steelcase 360 sustainability

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The magazine of workplace research, insight, and trends Issue 58 360steelcase.com April 2010 Q&A 10 Trends360 16 Sustainability Spotlight 17 Photo Essay 18 Atoms & Bits 24 Trend or Trajectory? Is sustainability here to stay?

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Trend or Trajectory? Is sustainability here to stay?

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Page 1: Steelcase 360 Sustainability

The magazine of workplace research, insight, and trends Issue 58360steelcase.com April 2010

Q&A10 Trends36016 Sustainability Spotlight17 Photo Essay18 Atoms & Bits24

Trend or Trajectory? Is sustainability here to stay?

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About this issue: sustainability has expanded beyond its environmental roots to also include economic and social considerations. two parts of this triple bottom line are fairly well-defined: environmental (LeeD, Cradle to Cradle™ certification, etc.) and economic (Roi, cost savings, etc.), while a similarly robust definition and shared understanding of the social aspect has trailed the other two. organizations often define social sustainability in different ways, but pursue the same goal to balance the needs for people, planet, and profit. this month, Threesixty explores how.

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FEATurE

2 trend or trajectory? Threesixty revisits the topic of sustainability and explores how organizations are defining their own course of social responsibility.

DEPArTmEnTS

10 Q&A TOMS Shoes founder and chief shoe giver Blake Mycoskie shares his journey toward sustainability.

17 sustainability spotlight Meet Katie Swenson of the rose architectural Fellowship, who is building beautiful and affordable green housing.

18 A sustainable studio: A Threesixty Photo essay: Visit the Heartside art Studio & Gallery, a thriving example of triple bottom line benefits.

Threesixty is published bi-monthly by Steelcase Inc. or whenever the spirit moves us. all rights reserved. Copyright 2010. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form unless you really want to help people love how they work — just ask us first, ok? Contact us at [email protected].

24 Atoms & bits Ways to explore sustainability in person and online.

16 trends360 The latest triple bottom line trends.

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Threesixty asked this question exactly two years ago, and since then few issues have received as much attention in the media and the design community as sustainability. most designers would list it as a critically important issue in space planning, and, like executives in every industry, embrace it as a way of doing business. But is sustainability truly moving from trend to a business trajectory? How well are the economic, environmental, and social implications of business decisions, often described as the triple bottom line, being integrated into the way business works? Also called the integrated bottom line or “people, planet, profit,” the triple bottom line has gained acceptance in recent years because it helps companies holistically measure and understand the impact of operating sustainably. In this issue of Threesixty we hear from thought leaders, update benchmark sustainability statistics, and consider some current triple bottom line best practices.

mEASurES oF CommITmEnT:

CorPorATE STrATEgy

To gauge corporate commitment to sustain-ability, Steelcase and Greener World Media, publisher of GreenBiz.com, conducted a survey of business executives to help understand how the “people, planet, profit” methodology is becoming part of corporate measures of success. The vast majority of business leaders say they’re on board: 78% of respondents expected their organization’s involvement with sustainability — and evalu-ating the company’s performance in terms of a triple bottom line — to increase over the next year. Just 21% said the company’s involvement would not change, while only 1% said efforts would decrease.

The research suggests that executives across industries embrace sustainability as a way of doing business and believe that an organization’s measures of success should include social impacts alongside environmental and economic performance. It is clear, however, that the social component of the triple bottom line, is still being defined.

When respondents were asked which activities are considered part of the social aspect of the triple bottom line, the top two responses were activities central to business operations: product use and sourcing (local impact). Survey responses also included volunteerism, philanthropy, and facility location as social aspects of the triple bottom line. people and companies hold

different views of what constitutes social value creation. The question is: are the traditional metrics of social value still relevant when striving for an integrated bottom line? Or does a commitment to creating enduring value to society require something very different? These will be the key questions for businesses to deliver on the triple bottom line promise in the years to come.

mEASurES oF CommITmEnT:

BuIlT EnvIronmEnT

Measuring the extent to which businesses have embraced sustainability starts with a familiar baseline: the U.S. Green Building Council’s lEED Green Building rating System. Just two years ago, the number of commercial and residential projects that were lEED certified was over 1,000. Today there are nearly 7,000, with over 44,000 registered projects. Of those, over 75% are commercial projects. likewise, there were nearly 40,000 lEED accredited professionals in 2008; today there are over 140,000.

The design community has led the way in gaining expertise, networking, and raising awareness about sustainability. “I have been struck by the degree of commitment many design firms have in making sustain-ability part of their firm’s philosophy. They’ve participated in task forces and created inde-pendent data analysis. It’s pretty cool. as a result of increases in efforts like these, I think

Sustainability may be the hot topic, but is it more than just a trend?

Trend or Trajectory?

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sustainability is more accepted as standard practice,” says Elizabeth Ogbu, associate design director at public architecture, a San Francisco-based nonprofit architecture studio and advocacy organization.

