delighted to receive this prestigious award. There are nearly 1000 products that have been level(tm) certified to date and the program is transforming our industry. We hope that customers are finding level(tm) to be a simple interface for grappling with the array of environmental and social impacts that need to be considered in the process of delivering increasingly sustainable products."

A complete list of all certified products, certification bodies involved with the program, consultants available to assist manufacturers, and educational/training opportunities providing more indepth knowledge of the standard are all available at www.levelcertified.org.

ASID Award winners will be recognized at Celebration during ASID@NeoCon, an awards ceremony being held on June 13, 2011 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

About BIFMA: BIFMA is a not-for-profit organization that provides an effective forum for Members to cooperate and collaborate on appropriate industry issues. As an ANSI accredited standards developer BIFMA develops voluntary product and industry standards that support safe, healthy and sustainable work environments. BIFMA also publishes key industry statistics; advocates for legislation and government regulation that have a direct impact on the health of the industry; and facilitates meaningful dialog and education to support our core services and the industry.

About ASID: The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a community of people-designers, industry representatives, educators and students-committed to interior design. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, the Society strives to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, to demonstrate and celebrate the power of design to positively change people's lives. Its more than 36,000 members engage in a variety of professional programs and activities through a network of 48 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. www.asid.org <http://www.asid.org/&gt; ASID is the Founding Sponsor of InformeDesign (www.informedesign.umn.edu), a searchable database that enables designers to engage in evidence-based design by using Research Summaries focused on design and human behavior, created and operated by the University of Minnesota.

SOURCE: BIFMA

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