Sustainable Times Issue 10
A US study found that running a computer application in the cloud is generally more energy and carbon efficient than a server room, but that it was not a foregone conclusion and there were a number of factors that could influence overall energy and carbon efficiency.
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Sustainable Times Issue 10
1. AUTUMN 2012
Toshiba TEC
Corporate social responsibility
Leading the way in developing
environmental initiatives
INSIDE...
Why it pays to scan
more and print less
A greener future for
Durham University
Savings on tap at new
Autodesk HQ
A universal approach to
printer management
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4. greenAgenda
Cloud computing not
always greenest option
Cloud computing is often promoted as a green alternative
to on-site servers but a new report from WSP Environment
Energy and the Natural Resource Defense Council
(NRDC) suggests that the reality might not be so clear cut.
The US study found that running a computer application in
the cloud is generally more energy and carbon efficient than
a server room, but that it was not a foregone conclusion and
there were a number of factors that could influence overall
energy and carbon efficiency.
The three main ones are:
n he carbon emission factor of the electricity used: data
T
centres can be based anywhere in the world and the
amount of carbon emitted for each unit of electricity
varies widely from country to country;
n he energy efficiency of the data centre or the server
T
room: usually measured in terms of power usage
effectiveness (PUE) for data centres; and
n How much the equipment is used: data centres running
at low capacities aren’t nearly as efficient as those fully
used. This is critical as PUE takes little consideration of
usage rates.
David Symons, Director of WSP Environment and Energy, said:
“There are many reasons for moving to cloud computing, but a
company choosing to do so for pure energy efficiency reasons
needs to look closely at their whole IT set up, as well as those
of third party offerings. Not all clouds are created equal. An
on-site server room that is run with energy efficiency best
practices may be a greener alternative to a ‘brown cloud’.”
NDRC, which commissioned the research, advises small
and medium-sized businesses to ask cloud service providers
for full disclosure of the carbon efficiency of the services they
provide and consider all the key variables that contribute to
the efficiency of their own IT operations.
The full report, The Carbon Emissions of Server Computing
for Small- to Medium Sized Organisations, can be accessed at
http://tinyurl.com/9nra5kn
A fairy wonderland – for very tough fairies
The world record for the largest light
picture using LEDs has been smashed at
a naming ceremony for Oltin Yo’l Gtl in
Shurtan, southern Uzbekistan. The joint
venture to make high performance, low
emissions fuels commissioned Malwell
Corporate Projects to recreate a full scale
plan of its energy plant spread over three
quarters of a million square metres. All
in all, it took 1,012,840 lights, 24km of
lighting cable, 14km of power cables
and 302 kilowatts of power from three
generators, a railway station and a nearby
gas plant. Malcolm Wells, director of
Malwell Corporate Projects, said:
“For six days, we worked round the clock
in temperatures of over forty degrees,
in thirty kilometre plus winds. It was
like building a fairyland for very tough
fairies.”
Fit to fly
The Kestrel e400nb is a new wind
turbine certified for DECC’s Feed-In
Tariff (FIT) scheme. It can produce
3,922kWh annually, worth £1,098 at
the FIT rate of 28p per kWh produced.
Ideal for homes or small businesses
with the space to install it, the small
wind turbine can withstand winds of
up to 156.6mph.
www.microgenerationcertification.
org
The power of the
word
Logitech has launched a solar-powered,
PVC-free keyboard for Mac, iPad and
iPhone. The Logitech Wireless Solar
Keyboard K760 is Bluetooth-enabled,
pairs with up to three devices and
switches between them with the push
of a button. Integrated solar cells can
charge the keyboard in any light.
A full charge will last for three months.
Logitech’s Wireless Solar range already
includes keyboards for PCs (the K750)
and iPads (the Folio).
www.logitech.com
Home lighting system gives complete control
Whether you see the Philips Hue as a force for
good or a waste of energy depends largely on
whether you leave your lights on or off when
you leave home. Described as the smallest
web-enabled LED home lighting system, it
allows you to control and personalise lighting
using a smartphone or tablet.
Hue consists of a unit that plugs into a home
WiFi router, energy-saving LED bulbs that screw
into existing light sockets and an app that can
be used to control lighting remotely (for the
benefit of pets or to give the impression that
the house is occupied); to program lighting
timers; or to customise light settings and colours.
04 sustainabletimes
There are also a number of pre-programmed
lighting options including four with the optimum
shade and brightness for relaxation, reading,
concentration and energy.
Philips is developing other applications such as
the ability to integrate Hue with sound and video
or geo-location services that sense when you are
near home and turn the lights on automatically.
A £179 starter pack includes three 600 lumen
(50 watt equivalent) light bulbs; a bridge (and
power supply) that can support up to 50 bulbs; a
LAN cable; and download instructions for the app.
Individual bulbs cost £49 each.
www.meethue.com
01732 759725
5. Editor’s Choice Award
Sustainablen e
Vo d a fo
Mid-sized businesses
use sustainability as a
differentiator
Mid-tier organisations regard carbon regulations as the
most significant sustainability risk to their business,
according to a survey by Verdantix for Grant Thornton,
and are already taking steps to minimise their impact.
In anticipation of an extension of mandatory carbon
reporting beyond the 1,600 companies listed on the main
London Stock Exchange, 80% of organisations with turnovers
of £250 million to £1 billion already have board-level
accountability for sustainability reporting, with 51% of CEOs
taking personal responsibility for it.
