City Furniture a Top Scorer, New Wood Furniture Scorecard

July 17, 2018  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

Joining City Furniture in the category are Crate & Barrel, IKEA, Williams-Sonoma Group, Target, ABC Carpet & Home and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

“As a regional Florida firm, we’re pleased to be recognized along with these top-scoring national brands,” said Keith Koenig, president of City Furniture. “The new scorecard helps empower consumers’ choices, and it’s our latest green milestone as more customers tell us they care about minimizing impact on the environment.”

With the furnishings industry ranking as the third largest consumer of wood, after the construction and paper industries, consumers across the U.S. are weighing in on the issue. In a recent Sustainable Furnishings Council survey, 86 percent of respondents described themselves as “very concerned” about global deforestation.

“We’ve created the Wood Furniture Scorecard to help consumers find more eco-friendly products as they furnish their homes – and to help furniture companies reduce their environmental footprint,” said Susan Inglis, executive director of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.

”City Furniture’s robust wood sourcing policy and supply chain practices put it in the leadership circle as we team with the National Wildlife Federation to promote sound forest practices,” Inglis added.

The company’s international wood sourcing policy guides the firm in seeking wood certified as coming from sustainable forestry sources. City Furniture also works with suppliers to reduce wood waste and to integrate reclaimed and recycled wood materials and wood alternatives into its products.

“We’re increasing our purchases from certified sources, and at the same time we’re firmly committed to avoid wood from unacceptable sources,” said Koenig, “including timber that’s harvested illegally or in violation of people’s traditional or civil rights.”

As a founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council in 2007, six of the company’s showrooms have achieved Leadership in Environmental Energy & Design (LEED) certification, and its Kevin Charles Upholstery brand uses soy-based cushions. The firm recycles all of its shipping materials, including tons of Styrofoam reprocessed each year at its 900,000-square-foot Tamarac distribution center and headquarters campus.

To improve energy efficiency and decrease emissions, the company has several all-electric Tesla Semi trucks and has converted 80 of the 100 trucks in its delivery fleet from diesel fuel to quiet, clean running compressed natural gas.