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Voting Opens on Project UDesign
September 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on September 7, 2010
Online consumer voting is underway on Project UDesign, an eco-friendly furniture design competition sponsored by Cargill's BiOH Polyols business.
Cargill's BiOH polyols makes a soy-based ingredient to replace a percentage of petroleum in foam used for upholstered furniture cushioning.
In the competition, students at Savannah College of Art and Design designed wing chairs featuring cushioning with sustainable materials. Based on evaluations of a panel of industry experts, six semifinalist designs were selected following the students' completion of SCAD's soft furnishings design course this summer.
The six designs and related video footage are now displayed on Cargill's Experience BiOH blog, You Tube channel and its Facebook fan page.
Online voting for Project UDesign runs through Oct. 19. and the winning student's chair will be announced on Oct. 20.
North Carolina-based Century Furniture, a 2009 AHFA SAGE award finalist and Sustainable Furnishings Council member, has pledged to put the new wing chair into production. The company will pay the popular winner of Project UDesign a royalty for each unit of the winning chair design it sells. The winner also will receive a $1,000 award from Cargill's BiOH polyols business.
We want to demonstrate to the home furnishings industry and consumer that environmentally friendly products and great design can go hand in hand, said Cargill BiOH business unit leader, Yusuf Wazirzada.
Additional sponsors of Project UDesign include Toray International's brand of Ultrasuede upholstery covers, which are made using Toray's EcoDesign manufacturing process; Century Furniture, and the furniture design department at Savannah College of Art and Design.
At October High Point Market, designs from the three finalists will be displayed in the Century Furniture showroom in the historic Market Square building during High Point Market, beginning on Saturday, Oct. 16, where Market attendees will be invited to vote online during their visit to Century's showroom. On Wednesday, Oct. 20, all votes will be tallied, with the SCAD student winner recognized at Market during the WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today) Student Mentoring day.