More than nine out of 10 (92%) state that sustainability
is either ‘very important’ or ‘important’ to the overall
success of their organisation and up to 70% have fully or
partially enshrined sustainability metrics in their corporate
financial targets.
Two thirds of respondents (67%) include sustainability
information in some form of external reporting – either as
a standalone sustainability report or within their annual
report. However less than half (43%) use independent
external verification of their sustainability efforts to ensure it
is accurate, complete and balanced.
Customers are seen as the most important audience
for information on sustainability efforts, cited by 84%,
perhaps reflecting efforts by the largest listed companies to
reduce their own carbon impact by choosing suppliers with
sustainable products.
Jane Stevensen, Head of Sustainability at Grant Thornton,
said: “Medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the
UK economy and the CEOs of these firms recognise the
importance of sustainability and are taking personal
accountability for this. It is clear from this report that
mid-tier companies that take the initiative integrating and
publicising sustainability alongside financial reporting will be
able to differentiate their brands with investors, shareholders
and customers.”
Grant Thornton also asked mid-tier organisations what
they felt were the most significant sustainability risks for
them over the next two years. In order of importance,
respondents cited carbon regulations; energy prices; water
scarcity; environmental regulations; rising commodity
prices; extreme weather and the risk of their products being
substituted for more sustainable competitor offerings.
The key areas for capital investment in the same
period are on-site renewable energy; video conferencing
technology; projects to make buildings more energy efficient;
data centre improvements; electric vehicles for the company
fleet; software for energy and carbon management; and
equipment to reduce industrial emissions.”
www.grant-thornton.co.uk
Talking rubbish
Intelligent bins that send a message
to binmen when they need to be
emptied have enabled a council in the
Netherlands to cut its carbon footprint
by a fifth.
The City Council of Groningen is one of
25 local authorities working with Vodafone
Perch here
Blue Forest has designed its eco-Perch as
a sustainable and luxurious alternative
to permanent caravan and timber lodge
accommodation. The double-glazed
timber pod is compliant with the UK
Caravan Mobile Homes Act and can
be installed (on the ground or in a tree)
in five days with minimal disruption. It is
equipped with low voltage LED lighting;
a wall-mounted flat screen TV and DVD;
efficient A-rated LPD or electric water
heating; and an L-shaped worktop and
breakfast bar, with integrated fridge, sink
unit, gas hob and oven. For its launch
On-site renewable energy is a key
focus for mid-sized organisations.
Ecotricity installed this wind turbine
at Sainsbury’s East Kilbride cold store
and distribution centre in 2001. One of
the first examples of Merchant Power
– providing green energy at point of
use and avoiding the costs of using the
grid for delivery – the turbine provides
enough green electricity each year to
power about a third of the depot.
www.binfo.co.uk
M2M and waste management business
Mic-O-Data in the roll-out of 6,000
connected bins across the country.
The bins fitted with Vodafone M2M
SIMs send daily status signals, alerting
refuse collectors when they are getting
full and need to be emptied, ensuring that
the council no longer makes unnecessary
journeys to collect empty bins.
Sustainability consultancy
Environmental Resources Management
has calculated that in just one year,
the council has reduced its carbon
emissions by 30 tonnes and saved around
€92,000 (£72,000) in reduced fuel and
maintenance costs.
at this year’s Grand Designs show, Blue
Forest chose Granite Transformations’
Dream Green recycled glass agglomerate
for the worktop and breakfast bar. The
material is made from used beer, wine
and mineral water bottles and is available
in a choice of colours.
www.granitetransformations.co.uk
www.blueforest.com
greenAgenda…
sustainabletimes 05
6. greenAgenda
Plenty of positives to celebrate: (from L to R) Océ’s
Malcolm Glynn and Shining Earth’s Gareth Pickles and Roger
Griffiths in Goltho Wood, Lincolnshire, which has benefited
from the Océ and Shining Earth strategic alliance initiatives.
Cash for cartridges
Ricoh saves energy
with private cloud
Ricoh Europe has won two Oracle
Excellence Awards for a new IT
infrastructure that has led to the
removal of 1,600 servers and an 85%
cut in energy consumption.
Ricoh implemented the ERP Platform
and Private Cloud in an attempt to
streamline EMEA business processes;
enhance its customer service; and
support the growth of its capabilities
in Managed Document Services, IT
Services and Production printing.
A key part of the strategy was
to provide a single pan-European
environment to manage client
information and enable customers and
staff to access documents, software and
other business applications securely
from anywhere across the region.
The Eco-Enterprise Innovation Award
and the 2012 Chief Sustainability
Officer Award were presented to Ian
Winham, CIO and CFO at Ricoh Europe.
Ricoh is committed to reducing
energy consumption by 87.5 per cent
from 2000 levels by 2050.
Brother has launched a recycling
programme that accepts used ink and
toner cartridges from any manufacturer
in exchange for a cash rebate or a
charitable donation. In addition, for every
four toners or eight inkjet cartridges that
it receives, Brother will protect a tree
through an existing partnership with
Cool Earth. Brother supplies and collects
consumable recycling boxes and has set
up an online portal where users can keep
track of collections and accumulated
points (rebates). For information on how
to get started, please email
csr@brother-uk.com.
