How to choose sustainable office furniture?
When shopping for essential products, we increasingly want to be sure where they came from and what their ingredients are. We want to know what packaging they come in, and even their carbon footprint. What if businesses were guided by similar criteria when arranging their offices? Wouldn’t that make a great change?
Of course, some companies are already doing it, but we expect that in the face of the climate crisis and the national policies, environmental regulations and corporate sustainable development strategies implemented as a response to the crisis, their numbers will be growing very dynamically.
Four impact areas
The LEVEL audit and assessment cover not only the choice of materials used to make products and their production process, but also the company's social responsibility, energy consumption and the impact of chemicals used on the environment and humans - a total of 23 preconditions and another 65 conditions for extra points. Based on the result, a product receives the LEVEL label at one of the levels: 1, 2 or 3, Level 3 being the highest level of the certification.
New quality of eco-label
The LEVEL certificate is a relatively new environmental label, but it stands out from other marks used by the office furniture industry in various European countries:- it is the first certificate based on a single accredited furniture standard for green economy - the certification process is carried out by independent certification bodies that must hold a LEVLE accreditation in accordance with the ISO 17065 standard,
- it is a pan-European standard, making it possible to compare products across Europe.
Nowy Styl began certifying its products already in 2020, but the process dragged out because of the pandemic. The first confirmations of conformity from TUV Rheinland were received by products manufactured in Nowy Styl’s factory in Germany, followed by those made in Poland.
LEVEL certified products
In all categories (metal/plastic chairs; metal/wood chairs; tables; storage furniture) our products achieved the highest level of conformity with the requirements, i.e. LEVEL 3.- Xilium product line
- Xenium swivel chair
- Xenium frame chair
- SO-one chair line
- Wing frame chair
- eModel 2.0 desk line
- Xio desk line
- Xio 2.0 desk line
- Convenio conference tables
- K40 cabinets line
Level certified products
The full list of certified products, including those from Nowy Styl, is available at: www.levelcertified.eu
The establishment of LEVEL
The LEVEL certificate has been developed by the European Federation of Office Furniture (FEMB). It was modelled on the BIFMA Level standard, which is recognized almost all over the world but was not used in Europe because its requirements are not consistent with standards in effect on the Old Continent. As a member of the Federation, Nowy Styl supported the development of the certificate as it was created.
