Century, Bassett earn AHFA environmental ranking

Both merit Sustainable by Design status

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, November 8, 2010

HIGH POINT — Century Furniture has been awarded Sustainable by Design registration by the American Home Furnishings Alliance for its environmental stewardship efforts.

AHFA also said that Bassett Furniture has implemented the association's EFEC program at its Martinsville, Va., table plant and its Bassett, Va., warehouse and corporate headquarters.

EFEC, or Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture, is an AHFA environmental management program that requires an environmental impact analysis of facilities.

To gain the SBD registration, Century had to complete the EFEC program, whose goals include improved recycling, efficient use of raw material, water and energy, and waste reduction.

Century set goals in areas including supply chain management, use of eco-friendly materials and global climate impact. It also set social responsibility goals, which included policies defining its commitment to workers' rights and community relations in all parts of the world where it does business.

"We have long been attentive to our impact on our local community. In recent years our attentions have become global, reflecting the international character of our customer and supplier bases," said Eric Schenk, president and CEO, in a press release.

Annual audits will be performed in order to maintain the registration.

The company said it believes its largest impact is in its purchase of the woods that go into products. It asks its suppliers to certify purchases to prove the legality of harvest, going beyond what the law requires in certifying wood.

At Bassett, all of the company's domestic facilities are now EFEC-registered. Last year it implemented EFEC at its Newton, N.C., upholstery plant.

"Each of our EFEC teams used the requirements outlined by AHFA to design an environmental program specific to their individual facility," Maegan Hubbard, environmental project manager for Bassett and head of its EFEC team, said in a press release.

Hubbard also is an accredited professional in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a program is sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Bassett said it has reduced landfill waste by 33% at its corporate office. It said its landfill costs have dropped by 28% at its warehouse and by 70% at the Martinsville table plant since January.

In addition, the Martinsville plant has recycled 4,533 pounds of Styrofoam since July and 29 tons of paper and cardboard from April through August. The recycling saved the plant more than $9,000 in landfill costs.

According to the AHFA, EFEC was implemented at 26 furniture manufacturing locations in 2009 and at seven more so far this year.