A positive contribution
Océ UK is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Carbon
Positive Plus+ scheme devised by Shining Earth for Océ
VarioPrint 6000 series printers.
Under the scheme, Océ offsets 200% of lifetime energyrelated carbon emissions of every VarioPrint 6000 sold. To date
it has offset 12,175 tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of flying
7,609 passengers from London Heathrow to New York.
Bron Curley, managing director of Océ UK, said: “Being able
to help our clients with their environmental aspirations and
responsibilities has helped differentiate Océ as a responsible
partner to the printing industry.”
Of the 12,175 tonnes of CO2 neutralised, 9,476 tonnes have
been offset through The CarbonNeutral Company and 2,699
tonnes have been sequestered through the planting of 13,500
native broadleaf trees by the Woodland Trust in forests.
Cartridges are recycled at Brother’s
recycling facility in Ruabon, North Wales
where 100% of each one is recycled or
reused, with nothing going to landfill.
Cartridge World embraces online sales
Cartridge World customers can now
buy printer supplies online following
the addition of an e-commerce
platform to its website.
The online capability is supported
by three new services: ‘Same Day
Delivery’, where customers can order
online before 12pm and receive their
printer cartridges the same day; ‘Click
and Collect’, which allows customers to
buy printer cartridges online and collect
in-store; and ‘Free Postal
Delivery’.
Editor’s Choice Award
Sustainable World
Cartridge
06 sustainabletimes
A ‘Printer Detective’ simplifies the
ordering of supplies by scanning the
customer’s computer to determine
the make and model of standalone
or network printer used and the most
appropriate cartridges.
Free Postal Delivery is available
across the UK, but to start with just 13
stores will offer Same Day Delivery and
Click and Collect: Accrington, Aylesbury,
Blackburn, Chester, Derby, Ellesmere
Port, Fareham, Harrogate, Hereford,
Rawtenstall, Kings Heath, Sittingbourne
and Portslade.
Three further stores in Stoke-onTrent, Goring and Littlehampton will
offer Click and Collect only.
Cartridge World saved 1.2 million
cartridges from going to landfill last
year, but says that just 30% of all the
cartridges used in the UK end up being
re-used. It estimates that as many as
45 million end up in landfill.
It calculates that from July 2011 to
June 2012, Cartridge World business
customers saved almost £6 million on
printer supplies and retail customers £5
million.
Leeds Children’s Hospital to
benefit from cartridge recycling
Office supplies firm OfficeXpress is encouraging businesses
and schools to join a printer cartridge recycling scheme
that aims to raise £5,000 for Leeds Children’s Hospital.
The service is completely free to join and OfficeXpress
arranges all collections once a registered organisation has
collected 10 or more cartridges.
Marketing manager Justin Phillips said: “Often cartridge
recycling services only want certain types or brands but this
initiative is open to all, including unbranded and ‘compatible’
cartridges.”
Jacquie Cross, Development Manager at Leeds Children’s
Hospital Appeal, said: “All the old cartridges that are donated
are monetised extremely quickly so the children benefit almost
as soon as the cartridges are received. We’re delighted that so
many businesses have already signed up to offer their support
which has helped buy a wide range of materials that can greatly
improve a child’s time in both our outpatient and ward areas.”
www.officexpress.co.uk/lch 01274 651 933.
01732 759725
7. The planitgreen range of premium toners offer you both print
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8. greenAgenda
Fujitsu turns CDs
into PCs
Fujitsu has developed the first
system for recycling CDs and DVDs
into notebook PCs. The company is
collecting used CDs and DVDs at Fujitsu
Group recycling centres and using
the plastic recovered in the bodies of
notebook PCs, including the front panel
of the LIFEBOOK P772/E. Fujitsu claims
this will allow it to reduce the amount
of newly produced plastic needed by 10
tons per year and cut CO2 emissions
by approximately 15%. Fujitsu says that
recycled CDs and DVDs are suitable
for use in computers because they are
made from polycarbonate, a type of
plastic that can be used in the bodies
of notebook PCs, and do not contain
contaminants, such as flame
retardants.
www.fujitsu.
com
IGEL breathes life
into old PCs
Redeem extends
contract with O2
Mobile phone recycling company
Redeem has extended its contract
with O2 (Telefonica UK) to include
business as well as consumer
recycling services, after a
competitive pitch which saw the
company bringing ground-breaking
recycling technology to the
partnership.
The Falkirk company has developed
a mobile site that uses automatic
mobile phone detection to determine
the brand and model of mobile being
used so that it can offer a recycling
price instantly.
To date, Redeem has processed
over 500,000 mobiles for O2 Recycle
and paid O2 customers more than
£35 million for their old devices.
All profits generated by O2 from
the recycling programme are donated
to O2’s Think Big programme, which
offers young people aged between 13
and 25 the chance to receive funding,
training and support to develop ideas
or initiatives of benefit to their local
community.
www.o2recycle4business.co.uk
08 sustainabletimes
Leading thin client manufacturer
IGEL is promoting the ability of its
IGEL Universal Desktop Converter
(UDC) software to extend the life of
old PCs by migrating them to fully
manageable IGEL Universal Desktop
thin client-like devices. The software
also makes the hardware more
efficient to run.