“Sustainability is asked about on practically every project we do,” says reese rowland, principal at polk Stanley Wilcox architects, little rock, ark. He was the lead architect of the headquarters building for the nonprofit Heifer International. The triple bottom line of this lEED platinum certified project was detailed in Threesixty two years ago (with updated results on page 8). “The sustain-ability movement has progressed so far that clients are asking about it, and it becomes an avenue for us to talk about sustainable architecture.”

While lEED set a baseline, the triple bottom line approach sets a new, higher standard that adds more social sustainability considerations.

“Companies are getting there, but it’s a learning curve,” says lorissa Macallister, a founding partner of progressive aE, Grand rapids, Mich., and a member of the steering committee for the Green Guide for Health Care, a best practices guide for healthy and sustainable building design, construction, and operations for the health care industry. leaders want hard numbers. “Companies want to know how they stack up against similar organizations. The good news is that they’re seeing the benefits of sustainability, and learning that it’s more of a journey as opposed to something achieved and then put away.”

New Jersey Sharing Network (NJSN), an organ procurement organization in New providence, N.J., is an organization that has embraced triple bottom line thinking, with a strong focus on the social aspect . Their new space includes a reused raised floor and recycled counter tops; cork flooring; easily reconfigured architectural walls; furniture that uses a high percentage of recycled content and is also recyclable; fabric HVaC ducts made with recycled content and requiring less energy to ship and install than traditional metal ductwork; and other materials that add to the Network’s economic and environmen-tal bottom line. Social benefits were just as important. Staff turnover tends to be high at organizations involved in organ procure-ment, so the NJSN space was designed to help staff deal with the stressful work. “Sometimes a team has been up for as long

respondents to the Steelcase/greenBiz survey said their companies consider these activities part of the social aspect of the triple bottom line:

Progress report: sustainability’s triple bottom line

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as 24 hours straight and they need some time to decompress. Much of the space here — lounge areas, the café, private rooms, seating areas in the hallway, and warm, comforting materials and colors — help people decompress, connect with each other, to reflect on their experiences, share stories, and take time to heal that way,” says Melissa Honohan, director of external relations and business development for NJSN. a healthy, less stressful work environment helps the organization retain skilled professionals and reduce the cost of turnover.

HolISTIC THInkIng

It’s not just interior designers and architects leading the change. product designers are also a driving force. The Steelcase/ GreenBiz survey asked participants if their company designed products with the explicit goal of providing a positive social impact to the welfare of society at large, and nearly half (48%) said yes. product designers and manufacturers agree there’s a shared responsibility for end-of-life product management for all entities involved in the product chain. This view encourages product design that minimizes a negative impact on human health and the environment at every stage of the product’s life cycle. In the survey, corporate managers in turn say they consider multiple factors when planning new products. “as companies and consumers adopt a more holistic view of sustainability,

they are valuing products that are not only economically viable, but environmentally and socially sustainable as well,” says angela Nahikian, Steelcase director of global environmental sustainability. “product design teams are becoming more expert at under-standing the core sustainability issues and discovering more innovative ways to design for the environment. They’re taking up social impact issues and driving demand for new materials and methods that avoid negative impacts from the start.” all of this results in delivering greater value to businesses and the community at large.

“Many designers have long believed they have a social contract with users, but the responsibility for sustainability transcends what we used to define as the realm of design,” notes James ludwig, vice president of global design at Steelcase. “When you consider that the development and production of goods has an impact on finite resources, water and air quality, community health, the quality of life, and so many parts of society, that social contract ultimately includes every part of the process.”

mEASurES oF CommITmEnT: lIFECyClE ImPACT

Design professionals and business leaders agree; organizations must consider the entire life cycle of a product. In February, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Business Week reported that

CEOs widely held that sustainability must be integrated into business strategy. Their view was that a company that creates products must own the plan for the end of its useful life. “right up front, you have to think about early decisions in the design of the product — the materials you use and how those materials will be reutilized or recycled at end of life. Material choice is critical if you want your product to have a second life cycle,” explains Jay Bolus, vice president of operations for McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, author of the Cradle to Cradle certification program.

responsible manufacturers are responding to this by evaluating their products and production processes more than ever. The cycle begins with the materials used in the product and its production — at each level of the supply chain — evaluating the chemicals and materials used against human and environmental health factors.

This kind of scrutiny led to the development of pVC-free workstation wiring for Steelcase systems furniture. What followed was a sustainable ripple effect: the co-developer of this innovative wiring marketed it to other manufacturers, who in turn offered it to other customers who appreciate its triple bottom line benefits. Thus, a product developed to avoid the use of a material with long-term environmental issues has resulted in triple bottom line benefits for the manufacturer, and the world.

2 The new Green Guide edition is under peer review now and is expected to be published next year.

respondents to the Steelcase/greenBiz survey said their companies consider these environmental impacts when planning product offerings:

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Since a life cycle assessment is holistic and extends beyond a product’s useful life - this typically has been difficult for all products, including commercial building products.

