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The Great BUZZ OFF at High Point Market!

Submitted by admin on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 17:01
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Join SFC & DESIGNINGreen Leaders in front of Showplace on April 4 at 5 pm for The Great BUZZ OFF. 

Enthusiasm High for Las Vegas Market's "Brave New World Environmental Leadership Series"

Submitted by kristin on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 17:40
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Among many good reasons to attend this September's Las Vegas Market, Sept 14-17, is the opportunity to educate yourself on the latest environmental topics crucial to your home furnishing business's success.   The Brave New World Environmental Leadership Series offers the most comprehensive lineup of any market on sustainability education and events.   There are eight events.  Seven are free.  And you'll find that all the seminars take place conveniently in WMC Building B, 2nd Floor Living Green Pavilion.  That said, mark your show planner now.  

Three seminars are sponsored by the SFC:   "Shopping Green:  Las Vegas Market's New Good Guide Program" is being announced now prior to full implementation next Winter.  It will consist of window signage, showroom collateral, maps and marketing support for all verified sustainable exhibitors

   "Studying Green:  2009 Consumer Study Results" presents the most up-to-date  insights into today's consumer's mind and shopping actions from research conducted by the SFC in August 09.   "GREENleaders Certified Sustainability Training" is the SFC's  6-hour, road-tested course created by a LEED-AP and designed to give expertise to manufacturers, interior designers, retailers, reps, and anyone else in the home furnishings chain.   GREENleaders graduates can confidently expand their businesses in sustainable directions.   Registration is required for this fee-based, test course. (6 CEU)   

Additional Brave New World education events include these outstanding topics and speakers :  "Why the Furniture Industry has Changed More in the Last Five Years than in the Previous Century" by John Kelly, a spokesperson for the American Hardwood Export Council ; "Sustainable Sourcing:  Standards, Certifications and Eco-Labels as the Building Blocks to Selecting Green Product " by Deborah Dunning, President and CEO of The Green Standard; and "The Grand World of Green: an International Perspective"  by Nestor Pineda (presented in Spanish).  The importance of bedding will be highlighted by the Specialty Sleep Association's progress report and panel discussion, "The Greening of the Bedding Industry."

Finally, for a celebration of inspired, eco-friendly furniture design, toast some bubbly at the "One Good Chair Design Competition & Reception,"  Building B, 16th Floor Worldview on Sixteen on Wednesday Sept 15 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.  Meet the award-winning designers.   Marvel at the prototypes of their winning chairs.  And commit yourself to supporting much, much more green-friendly furniture for the good of our Planet.   Sponsored by the SFC, World Market Center, and Metropolis Magazine.  

For a detailed schedule of the Las Vegas  "Brave New World Environmental Series", Sept 14-17,  see information.

GREENleaders Certified Training Receives Coveted LEED Curriculum Approval

Submitted by admin on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 12:15
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CHAPEL HILL, NC –
The Sustainable Furnishings Council GREENleaders course has been approved for credit in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Continuing Education, the world-renowned certification system. The 6-ceu GREENleaders exam course, the first and most comprehensive certified sustainability training in the home furnishings industry, was created in 2009 by a LEED-AP and SFC founding member, and vetted by the Sustainable Furnishings Council board including ranking staff of World Wildlife Fund, Rainforest Alliance, and Founder of USGBC/LEED.
 

SFC Celebrates 5th Anniversary at High Point Market

Submitted by admin on Tue, 10/18/2011 - 15:59
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The Sustainable Furnishings Council is celebrating its 5th anniversary right where it was created at High Point October Market.

What started as a series of informal meetings among eco-friends in the furniture business at the South Cone showroom of Gerry Cooklin was formalized in a decision to become a non-profit organization supporting sustainability initiatives throughout the industry at High Point in October 2006.
 

Join SFC at High Point Market

Submitted by susan on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 17:58
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U.S. Lacey Act Wins 2011 Future Policy Award

Submitted by susan on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 16:15
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Act listed as one of the world’s most inspiring and innovative forest policies.

September 22, 2011, New York – The United States’ prohibition on smuggling of illegally harvested wood has won silver in the 2011 Future Policy Awards as one of the world’s most inspiring and innovative forest policies.

The three policies most effectively contributing to the conservation and sustainable development of forests for current and future generations were honored today by the World Future Council at UN Headquarters in New York.

Rwanda’s National Forest Policy claimed First, while the US Lacey Act with its 2008 amendment and The Gambia’s Community Forest Policy shared the Silver Award.

 

The Environmental Investigation Agency’s Executive Director, Alexander von Bismarck, commented; "we are honored to be here recognizing a landmark act that has had such an extraordinary effect on the ongoing battle against illegal logging.  With the Lacey Act, the US is closing the door on illegal wood, and sending a huge signal that our market power will support both good governance and forest protection”.  

 

The amended Lacey Act is the first law in the world to prohibit trade in wood products made from trees that were illegally harvested.

 

In many of the world’s poorest countries, the majority of the timber is cut illegally. In 2008, Indonesia was losing $4 billion a year in government revenues due to illegal logging according to its own estimates.

 

As a result of the international effort to curb trade in illegal logging, the practice is estimated to have decreased by over 20% worldwide, roughly the equivalent of preventing over 1 billion tons of CO2from reaching the atmosphere. US imports of illegal timber have been steadily falling since 2007, and a recent Chatham house Report mentions that “[while] it cannot be assumed that the Lacey Act will ensure that all wood products imported from high-risk countries are of legal origin…it is likely that imports of illegally sourced wood products will fall further and faster in future in response to the new legislation”.

 

The Lacey Act of 1900 focused on wildlife trade and has been a leading tool in efforts to control smuggling of products derived from endangered species. The 2008 amendment added plants to this law, which made it applicable to the one trillion dollar global wood products industry.

 

The first enforcement action under the new law occurred in 2009, when a search warrant was executed on Gibson Guitars to investigate the import of ebony and rosewood from Madagascar. Madagascar was at the time shown to be losing up to 300 trees a day from its national parks, the last habitat for unique species of Lemurs, birds, and chameleons.

 

Use One Good Guide to Explore One Good World at Las Vegas Market!

Submitted by susan on Tue, 07/26/2011 - 15:19
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DESIGNINGreen with Kathy Ireland and Angelo Surmelis at Dwell on Design 2011

Submitted by admin on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 12:07
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SFC DESIGNINGreen Leaders and industry superstars Kathy Ireland of Kathy Ireland Worldwide and Angelo Surmelis of angelo:HOME, along with SFC executive director Susan Inglis, are interviewed by Dwell publisher Michela O’Connor Abrams on the state of sustainable furniture.  

Go Big. Find Design. Dwell on Design, June 24 - 26, 2011

Submitted by admin on Thu, 06/23/2011 - 17:21
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ART Awards Include GREEN Category

Submitted by susan on Wed, 06/08/2011 - 11:46
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Deadline to nominate your peers is July 1 -  Nominate your favorite GREEN business!
 

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