IGEL UK managing director Simon
Richards said: “This approach allows
businesses to cost effectively extend
the life of their current desktops to
deliver a Server-Based Computing
architecture or to produce a shorter
return on investment when migrating
to a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI) environment. IGEL’s UDC
software allows IT environments
with mixed desktop hardware, such
as PCs or thin clients from different
manufacturers, to be standardised
at low cost and to be efficiently and
securely managed over a network, or
over the Internet, by means of one
interface.”
IGEL adds that cost savings of up
to 70% brought
about by desktop
standardisation
and standardised
remote
management will
enable customers to
cushion investment
and licensing
costs incurred in
centralisation or
VDI projects in
the data centre.
www.igel.co.uk
Gerber saves juice with new
pallet repair facility
Gerber Juice Company and pallet supplier CHEP UK are
saving 763 tonnes of CO2, 200,000 litres of diesel fuel and
330,000 road miles through the establishment of a new
pallet repair centre on the juice supplier’s manufacturing site
in Somerset.
Now, instead of sending pallets to Avonmouth (Bristol) for
repair and re-distribution, CHEP customers in Cornwall, Devon
and Somerset only have to send them as far as Bridgwater in
Somerset, saving hundreds of thousands of road miles each year
and removing the need for 40 journeys to and from Europe.
The joint initiative has also created 10 new jobs.
Timber pallets have lower carbon
footprint
An EUR/EPAL exchangeable pallet has a five times smaller
environmental impact than a plastic pallet, according to
Polytechnic of Milan research commissioned by the Italian
National Committee, ConLegno, with the support of EPAL. EPAL
is the largest pallet pool in the world with 500 million pallets in
use and 70 million added annually.
The study into the environmental lifecycles of EUR/EPAL pallets,
pooled plastic equivalents and one-trip wooden pallets concluded
that when the combined impact of carbon emissions and the
use of soil and fossil fuels was taken into account an EUR/EPAL
exchangeable pallet had a significantly smaller carbon footprint.
It found the timber used in a single pallet would have absorbed
18.4kg of carbon from the atmosphere, which it will store until the
end of its useful life.
The research was carried out by the Department of Chemistry,
Chemical and Material Engineering (NATTA) and coordinated by
Professor John Dotelli, according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
standards.
Alan Keates, Brepal Chairman, said: “This study provides yet more
evidence that timber is clearly the material of choice for pallets and
packaging, by virtue of its overall lower impact on the environment
compared to other materials. The wood used in the 66,816,972
pallets manufactured as a part of the EPAL business in 2010 alone
would account for approximately 1.23 million tonnes of carbon
removed from the atmosphere and stored. Not only are timber
pallets more environmentally friendly, they also remain the most
reliable and least expensive option on the market.”
www.brepal.org.uk
01732 759725
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sustainabletimes 09
10. energy management
Trend Controls conceives
perfect environmental
monitoring system for
Saint Mary’s Hospital
When Manchester’s world-renowned Saint Mary’s Hospital needed
a monitoring system to control the temperature in its Department
of Reproductive Medicine, it called on Detail Design Engineering to
configure a system using products from Trend Controls.
Since it first opened its doors in 1790,
Saint Mary’s Hospital has developed
a wide range of world-class medical
services to meet the needs of the
local population in Manchester.
Its Department of Reproductive
Medicine has become a centre of
excellence in the provision of in
vitro fertilisation (IVF) and has given
hundreds of people who weren’t able
to conceive naturally the chance to
become parents.
IVF literally means ‘fertilisation in
glass’ and, unsurprisingly, for any chance
of success the process must be carried
out in perfect conditions. Maintaining
the correct temperature within the
incubators is imperative as a fraction of
a degree above or below could reduce
the chances of fertilisation occurring.
Recognising that the best way to
control the climate would be via an
environmental monitoring system that
could sound an alarm when required,
Greg Horne, lead embryologist and
laboratory manager of the Department
of Reproductive Medicine, began
searching for a solution. Fortunately
he didn’t have to look far and after
discovering that Sale-based Detail
Design Engineering (DDE) had already
configured a similar system for the
National Institute for Biological
Standards and Control (NIBSC) he made
contact.
10 sustainabletimes
Embryos are stored
in liquid nitrogen
at a constant
temperature of
-196°C and are
monitored by a
series of probes and
alarms.
Bespoke solutions
Established in 1991, DDE is one of the
North West’s leading system integration
experts with an enviable reputation for
the design, installation and maintenance
of Building Energy Management
Systems (BEMS) and control solutions
across the country. Its impressive client
list ranges from local authorities and
health authorities to blue chip industrial
companies and leading retail chains.
“Our reputation for controlling nonstandard, demanding applications such
as clean rooms and hospital facilities
means that we are often called upon to
configure controls-based systems that
are entirely bespoke,” explains director
David Gould. “When Greg contacted us
we knew that we would be able to help
using products from Trend Controls.”
To give Horne a clearer idea of what
was possible, Gould organised a visit to
NIBSC headquarters where he could see
how a Trend Controls BEMS is used to
monitor the performance of scientific
storage equipment including fridges,
freezers, incubators, cold rooms and liquid
nitrogen vessels. Horne was immediately
impressed and requested a similarly
specified system to be installed at the
Department of Reproductive Medicine.