So, in 2004, the Steelcase Environmental partnership program (SEpp) organized a network of recyclers, resellers, and charitable organizations to help companies refurbish, resell, or recycle furniture. It’s worked well for five years, and now customers increasingly ask for help finding low-cost, environmen-tally responsible solutions not only for used furniture but other products, too. This led Steelcase to join forces with the nonprofit IrN The recycling Network, which helps companies match previously owned office furniture with nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and around the globe. One of the first participants of the expanded program was the University of Notre Dame law School. When they moved to a new facility in 2009, their used desks, chairs, and other furniture — 1,600 pieces in all — was matched to the nonprofit group Food For The poor, in Jamaica, and a Catholic school in Haiti. It cost the university $14,000 to recycle the furniture and ship it to those two organiza-tions; it would have cost $20,000 to send it to a landfill. “From a triple bottom line perspec-tive, this works all the way around,” says Mark Macheca, owner of Business Furnishings, the Steelcase dealer who introduced Notre Dame to the program.“ “Furniture reuse costs the same or less than disposal and it keeps material out of landfills. It takes no more effort, and often less, than other end-of-life strategies, plus the donating organization receives a gift-in-kind tax deduction. The recipient organization receives useable products they couldn’t otherwise afford.”

reuse of reclaimed materials is a common but reuse of salvaged materials is another strategy gathering momentum. public architecture, working with a grant from the USGBC, is producing a web-based Design for reuse primer featuring case studies and resources demonstrating how design for reuse and reclaimed materials can be integrated into the building process and how material reuse can help achieve broader sustainability goals. “Building construction accounts for nearly 30% of all raw material use. On the other end, construction and demolition materials account for almost 40% of landfill solid waste,” notes public architecture’s Ogbu. “There’s a big gap between the potential for reuse of salvage materials and how much they’re actually used, so there’s a huge opportunity to address material and energy consumption as part of the built environment.”

THErE’S A STory BEHInD THAT ...

Material reuse cuts the waste stream, lowers material costs, and creates green collar jobs. It also helps maintain part of the community narrative — in other words, a good story. ask about any reused material — a vintage door, a classic desk, any reclaimed product — and there’s a story behind it and someone eager to tell it.

Starbucks, for example, has their story. a leader in sustainable business practices, the global headquarters in Seattle is a lEED Gold certified building. In November the company announced a goal to achieve lEED certification for all new company-owned stores worldwide beginning later this year and to convert store lighting to lEDs on a similar scale. The lighting change alone will cut store energy use by 7%. arthur rubinfeld, president of global development for Starbucks, says sustainability is part of their larger philosophy. “Our design mantra, whether it’s our offices or our stores, is about community involvement, ethical sourcing, and environmental stewardship. That includes sustainable construction design methodologies, close attention to the materials that we use, everything.” Their “Shared planet” commitment — sourcing coffee ethically, being good stewards of the environment, being actively involved in communities — is inspired triple bottom line thinking.

Given the company’s commitment to sustainability, it’s easy to understand why salvage reuse could appeal to them. So when a 1950s-era Seattle landmark bowling alley was headed for demolition, staffers hurried to the site. They purchased a few of the old bowling lanes and ball return stands, then turned them into 16-foot-long conference tables for their office. a connection to a half-century of history from the Sunset Bowl in the Ballard neighborhood came along, too. The tables are used in the Starbucks design studio in Seattle, one of several studios in

various cities the company uses as incuba-tion labs to study workplace ideas, including how to nurture community and productivity in the workplace, what tools will make space

Tables built with wood salvaged from a local bowling alley preserve a piece of local history at the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle.

photo courtesy Starbucks and copyright 2010.

The Steelcase Environmental partnership program worked with IrN The recycling Network to ensure that donated furniture from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana (left) got to its new owners in Haiti and Jamaica (right).

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more collaborative, how to better leverage workspace, etc. “These bowling-lane tables represent design cues — craftsmanship adaptively reused elements and materials, the positive way design can affect the workplace,” says rubinfeld.

Sustainability initiatives can generate triple bottom line benefits in unconventional ways. arzu, a nonprofit organization, provides rent-to-own looms to afghan women weavers who produce beautiful, hand-crafted rugs using locally harvested, naturally dyed wool. The artisans receive a market rate plus a 50% bonus, the means to support and feed their families. also, by signing the rental contract, the weavers agree to take literacy classes and send their children to school until the age of 15. By working with arzu, Steelcase textile subsidiary Designtex preserves a traditional art form and culture, supports using locally raised, natural materials, and helps provide economic opportunity for women and their families.

Yet another way to view the social component and what it means to operate sustainably can be found at TOMS Shoes, based in Venice, Calif. The company was started by Blake Mycoskie to make and market espadrille-style shoes so it could give a pair to a child in need for every pair it sells. They call it the One for One model. The free shoes are key because they protect the young recipients from soil-transmitted diseases in countries such as argentina, Ethiopia, and South africa, and they

complete the student uniform children need to attend school.

launched in 2006, the company will be profitable this year. “Consumers are now conscious about where they put their dollars. a product like TOMS that gives to others is appealing to people more than ever,” says Mycoskie. TOMS has its own three-part approach for partnering with local organiza-tions for distributing its shoes: enhancing the company’s impact through partnerships; a long-term commitment to children; and doing no harm by minimizing its impact on local shoe-selling economies. “We know every day that we’re going to give away one pair of shoes for every one we sell, and that’s that. If we can’t make the business work that way, then the business just doesn’t work.” (See the Q&a with Mycoskie on page 10.)

