Perhaps you are considering renovating your medical office and one of the things you are evaluating is purchasing furniture. Healthcare furniture has to serve a specific function, such as storage for medical supplies or perhaps even a nurse's station. Unfortunately a lot of furniture these days is built poorly and with materials that are not earth-friendly. Thankfully, it is possible to find functional healthcare furniture that is sustainable by design.

There are a couple of things you should look for when evaluating sustainable furniture. A major factor in evaluating the sustainability of furniture is how biodegradable are the materials used in the furniture, known as "cradle-to-cradle" design or C2C (a framework developed by MBDC). The C2C framework mimics the "closed loop" design of nature where all things cycle through the system and there is no waste. Another rating system to keep in mind, especially if the project is part of an overall LEED-certified project is the furniture's LEED rating. The LEED system is the pre-eminent Green building rating standard in the U.S. today and is developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Two companies that have made specific efforts to design sustainable furniture for the healthcare industry are Herman Miller and Steelcase. Herman Miller has a long history of "Green" design, going back to the founding of the company over 50 years ago. Herman Miller also helped fund the U.S. Green Building Council, which helped develop the LEED system. The company has published a set of aggressive goals for 2020, including zero landfill and hazardous waste generation. Herman Miller has a line of products dedicated to the healthcare industry that carry both the points which can be applied toward a LEED rating and are MBDC Cradle to Cradle certified.

Herman Miller CaseworkHerman Miller has always had a reputation for good design with furniture. They tried to apply their open-plan style of thinking to the healthcare environment. One of the top requirements in a medical office is storage and the Casework line provides a good system with cabinetry that is constructed with 68% recycled materials and is 27% recyclable at the end of its life.

In terms of seating, I've always been a fan of the Aeron chair for its thoughtful, ergonomic design (and frankly, the way it looks). The Aeron chair has obtained a silver certification from MBDC.

Steelcase, which recently announced four scholarships for the 2009 Greener by Design conference, has an eco-friendly healthcare furniture line called Viridian which are ideal for hospital environments but some of the storage units can be utilized in smaller office environments.

Steelcase ViridianViridian’s core material is made from low emission Scientific Certification Systems-certified pre-consumer recycled wood fiber. The cabinets’ edging is made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) instead of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which releases chlorine and hydrochloric acid during combustion. The cabinets also feature recycled aluminum hardware components. The Viridian product line qualifies for a number of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits covering commercial interiors, new construction and existing building areas.

Now if a company could just put some real thought into designing waiting room furniture that is both comfortable, attractive and environmentally-friendly, that would be a breakthrough.