Work began in 2006 when DDE set
about identifying all the elements that
needed monitoring, as Gould explains:
“The embryos are stored in liquid
nitrogen at a temperature of -196°C – a
temperature that must remain consistent
– so we installed a series of probes and
alarms in the incubators to make sure
that relevant personnel could be notified
if there was any change. Additional
sensors were used to monitor humidity
and CO2. Oxygen depletion monitors
were also installed, as if liquid nitrogen
leaks or spills it can affect oxygen levels,
which is potentially fatal to humans.”
DDE has been a Trend Controls
Partner for over 20 years and now uses
its products and systems exclusively.
Asked why, Gould says: “They are without
doubt the most flexible and reliable
solutions on the market. When working in
environments such as St Mary’s we can’t
afford to take risks with products that we
cannot rely upon 100%.”
Text and alarms
Like the one at NIBSC, the system at the
Department of Reproductive Medicine is
based around Trend Controls’ IQ251.
A Trend Controls 963 Supervisor graphical
user interface is the brains of the system
and DDE uses it to configure all the
necessary set-points and levels.
The 963 is programmed to issue
alarms and can send messages via text
and email to an on-site member of
staff via a Trend Controls GSM modem.
This allows DDE to dial in and carry
out diagnostic checks and, in an alarm
situation, to make a pre-recorded
telephone call to the reception desk so
that an additional alert can be delivered.
The environmental monitoring system
has been called into action on a number
of occasions, ensuring the required
remedial action is taken without any
disruption to the IVF programme.
“For six years this system has offered
us peace of mind far beyond our initial
expectations,” says St Mary’s Hospital’s
Greg Horne. “By using products from
Trend Controls, DDE has ensured that
the conditions in the Department of
Reproductive Medicine are maintained
so that we can have the best possible
chance of creating new lives.”
For further information please call Trend
Marketing on 01403 211888 or email
marketing@trendcontrols.com.
01732 759725
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sustainabletimes 11
12. cover story
Toshiba TEC continues to
lead the way in corporate
social responsibility
As well as producing the world’s most advanced printing, scanning
and copying devices, Toshiba TEC UK Imaging Systems is also
a leader in developing environmental initiatives that fulfil its
corporate social responsibility (CSR) based objectives.
Green thinking
“
Toshiba TEC’s pioneering
Carbon Zero scheme
was launched in 2009
and offsets all the
carbon generated in
the manufacturing and
shipping of its products.
12 sustainabletimes
The Toshiba TEC Group considers
environmental protection to be
one of its primary responsibilities.
This ethos permeates throughout
every stage of its product design,
manufacturing and sales processes
– from the procurement of raw
materials and components, through
to how the product is used and
maintained. Recycled plastic in
exterior panels, longer-lasting
consumables and compact designs are
just some of the ways it enhances the
sustainable qualities of its products.
This translates into innovative devices
that prevent pollution, save energy and
have minimal CO2 emissions. With a
core message of Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle, Toshiba TEC takes its corporate
social responsibilities (CSR) seriously
and does all it can to encourage similar
best practice amongst its partners and
customers.
The company is certified to ISO
14001, the international standard
for environmental management
systems. ISO 14001 helps it
identify and systematically
reduce any harmful
effects it may have on
the environment by
developing processes to
lower energy and raw
materials use, reduce
waste and pollution, and
mitigate the possibility of
emergency situations.
It also holds ISO
9001:2008 quality management
Top: The original cookhouse. Above: The new kitchen
takes shape. Right: Ready for use
certification, which provides a set of
principles that ensure a common sense
approach to the management of its
business activities. This means that
it can improve internal and external
stakeholder engagement, and improve
risk management.
The company has also had the
energy efficiency claims of its products
scrutinised. It counts EnergyStar and
Blue Angel amongst the environmental
standards that it complies with, and
also adheres to the LOT4 voluntary
agreement (VA) that minimises
environmental impact through design.
Orlaith Palmer, Toshiba TEC’s
marketing manager – indirect channel,
explained: “To ensure that our energy
and environmental management
objectives are understood by all of
our stakeholders, we communicate
information about our strategies and
initiatives through mechanisms such
as our Intranet and internal email
marketing. This successfully engages all
staff in carbon reduction activities and
gives them the opportunity to make
suggestions about how to improve
energy efficiency across all areas of the
business.”
“
As well as being
ISO 9001 and ISO
14001 accredited,
Toshiba TEC
adopts a
sustainable
approach to
the design,
manufacture
and use of all its
products.
01732 759725
13. “
In the UK and Europe alone,
the Carbon Zero scheme has
offset a massive 165,503
tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent
of 37,461 return flights from
Düsseldorf to Tokyo.
Food for thought
The previous issue of Sustainable
Times featured an article that
described how Toshiba TEC had
helped two of its managed services
customers contribute to a project
that provides food preparation
facilities for schools in Kenya.
Coordinated by co2balance, the
leading global carbon management
company, it is part of Toshiba TEC’s
Carbon Zero scheme, an initiative
that ensures that any CO2 produced
during the manufacture and supply of
its multifunction products (MFPs) is
entirely offset.
Work has now been completed and
Buguta Primary School in Taita-Taveta
District, north of Mombasa, now has a
brand new cookhouse. It is helping to
keep pupils in school during lunchtime,
thereby ensuring that they get the best
possible education.