THougHT lEADErS AgrEE: TrAjECTory

Sustainability is no longer an add-on or a luxury, but a long-term way of doing business with a bottom line return — times three. “Embedding sustainability into the way we do business is about a commitment to a new way of thinking,” says Nahikian of Steelcase. “For designers, manufacturers, real estate executives, contractors — all of us — it’s a continuous process of learning, building, and sharing what we learn. It means telling the stories, sharing strategies on how to be mindful of environmental aspects but also the economic and social aspects of the built environment.”

Over the past two years, sustainability has solidified as a crucial strategy for doing business. Manufacturers are creating more sustainable products. The design community continues to push innovation. Businesses are educating themselves and demanding better products to align with their sustainable business practices. Social sustainability is gaining momentum and more emphasis is being placed on evolving social sustainability. In the end, viewing business through a sustainability lens will help pave the way for a better way to work and live.

Share your triple bottom line stories with us: [email protected]

Explore other stories at: www.steelcase.com/sustainability/what-inspires-us

Social bottom line: afghan women create a better life for their families by producing hand-woven rugs admired around the world.

Starbucks is working to make all new company-owned stores lEED Gold certified by the end of the year and they are currently converting incandescent lamps to lED lamps in all company-owned locations globally, an effort that will result in a 7% reduction in energy use.

photo courtesy Starbucks and copyright 2010.

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Smarter Packaging

new products today often include recycled content, but one thing that’s a given is packaging. All that molded foam, plastic wrap, and corrugated fiberboard has a huge impact: it’s estimated that 30% of landfill is packaging waste.

In the furniture industry, one alternative is to ship products blanket-wrapped instead in corrugated containers. But blankets can take more space, and fragile products or those with many small components require individual packaging. Two Steelcase strategies take innovative approaches to this challenge.

ECo-SmArT PACkAgIng

In Europe, the city streets are typically narrower than in North america and delivery trucks are necessarily smaller. Steelcase International started shipping chairs in sections, with the dealer assembling at the customer site. Shipping a chair in two, three, or four parts requires just 30% to 50% of the room in the warehouse and in the truck compared to a boxed, assembled chair. “By minimizing both packaging weight and volume, more chairs fit on a truck and carbon emissions are dramatically reduced,” notes Hélène Babok, director, European sustainable

development programs for Steelcase International. Eco-smart packaging is available on nine different seating lines, and two more lines will be added this year.

ECovATIvE PACkAgIng

What if you could eliminate non-recyclable packaging alto-gether? What if the packaging could actually contribute to the environment instead of detract? These are the goals behind innovative new packaging Steelcase plans to begin using later this year called ecovative packaging. It’s made with agricultural byproducts like cotton seed hulls and mushroom roots. It’s so natural you can even eat it, though admittedly it’s not quite bon appétit. It requires very little energy to produce and it provides the cushioning and strength of expanded polystyrene foam — without the hydrofluorocarbon/non-biodegradable downside. after its useful life, the packaging can be composted to add nutrients to the soil. In just 30 days, it becomes part of the earth again.

Ecovative packaging could be the perfect packaging for all kinds of furniture and components. It reduces the cost of disposal, it adds no cost, and yet it brings many benefits to the shipping process. Users have less waste to deal with, and it actually adds to the soil when it’s composted. a definite plus for the triple bottom line.

Eco-smart furniture packaging by Steelcase International: less weight and volume results in lower carbon emissions.

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o Designed to use up to 55% less energy than a comparable building, it’s actually used about 48% less. adding to the energy use: Heifer now occupies all four floors instead of just three, and a planned 13,000 sq. ft. education center has been opened.

o an innovative water reclamation and reuse system paid for itself in just 23 months. a building of comparable size in little rock typically generates monthly water bills from $3,000 to $6,000 depending on the time of year; Heifer averages just $600 a month.

o The raised floor system paid for itself in just two years through savings in heating and cooling alone; worker comfort and adjustability are additional triple bottom line benefits.

“The building has exceeded all of our expectations,” says Erik Swindle, director of facilities management. The headquarters was expected to pay for itself in 10 years; Heifer expects to beat that by a wide margin.

There have been some surprises. Swindle’s cleaning supplies for the building are VOC-free, so they didn’t leave a traditional pine tree scent when restrooms were cleaned. Early on he had to reassure workers that, yes, the restrooms were, in fact, quite clean.

Heifer also added a sound masking system to reduce office noise from the open office with high, exposed ceilings. “It’s made a world of difference,” Swindle says.

reese rowland of polk Stanley Wilcox, lead architect on the project, has toured clients through the Heifer headquarters many times. “In the end, if you’re not saving energy, you’re not doing sustainability justice. Yet people assume they’ll pay a huge premium for planning a building this way. Heifer allowed us to document the payback.”

