Environmental Mission

COMMUNITY has been an environmentally conscious organization for more than 75 years. Founded in 1929 in a southern Indiana area settled by skilled German woodcrafters, COMMUNITY began as a manufacturer of durable well crafted chairs. Through the years, as we have grown and expanded our product lines to include office furniture casegoods, tables, and lounge seating products, this heritage and respect for the environment continues. Building a product that will last and not require disposal in a landfill is our focus. COMMUNITY is committed to “reduce, reuse and recycle” and to the conservation of our environment and its natural resources as well as the encouragement of our suppliers and customers to do the same. A goal of a “Green Partnership” (supplier, manufacturer and customer) is essential for the long term protection, preservation and sustainability of our environment for future generations. Our Mission is to continually maximize the use of sustainable raw materials and to search for new materials and processes that will not negatively impact our Environment.

Location

Our manufacturing facilities in Southern Indiana and North Carolina are often located within 500 miles from your project location allowing you possible LEED credits toward Green Building Certification. With our diverse manufacturing capabilities, “one stop shopping” is attainable, allowing you to conserve our fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gases.

Packaging

COMMUNITY places an emphasis on the minimal use of disposable packaging, while still providing adequate protection of the finished product. Our corrugated packaging, being recyclable and reusable has up to 100% recycled content. The packaging we receive from our suppliers is reused or recycled. We recycle more than one million pounds of cardboard annually.

Compliance

COMMUNITY employees are trained in compliance with applicable Occupational Safety and Health Organization, (OSHA) regulations to exceed all applicable Department of Environmental Management, (DEM) and Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) regulations for air emissions, storm water and hazardous waste disposal. Our safety philosophy is a 360 degree circle of safety program which includes home, work and travel. Our manufacturing facilities use the DuPont Safety Training Observation Program, (STOP) system for workplace accident prevention and awareness.

Manufacturing facilities

All of our manufacturing facilities are geared toward eco-efficiency and are encouraged to continually improve and conserve. Wood not used in the direct manufacturing process is recycled for use in concealed reinforcement cleats and corner blocks. Additional scrap materials are burned in scrubber-equipped boilers to generate steam that is used in the manufacturing process to operate our dry kilns or to heat our manufacturing facility during the winter. This process reduces greenhouse gases, the use of fossil fuels, and reduction of the burden of waste placed in landfills. In addition to other energy savings techniques, our manufacturing facilities use high efficiency lighting, make use of power factor capacitors, and encourage the reduction of energy consumption and water usage. Condensation pumps are used to aid in water savings as well as extending boiler life.

Manufacturing processes

COMMUNITY’S manufacturing facilities utilize finish and assembly processes that best support the furniture requirements and applications. We continually test the latest equipment and materials available to reduce emissions while maintaining the best quality product possible. Finish lines utilize high efficient spray guns and spray techniques to reduce waste material. Excess finish material, solvents and waste are recycled. Flat line ultra violet cured finishing systems enable the excess finish material to be recaptured, recycled, and used again with no post cure bi-products. Many assembly processes use water based glues that contain no hazardous ingredients.

Textiles

Many of our fabric options utilize 100% recycled content. A grouping of leather alternatives contain no toxic materials, plasticizers, heavy metals or formaldehyde and have a 100% biodegradable back cloth. Available panel fabric uses a biological nutrient for the soil if discarded. Components; cushion foam, batting and poly-cord used in upholstered products are recyclable and contain various percentages of recycled content. Excess fabric and leathers not utilized in the upholstery process are supplied to recyclers and local charities for additional use.

Wood

Wood is good! It is the most diverse, process friendly, and widely utilized natural resource in mankind’s history. No other natural resource can match the environmental advantages of wood. It is renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable. Utilizing the sun’s energy, trees grow and remove carbon dioxide from the air while giving off oxygen to benefit the entire planet. Harvesting mature trees in a sustainable forest allows the photosynthetic cycle to continue at full optimization. We are proud to use wood as our primary “GREEN” renewable material resource. Surprisingly, much of the public has the impression that processing wood involves wasting natural resources and destroying the environment, when just the opposite is true! According to the U.S. Forest Service, each year the U.S. grows about 50 percent more than what we are cutting. In fact, since 1952, the amount of commercial hardwood forest stock has increased by 70 percent. The hardwood industry currently utilizes approximately 13 billion board feet of standing timber per year. Current statistics from the Forest Service indicate that there is more than 715 billion board feet of commercial size timber available for harvest. The United Nation’s 2007 “State of the World’s Forest’s” report shows that the United States forests are getting larger each year. The United States practices sustainable forestry both in the softwood and hardwood industries.

Material options

Alternative materials are available from COMMUNITY for consideration. Solid wood and engineered wood options like Lyptus ® Plyboo ®, reclaimed woods, agricultural and post-consumer waste fiber products, soy-based resin bio-composites, Forest Stewardship Council, (FSC) certified wood (the list continues to grow) all allow possible LEED credits toward Green Building Certification. These options can be considered for specific applications based on their performance. We support sustainable forestry by purchasing wood products grown in sustainable forest programs.

COMMUNITY’S goal is to provide value for our customers and to expand and improve our “Green Partnerships” through process, product and life cycle management.