Muhaka Secondary School in
Msambweni District of the Coast
Province is also benefiting from new
cooking facilities. Relatively new, it is
the only secondary school within a
5km radius and has a population of 35
students – a figure that is likely to triple
in the next academic year. Therefore,
ensuring its pupils are able to receive
adequate sustenance during the school
day is of paramount importance.
www.binfo.co.uk
Providing enhanced social, health
and welfare benefits make this a unique
project that extends its reach way
beyond simple carbon reduction. Data
analysis has revealed that each school
will reduce its firewood usage by at
least 50 per cent and indoor pollution
will be cut by up to 70 per cent – vastly
improving the working environment for
the cooks.
The reduction in the amount of
firewood used plays a vital role in
preventing deforestation, resulting
in enhanced habitat and eco-system
protection. It also reduces the risk
of flooding and means that children
spend more time in school rather than
collecting fuel.
Toshiba TEC’s marketing director,
Jeremy Spencer, commented: “The new
cooking facilities at Buguta Primary
School and Muhaka Secondary School
will play a key role in enhancing their
learning experience. The project is
a great example of Toshiba TEC’s
commitment to environmental
initiatives and CSR programmes, and
we are currently talking to our other
partners about how they can also get
involved.”
Below: The new stoves. Bottom: The staff
and pupils of Muhaka Secondary School
Less is more
“
Each school will
reduce their
firewood usage
by at least 50
per cent and
lower indoor
pollution by up
to 70 per cent.
The pioneering Carbon Zero
scheme, which Toshiba TEC
launched in 2009, continues to
evolve. Carbon generated through
its manufacturing process is offset
through a variety of sustainability
based projects and the company
also offers customers the
opportunity to extend the carbon
offsetting process during their
ongoing use of the product.
The Carbon Zero scheme
originated in the UK and has since
been rolled out to Toshiba TEC
companies throughout the world.
Its European division recently signed
a two-year scheme extension,
ensuring that its Carbon Zero
activities will continue into 2014.
Each country has the freedom
to develop its own scheme variants,
which accommodate the specific
requirements of each market. In the
UK, each Toshiba TEC multifunction
product (MFP) is delivered carbon
neutral with the optional ability
to offset the machine’s activities,
enabling positive printing and
copying with no detrimental effect
upon the environment.
Orlaith Palmer, stated: “The
amount of carbon offset so far in
the UK and Europe totals a massive
165,503 tonnes of CO2! To put
this figure into context, it’s the
equivalent of 37,461 return flights
from Düsseldorf to Tokyo. To put
it another way, the average UK
household emits about 10 tonnes
of CO2, so it is the same as that
produced by 16,550 households.”
For more information on
Toshiba TEC’s corporate social
responsibility please visit:
www.toshibatec.co.uk
sustainabletimes 13
14. secure print
To Infinity
beyond
Secure print systems that hold
a print job on a server until
the user releases it by entering
a PIN at a network printer
can reduce print volumes by
20%-30%: they ensure people
only output the prints they
need and, because the user
is there to pick them up as
they come out, prints don’t
get lost or muddled up and
need to be re-printed. On the
downside, many solutions
require users to invest in new
devices adding to the expense
and carbon footprint of an
implementation. One that
doesn’t is UniPrint Infinity,
now being used by Carolina
Container, as it is designed to
work with multi-vendor fleets,
existing network devices and
diverse IT environments.
Founded in 1928, Carolina Container
designs and manufactures quality
corrugated packaging for customers
across the south-eastern United States.
The company’s IT infrastructure
includes seven centrally located Windows
terminal servers and 30 additional servers.
Most are virtualised with VMware to
provide various applications, including
printing, to 400 users. Seventy per cent
of users are on thin-client devices, with
the remainder using a mix of Windows
desktops, Mac computers, laptops and
mobile devices. All have shared access to
150 network printers of various makes
and model in 15 different locations.
The Challenge
The high volume printing demands of
Carolina Container’s business combined
with the challenges of managing
thin-client printing in a virtualised
environment created the need for a
universal printing solution.
The company also required an
anywhere, anytime, any device application
to print bar codes, quotes, invoices
and project data directly from e-mail
14 sustainabletimes
“
By deploying
UniPrint Infinity,
Carolna Container
has realised big
cost savings
while improving
security...
programs. Due to the high number of PDF
documents Carolina Container receives
from vendors and customers, being able
to automatically print to PDF when
e-mailing an attachment or an archived
file was an absolute necessity.
In addition, the large volume of
incoming HR records, billing sheets
and complicated documents with font
embedding that needed to be printed
securely – often from remote locations –
caused problems with bandwidth.
Carolina Container’s system
administrators were plagued with printer
driver incompatibility issues causing
frequent server crashes and excessive help
desk calls. The company also had a critical
need for security given the sensitive
nature of customer documents and an
increasingly mobile workforce.
The Solution
After assessing several other vendors,
Carolina Container opted for a UniPrint
Infinity managed printing solution, as
it had the flexibility to solve Carolina
Container’s problems and meet its specific
printing needs.
A key selling point was UniPrint’s
Key Benefits
n A quick, straightforward installation process
n Highly scalable as printers and employees are added
n Printer-vendor independent
n Secure and easy set-up of printer permissions
n ecreased bandwidth utilization due to PDF
D
compression
n Anywhere, anytime, any device secure pull printing
n upport for all client printing including BYOD printing
S
PDF-based Universal Printer Driver,
which simplifies printer management
and solves incompatibility issues by
negating the need to install multiple
manufacturer printer drivers on terminal
servers. The driver converts print jobs
into PDFs, compresses files by almost
90% for reduced network traffic, and
allows complicated customer documents
containing asynchronous font embedding
and barcodes to be saved, e-mailed, or
printed on-the-fly.