The building is lEED platinum certified, the highest certification awarded by the USGBC.

Heifer Headquarters Building: Two years later When we featured the headquarters building for

Heifer International, little rock Ark., in the April 2008 edition of Threesixty, we wrote that it could “inspire people to think... about sustainability as a core organizational focus.” Two years later, the building has proven quite inspirational:

photos © Timothy Hursley

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EDuCATIon rEQuIrED

Most clients are interested in sustainability; few completely understand it. The design community is well-positioned to take the lead in helping business executives under-stand what it means to design and build sustainably.

SuSTAInABIlITy PAyS

From lower energy costs to a more loyal customer base, a sustainable business model delivers genuine triple bottom line benefits. Economic and environmental results are easiest to measure. The social component remains less defined, but the social case can be made: a more welcoming and engaging workplace clearly helps attract and retain talent; a healthier workplace delivers measur-able productivity gains and healthier building occupants. Synergy matters: reducing VOCs has environmental and social benefits, and it can lead to lower operating and maintenance costs.

rEDuCED rEAl ESTATE yIElDS mAny BEnEFITS

One bright side to the down economy may be the discovery that less real estate has triple bottom line benefits, from lower energy use to a reduced carbon footprint.

ProDuCT ConTEnT mATTErS

The growth in the number of sustainable products means greater choices in sustainable furniture and other building products. To help sort greenwashing from the truly sustainable, users should consider third-party certifica-tions, including: Cradle to Cradle™ product certification by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, Indoor advantage™ by Scientific Certification Systems, life Cycle assessment (the International Organization for Standardization has established a lCa framework in ISO 14040), and others.

rEuSE, rECyClE, rEInvEnT

There are more options than ever for the reuse of furniture and components such as windows, doors, carpet tiles, and many other building materials. These sustainable choices usually cost no more, and often less, than disposal.

IT’S A journEy, noT A DESTInATIon

achieving lEED certification can be a major accomplish-ment, but it’s one mile marker in a long-term process. Once sustainability is understood and accepted as an operating philosophy, discussions about product certification, water reclamation, or any other sustainability approach can be evaluated for their contribution to the overall goal: a more sustainable future.

Designers, researchers, and facilities professionals who have helped businesses understand sustainability as a long-term strategy for doing business, offer some earned wisdom:

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with Blake MycoskieOn TOMS Shoes

TOMS Shoes is a company with an extraordinary premise: with every pair of TOMS they sell, they also give a pair of new shoes to a child in need in places like Argentina, Ethiopia, and South Africa. The shoes protect children from cuts, sores, and soil-transmitted diseases that can penetrate the skin through bare feet, and they also complete the uniform they need to attend school. The TOMS One for One business model has resulted in more than a half-million pairs of new shoes given to children around the world, including the U.S. through its giving partners.

TOMS is the fifth different business founded by 33-year-old Blake Mycoskie. Earlier start-ups include a door-to-door laundry company and an online driver’s education school. Former President Clinton has called Mycoskie “one of the most interesting entrepreneurs (I’ve) ever met,” and the company and its founder have been covered by Time, People, CBS News, and scores of other media. While in Chicago for a “Style Your Sole” event at the Steelcase showroom, Mycoskie sat down with Threesixty to discuss the TOMS sustainable business model.

photo © Jeff Dykehouse

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How did that lead to the One for One model?

On the one hand, I was really touched, but on the other hand a little bit concerned. I thought, these volunteers are going to go home, and these kids are going to grow out of these shoes, or they’re going to wear out of them. Who’s going to give the next pair of shoes? How is this really going to be sustained? I thought there needed to be a better way than just the typical charity model. So I came up with this idea: instead of starting a charity, what if we start a business, a for-profit company, where every time we sold a pair of shoes, we gave a pair away? That way we wouldn’t be dependent on donations and foundations.

You wanted to avoid a traditional charitable giving model?

I worried about sustainability. I kept thinking, if I start a charity, maybe the first year would be great: my parents and friends and family would donate, and I’d buy shoes and give them to my kids. Maybe the second year would be great, but then what happens if you have something like Hurricane Katrina and I go to my support-ers and they say, “Well, we’re donating to Hurricane Katrina

relief?” Rightfully so, but what am I going to tell the kids that are used to wearing shoes now? I never want to be in that position, and that’s one of the reasons why I decided to create this one-for-one model.

Was that a life-changing moment for you?

That would be really romantic, but the truth is, no. When I had the idea, it was just that, an idea, it was a hypothetical. But when life really did change, when it really got turned upside down, was when I was on that first TOMS Shoe Drop. When I was putting these shoes on kids, it was just amazing. That was when I knew this is my calling, this is what I’m supposed to be doing with the entrepreneurial skills and gifts that I have been given.

Is TOMS a sustainable business?

