National Office Furniture’s Santa Claus Facility is Indiana’s First LEED-Certified Office Furniture Manufacturing Facility
JASPER, Ind.-– National Office Furniture, a brand unit of Kimball International, announces that its casegoods and tables manufacturing facility in Santa Claus, Ind., has been awarded LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED EB: O&M) Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The certification marks National’s seventh facility to earn a LEED green building rating.
National’s Santa Claus facility is the first LEED-certified office furniture manufacturing facility in Indiana and the 11th location in the state to earn a LEED certification in the industrial manufacturing category. Of the more than 12,000 LEED-certified projects globally, only 540 reside under the industrial manufacturing category.
With an ISO 14001 registered Environmental Management System already in place, National pursued the LEED EB: O&M rating to increase the facility’s sustainable performance. National’s LEED Silver certification was based on a number of green design and maintenance implementations that positively impacted the project itself and the broader community. These include:
-Increased recycling areas at individual workstations; break rooms and coffee stations where paper, plastics, metals, cardboard and other materials can be recycled.
-Implemented a Green Cleaning Policy; 97 percent of cleaning products used meet LEED green cleaning requirements.
-Carefully selected interior finishes and products with high recycled content including furniture components consisting of over 82 percent recycled content (by weight) and regionally manufactured within 500 miles.
-Reduced water usage by 34 percent due to the installation of new low-flow water fixtures and fittings in restrooms.
-Implemented exterior building cleaning and maintenance best practices which utilize only eco-friendly and minimal impact cleaners and supplies.
-On-going maintenance of a roofing system that meets the Energy Star Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) requirement, California Title 24, and is LEED compliant. The maintenance plan calls for cleaning the roof every two years to ensure continued high reflectivity.
-Diverted 90 percent of construction debris from office renovation project.
-Ninety-seven percent of on-going consumables (e.g. paper, toner cartridges, office supplies, batteries) contain sustainable attributes that meet the LEED requirements. Prioritized on regional priority credits to support environmental improvement for the local environment.
“National Office Furniture has proved their leadership in the manufacturing sector through their LEED Silver certification,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “By targeting sustainability, National has raised the bar for manufacturing facilities everywhere. We commend them on this great achievement.”
“At National, we are never satisfied when it comes to safety, quality and sustainability. Our Santa Claus facility earned previous sustainable accolades, but we knew we could improve, and we did in achieving LEED Silver. We’re very proud to be a good corporate neighbor and operate a high-caliber, green certified facility in the community,” says Mendy Claridge, director of sustainability, LEED AP ID+C, National Office Furniture.
Constructed in the early 1970’s to manufacture electronic entertainment equipment, today the Santa Claus facility produces wood and laminate office furniture solutions. The facility is ISO9001, ISO14001 and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certified. Products produced in Santa Claus meet stringent indoor air quality requirements and achieve the furniture industry’s highest sustainable product certifications, level® 2 and level® 3. In addition, the facility is a member of Indiana’s Environmental Stewardship Program and is an OSHA Voluntary Protection Program STAR (VPP) site.