A UniPrint PrintPAL utility has fixed
IT administrators’ location-based printing
challenges by facilitating the centralised
management of printer authorisation by
department and user.
“That lowered our total cost of
ownership immediately,” explained
JC Coleman, Network Administrator at
Carolina Container. “Before UniPrint
Infinity, we had to go to each printer
and assign who had access; that meant
modifying 120 different settings on each
printer. Now users only see the printers
they need access to.”
Another element, the UniPrint Bridge
Server, eliminates the need to install
printer drivers on client devices, enabling
driverless printing. This gives PC, Mac,
thin-client device and mobile device
users seamless printing in the office and
from any remote location, including
their homes.
To meet, Carolina Container’s security
requirements, UniPrint supplied a vPad
user authentication device and encryption
control functionality. Print jobs are now
converted into compressed PDFs and
encrypted to increase security when
e-mailing documents. Users must also
authenticate themselves before print
jobs are pulled down and released at the
selected printer.
The Benefits
By deploying UniPrint Infinity, Carolina
Container has realised big cost savings
while improving security and ease of
administration and use; employees can
now print critical documents anywhere,
anytime and from any device; smaller
print jobs – through PDF compression
– have decreased the need for costly IT
bandwidth and administrative support;
and employees are able to exploit the
benefits of a virtualised print environment
more effectively.
Carolina Container is now set up to
support an increasingly mobile workforce
with simplified and centralised printer
management and documents that can be
printed out directly, and securely, from
any client device.
www.uniprint.net
01732 759725
15. EXPOSE THE HIDDEN COSTS IN
YOUR ORGANISATION
WITH MANAGED DOCUMENT SERVICES FROM KYOCERA
Output costs are always underestimated. In fact, they consume up to 6%* of
your company’s turnover. KYOCERA’s Managed Document Services (MDS) reduces
this cost factor by up to 30%**. Whether it’s hardware, software or workflows,
we will find your cost drivers and develop an individual optimisation strategy.
Through our ongoing management we will also ensure that everything works
perfectly. For maximum effect, MDS can be combined with our longlife
technology-based, reliable ECOSYS and TASKalfa devices, giving you top-level
productivity and superior image quality.
Source: *All Associates Group, **Photizo Group
KYOCERA. COUNT ON US.
KYOCERA Document Solutions (U.K.) Limited – Phone 08457 103 104 – www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk
KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc. – www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.com
www.binfo.co.uk
sustainabletimes 15
16. survey
Kyocera’s Green Credentials
This year KYOCERA Document Solutions celebrates
the 20th anniversary of the launch of its ECOSYS
sustainable printing technology.
In 1992 the Kyoto Protocol was five years away from being agreed
and 13 years away from coming into force. Yet KYOCERA was already
shipping the first ECOSYS sustainable printers.
KYOCERA’s heritage in ceramic technology is fundamental to the lowwaste design of ECOSYS printers. The long-life components used are many
times more durable than traditional alternatives meaning that in most cases
the printer will have a lifespan of 30 to 50 times longer than other printers.
An ECOSYS printer is quite unique because toner is it’s only
consumable. The low-waste design of ECOSYS printers means that 85%
less waste is produced during the life of the printer. Additionally the
simpler, smaller and lighter toner boxes have a lower transport footprint
than more complex alternatives. KYOCERA has further improved its longlife design and energy-saving efforts, to achieve a remarkable reduction in
(Typical Energy Consumption) TEC values and CO2 emissions, compared
to conventional printers. The company has also improved the operation
noise of its printers making them five decibels quieter, increased energy
savings and reduced the time required to recover the printer from standby
to start printing.
The benefits of ECOSYS extend beyond sustainability. A KYOCERA
toner cartridge is simple and economical to produce and users of KYOCERA
printers have already benefitted from 20 years of exceptionally low printing
costs. KYOCERA has consistently emphasised the importance of a printer’s
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) as lifetime toner costs can be many times a
printer’s purchase price.
To complete our survey either...
1. omplete it online at
C
www.surveymonkey.com/s/kyocerasurvey or
2. omplete, scan and email to: neil@binfo.co.uk or
C
3. omplete and post to
C
K
yocera Document Solutions Survey,
Sustainable Times Magazine
22 London Road
Sevenoaks
Kent, TN13 2BT
1. hat are the principle reasons for maximising/improving your
W
organisation’s sustainability?
Please number the following list in order of importance, 1 to 5
where 1 is the highest.
• Reducing Overheads (ie, physical cost of bills)
____________
• Cutting unnecessary waste
____________
• Driving efficiencies
____________
• Ethical business responsibilities
____________
• Improved staff relations
____________
• Improved workplace conditions
____________
• mplementing sustainable practices before
I
they become law
____________
2. you required to report on the environmental performance of
Are
your IT systems to senior management, shareholders or external
bodies?
SELECT ALL THAT APPLY
Yes – Senior Management................................................................................. o
Yes – Shareholders............................................................................................... o
Yes – External......................................................................................................... o
No.............................................................................................................................. o
Don’t know............................................................................................................. o
.