I used the capital from selling my last business to my old partners to fund TOMS. We’ve never had to go to an investor, it’s been completely self-funded, so we can stay true to our giving philosophy in our business the way that we want to and not the way that maybe an investor or someone else of influence would want. I’m an entrepreneur.

I want to build a business. But at the same time, profit is not the main thing driving the business. It’s important that we’re profitable, and this year we will be for the first time, because that’s the only way you can truly have sustainability. Ultimately, I’m trying to create something that’s going to be here long after I’m gone.

You’re defining sustainabil-ity in a different way...

You hear a lot about sustainabil-ity in all different realms now. Definitely on the environmental side, on the business practice side, etc. For me, sustainability is knowing that when I give a child a pair of shoes, that when they wear them out or grow out of them, they’ll be able to get another pair, and another pair. We’re going to keep them in shoes because that allows them to go to school and prevents foot diseases. For us to truly say we’re sustainable, we have to not only build a business so we are allowed to continue to give shoes by selling shoes, but we also build profits so if we have a bad season, we can continue to give shoes. The fashion business is very cyclical; that’s just part of the business.

Where did the idea for TOMS come from?

I was on vacation in Argentina and met a few women at a café who were doing a volunteer shoe drive. They were going around to the wealthy people in Buenos Aires, collecting slightly used shoes, and then putting them on these children about two hours outside of the city who desperately needed shoes to go to school. I went with them, and it was something amazing. I saw all these incredibly compassionate, loving people, getting on their hands and knees, putting these shoes on these kids’ feet.

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What about the environmen-tal aspect of sustainability?

We’re working on it. Not every practice is as good as it could be, but we’re getting there. We’re focusing, for example, on what we can do in our office. We have a “green team” that really has helped change a lot of our internal practices, some as simple as not using bottled water in the office, using coffee mugs instead of paper cups, and saving all the packaging that comes into our headquarters to reuse for sending things out.

How sustainable is TOMS manufacturing?

We manufacture now in Argentina, Ethiopia, and China. It’s based on where we’re giving. We’re trying to eliminate or reduce transport and energy and cost. We require that the factories operate under sound labor conditions, pay fair wages, and follow local

labor standards, and a code of conduct is signed by all factories. Our production staff routinely visits these factories to make sure they are maintaining these working standards. We also have third parties audit the factories at least once a year to ensure they adhere to proper labor regulations. In fact, we recently had to part ways with a supplier over healthy and safety concerns.

Are TOMS shoes sustainable products?

One of the new materials we introduced this year looks like a normal canvas, but it’s actually made with 70% recycled plastic bottles and 30% hemp. It’s very environmentally sustainable, it’s very strong. Many of our shoes use pesticide-free cotton canvas, and recycled rubber scraps in the bottom unit material. Starting next spring the TOMS shoebox will be completely redesigned with post-consumer

recycled paper and soy inks. We’re experimenting with new types of materials for our shoes and constantly improving, but we have a long way to go.

Does every TOMS employee get a chance to distribute the shoes to kids?

We pay for every single employee at TOMS — and we have 72 full-time people– to go on a Shoe Drop once every two years. That requires everyone to work as a team, because you can’t leave for two weeks unless you have someone who can do at least part of your job while you’re gone. So no one becomes the holder of the information. It requires more teamwork this way. It also costs us about $3,000 each time we send someone. But when they come back they are so inspired and excited and energized — and then they energize and excite everyone else!

“ For me, sustainability is knowing that when I give a child a pair of shoes and they wear them out or grow out of them, they’ll be able to get another pair, and another pair. We’re going to keep them in shoes.”

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SuSTAInABIlITy TAkES To THE AIr

When it comes to consumption, business travel is right up there. But airlines and frequent flyers are finding ways to turn the sky greener. Continental airlines has been recycling oil, antifreeze, and other main-tenance products for several years, and it’s now one of the airlines that is recycling bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard and paper products collected onboard.

lEAvE THE lIQuID, TAkE THE BoTTlE THrougH SECurITy

at Oregon’s portland International airport, liquid-dumping points at security check-points allow passengers to empty and then recycle or reuse their beverage bottles instead of leaving them behind. as an added bonus, airport trash contain-ers are lighter and easy to handle.

SolAr CHArgErS mAkE WInDoW SEATS

morE PoPulAr Window seats are becoming popular choices for business travelers who use the newest portable solar chargers to power up their phones and other electronics while in flight. By the time they land, they’re ready to go without worrying about finding a place to recharge at outlet-starved airports.

ArE kIDS SPEnDIng Too muCH TImE

InSIDE? american children are spending half as much time outdoors than they did 20 years ago, according to a study done by the Institute for Social research at the University of Michigan. and other recent studies have documented that kids are more likely to identify characters like pokémon than common critters in nature such as frogs, toads, and beetles.

EDIBlE WAllS BrIng gArDEnS To CITIES

like green roofs, edible walls have a thick layer of vegetation that provides insulation and reduces heating and electricity costs. Often portable and hung from a structural wall, edible walls are metal panels filled with soil and seeds. as an added bonus, they produce more produce —fruit, vegetables, and herbs — in much less space than garden-variety growing plots. In cities where space is tight, they’re bringing green thumbs out of hiding and creating a new generation of urban farmers.

mAkIng olD BuIlDIngS grEEn large-scale retrofitting of iconic buildings to improve their energy efficiency is a trend that’s finally picking up momentum in U.S cities. In Chicago, adrian Smith and Gordon Gill architecture has been retrofitting the Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, to reduce the base building electricity use by 80% (including energy savings and co-generation), equivalent to 68 million kilowatt hours or 150,000 barrels of oil per year. In New York, a retrofit of the Empire State Buildings has begun as a collaborative effort between the Clinton Climate Initiative, the rocky Mountain Institute, Johnson Controls and Jones lang laSalle. at a cost of $20 million, it’s expected to result in about $4.4 million in energy savings annually. In Houston, the scale of retrofitting is a bigger spread, with no less than 271 municipal buildings being retrofitted for energy efficiency

CollABorATIon goES ECo It takes more than one company to make a better world. That’s the spirit of collaboration behind the Eco-patent Commons, launched in 2008 by IBM, Nokia, pitney-Bowes, Sony, the World Business Council on Sustainable Development and others to contribute environmental patents to public domain.

The group now has more than 100 technologies that are available to all participants, for free. For example, IBM contributed a recyclable cardboard packaging insert to replace the foam inserts that are commonly used.

SHArIng PATEnTS & IDEAS, FEES oPTIonAl

This year eco-collaboration is spreading with the formation of the Green Xchange, formed by the Creative Commons, a nonprofit, and Nike and Best Buy. This program includes patented technolo-gies and forums for exchanging ideas, such as Best Buy’s system for rating the sustainability of a supply chain. Companies that participate can charge users an annual fee if they wish and restrict licensing to competitors.

lEED BuIlDIngS rISE ABovE THE

EConomy according to the 2009 Greener Buildings report, floor area registered and certified by the lEED rating system in 2009 grew by over 40% compared to previous year totals. at least 580,000 employees are working in lEED environ-ments, and the number is expected to reach 29 million by 2020.

DESIgnErS ASkED To InvEnT A

rECyClABlE CoFFEE CuP More than 58 billion disposable coffee cups are tossed every year in North america, according to Betacup, a company founded in May 2009 to find a solution. Now Starbucks has agreed to add its mojo to the effort by supporting Betacup’s contest to redesign the coffee cup. The winner takes $10,000, and another $10,000 will be split among the next best five designs. It’s a good fit with Starbucks’ goal to serve all of its coffee in re-useable or recyclable cups by 2015. The contest kicks off april 1 and runs through June 15. Find details at thebetacup.com.

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katie Swenson’s mission: to design affordable housing that is both green and beautiful.

Katie Swenson is part of a new generation of architects — dedicated to creating sustain-able communities for people at all income levels. Her mission: to design affordable housing that is both green and beautiful. as senior director of the Enterprise rose architectural Fellowship, she opens doors for other young architects who want to use their degrees and skills to build a better world.

The fellowship unites civic-minded design professionals with community-based housing organizations. It has trained 31 leaders and produced more than

4,500 green affordable homes since 2000 as a program of Enterprise Community partners, a leading national nonprofit housing and community development organization.

Over the past decade, Swenson’s leadership has helped build dozens of afford-able and sustainable homes. along the way, she’s witnessed the pride of neighbors poring over plans for a community center, seen the smiles of families handed keys to houses they never thought they’d be able to call home, and felt the peace of mind of mothers whose

children have a safe, green place to play.

Swenson was one of the first fellows, fresh from graduate school at the University of Virginia when she was assigned to help the nonprofit piedmont Housing alliance redevelop an embattled Charlottesville, Va., neighborhood. Swenson led this ambitious project — the page Street Neighborhood Initiative — which resulted in 30 new and restored, affordable homes in a rapidly changing neighborhood sandwiched between the Univer-sity of Virginia and downtown Charlottesville.

“architecture isn’t just about buildings, shapes and forms. It’s about equality and enriching people’s lives,” she has said. “It’s a real challenge to build homes that have a decent purchase price but are also affordable over the long haul.

You can’t have a roof that will need to be replaced in 10 years or a structure that will cost a fortune in heating or air-conditioning bills.”

Swenson’s work is helping to grow a national movement. Growing Urban Habitats: Seeking a New Housing Development Model, a new book she co-authored with William Morrish and Susanne Schindler, shares insights from her work in helping Habitat for Humanity to redevelop an aging trailer community. In Virginia, she founded the Charlottesville Community Design Center for local partners to explore the relationship between social and economic problems and the built environment — and how they can be solved through better planning and community design.

photo Credit: Harry Connolly

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A Sustainable StudioA THrEESIxTy PHoTo ESSAy

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The Heartside art Studio and Gallery in Grand rapids, Mich., didn’t start out with a plan to embody triple bottom line thinking. The organization’s founders simply wanted to create a safe environment where their neighbors in this urban district, who are often homeless, with little or no income, and struggling with mental and physical disabilities or addictions, could express their emotions, ideas, creativity, and spirituality. Yet the studio has become all of that, plus a thriving example of sustainability.

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artists, most of whom are self-taught, create their works using donated materials that would otherwise become landfill. Their prolific and moving body of work spans various mediums, styles, and subjects, and it includes expressions of hope and insight. The artists keep 90% of the proceeds from the work sold in studio/gallery space. The balance pays for Studio expenses.

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Dr. Dave Thornsen, a psychologist and activist who took these photos for Threesixty, says “Creative expression is essential when processing pain and it’s crucial to the art of therapy, which in itself is a collaborative healing endeavor.”

Dr. Dave Thornsen is a licensed psychologist, practicing with The Fountain Hill Center for Counseling and Consultation in Grand rapids, Mich. View more of his photography at davethornsenphotography.com.

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Threesixty/365/24

Any issue, Any time.

read or download the current Threesixty or any of the previous 57 issues at 360steelcase.com

Search by topics, search by publication date, subscribe or (shudder) unsubscribe. It’s a great place to research issues and learn some stuff.

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April 22 – Earth DayTake part in events to help mark the 40th anniversary of a day intended to help us better understand and appreciate our shared, spinning blue ball.

gulF CoAST grEEn 2010

The Gulf Coast Green SYMpOSIUM “reframing the Built Environment,” the leading green building conference for design and construction profes-sionals in the Gulf Coast region, was april 15-16 in Houston. Organized by the aIa Houston Committee on the Environ-ment, the conference features Steelcase director of global envi-ronmental sustainability, angela Nahikian, spoke on sustainability trends, changes in the office furniture industry, and partnering with responsible organizations. www.gulfcoastgreen.org

SuSTAInABlE urBAn rEnEWAl

prior to the Gulf Coast symposium, college students are participating in a design competition presented by Steelcase and McCoy Workplace Solutions. The competition explores new concepts in buildings, neighborhoods, and economic models for tomorrow’s cities. Students will study existing conditions in a Gulf Coast city and create a proposal for a sustainable alternative. Judges will select the winning student team, and symposium attendees will determine a “people’s choice” award. all winners will be posted on the Gulf Coast Green website.

FIrST-rATE THIrD PlACE DESIgn

The Savanna College of art and Design and Steelcase are hosting the school’s second annual Student Design Competition. This year’s theme is third place work. Grad and undergrad students will design a space for rOaM, an atlanta-based meeting, dining and gathering space. Winners selected on May 19 will later accompany professors and other atlanta designers on a jet trip to the Steelcase global headquarters in Michigan.

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CrEATE your oWn EArTH DAy EvEnTS

a packed schedule can keep us from events, but simple gestures can help us feel a part of Earth Day:

• bring your own mug to your morning coffee stop• paper or plastic? “no thanks”• turn off the dishwasher’s “dry” cycle • take the train/bus/tram/bike instead of driving• sign up for online financial statements• turn off your computer and other tech at the end

of the day — lights too.• don’t charge your cell phone overnight

Search “local earth day events” to find happenings in your neck of the planet.

gooD grEEn rEADS

looking for a succinct overview of lEED Version 3 and its impact on interior furnishings points toward lEED certification? Steelcase’s Global Environmen-tal Sustainability group has just published “Understanding lEED V3: Steelcase Contributions,” a straightforward, understandable 18-page white paper that walks through changes to lEED and details Steelcase contributions within lEED building and interior design, construction, operations, and maintenance. That and other sustainability articles and links are here: www.steelcase.com/en/company/sustainability/pages/great-reads.aspx

lISTIng ToWArD BAlTImorE

What are the essential things to do, visit, and see in Charm City? Baltimore picked up the nickname for its reputation for friendly attitude, festivals, and parties and at The Best of Baltimore Bucket list party on april 14 local designers compiled an essentials list. The party was hosted by arbee associates, Steelcase, Coalesse, Designtex, and Nurture.

SHoE STylIn’

Denver designers recently applied their design skills, along with puffy paint and glitter, to dozens of pairs of shoes in an event to help local children. Steelcase and TOMS Shoes hosted the “Style Your Sole” event in February where attendees created cheerful, cool, and crazy shoes for the Denver Children’s Home, which serves neglected and abused children.

lookIng AHEAD

SAvE THE DATE: junE 14

NeoCon attendees can check out Steelcase’s most recent research and development work on education libraries. The seminar will discuss how to use a human-centered design method to develop solutions and aid the shift from information-centered to social-centered libraries. Speakers include Steelcase researchers Elise Valoe and ritu Bajaj, and Tod Stevens, principal designer for SHW Group.

go grEEn!

The philadelphia Eagles football team, Steelcase, and Corporate Interiors are hosting a Green Initiatives Mixer for the design community on Earth Day. leonard Bonacci, director of event operations for the Eagles, will share their Go Green initiative and why they’re considered the greenest team in the National Football league. The fun starts at 5pM in the Steelcase Showroom, 1560 liberty place, downtown philly.

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