3. To what extent are environmental concerns driving investment
a)
in IT in your organisation?
hey are the primary driver............................................................................ o
•T
hey are an important consideration......................................................... o
•T
hey have an equal weighting with other drivers ................................ o
•T
hey are secondary to other drivers........................................................... o
•T
.
hey have no weighting / bearing at all.................................................... o
•T
WIN A £500 Shopping Voucher
As part of Kyocera’s commitment to improved green credentials we’d
like to know what you, the reader, think.
Please take a few of minutes to enter our Kyocera/Sustainable Times
survey and tell us what you think. One lucky winner will be drawn from a hat
on 21st January 2013 and will win a £500 shopping voucher from a store of
their choice!
Such as...
16 sustainabletimes
To what extent are cost savings driving investment in IT
b)
in your organisation?
hey are the primary driver............................................................................ o
•T
hey are an important consideration......................................................... o
•T
hey have an equal weighting with other drivers ................................ o
•T
hey are secondary to other drivers........................................................... o
•T
.
hey have no weighting / bearing at all.................................................... o
•T
4.
Which of the following best describes how you feel
environmental programmes and initiatives in your company have
been affected by challenging economic circumstances?
SELECT ONE ONLY
ot at all, we have continued our programme as planned................ o
•N
little, we have done less work on our environmental
•A
programme than we would like.................................................................... o
• lot, but we have actually carried out more environmental
A
activities in order to also reduce costs e.g. energy................................ o
• lot, we have had to abandon some of our environmental
A
projects due to lack of budget...................................................................... o
.
• We don’t have any environmental initiatives.......................................... o
01732 759725
17. survey
5.
How important are each of these topics when selecting printers/
copiers for your organisation?
(Please use a scale where 1 = not important at all; 2 = not particularly
important; 3 = Neither important nor unimportant; 4 = Important;
5 = Very important)
• Energy consumption profile
__________
• Energy saving features
__________
• anufacture to high environmental standards
M
(eg ISO14001)
__________
• Energy efficiency certification (eg Energy Star)
__________
• ther environmental certification
O
(eg Blue Angel, Nordic Swan, EcoLabel)
__________
• Design for disassembly/recycling
__________
• Use of recycled materials
__________
• Embodied energy in the device
__________
• Embodied energy in consumables
__________
• Lifecycle analysis/product carbon footprint
__________
• Supply chain transparency
__________
• Supplier CSR standards
__________
• Consumables return service
__________
6.
What benefits do you associate with taking environmental
issues into account when specifying goods and services?
• Energy efficiency ............................................................................................o
• Reductions in waste ......................................................................................o
• Lower cost .........................................................................................................o
• Benefits to company reputation (CSR) ..................................................o
• Other (please specify)
• I don’t anticipate any benefits ..................................................................o
7. what extent are you prepared to pay a premium for a product
To
that performs well on the criteria you consider important?
• More than 50%................................................................................................ o
• 33 – 49%............................................................................................................ o
• 25 – 32%............................................................................................................ o
• 20 – 24%............................................................................................................ o
• 15 – 19%............................................................................................................ o
• 10 – 14%............................................................................................................ o
• 6 – 10%............................................................................................................... o
• 1 – 5%................................................................................................................. o
.
• I would not pay a premium......................................................................... o
.
• I would expect such a product to cost less, not more....................... o
.
8.
What do you understand by the term Managed Print Services
(MPS)?
• he centralised management of fleet printers, copiers
T
and MFPs............................................................................................................. o
• The just in time delivery of consumables............................................... o
• The outsourced management of all document output devices...... o
• Other (please specify)
9. you know what your organisation’s print costs represent as a
Do
% of turnover?
o Yes o No
10. Do you know if you pay per page?
o Yes o No
11. o justify your organisation making sustainably based
T
improvements what savings to your operating costs would you
want to achieve?
• Please State
12. hich of the following best describes your company’s current
W
activities?
• e arrange carbon offsets for all activities on a
W
company-wide basis........................................................................................ o
.
• e arrange carbon offsets for some activities
W
(e.g. plane flights) on a company-wide basis......................................... o
.
• e arrange carbon offsets for some activities, on a team
W
or department level.......................................................................................... o
• e arrange carbon offsets for a few activities, on the
W
initiative of individual employees or managers..................................... o
• e don’t arrange carbon offsets for any activities,
W
to my knowledge............................................................................................... o
• I don’t know........................................................................................................ o
13. hich of the following are criteria your company prefers when
W
choosing offset schemes?
CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY
• Gold standard” offsets.................................................................................. o
“
.
• ffsets independently verified by a respected third party............... o
O
.
• ffset activities targeted in the home country.................................... o
O
.
• ffset schemes directly relevant to your own industry..................... o
O
• ffset activities targeted in the developing world.............................. o
O
.
• ffset activities with a social benefit
O
(e.g. based in lower-income communities)............................................. o
• ffset activities for which there is a ‘paper trail’ you can examine....
O
• one of these is important to my company......................................... o
N
.
• on’t know.......................................................................................................... o
D
14. Which of the following best describes your opinion ?
SELECT ONE ONLY
• y company’s environmental policies and actions are
M
entirely driven by cost/benefit analysis. If something makes/
saves money, they will do it, and if it does not, they won’t............. o
.
• y company’s environmental policies and actions are
M
entirely driven by principle. If something seems to be the
‘right’ environmental thing do to, they will do it, and if it does
not, they won’t ................................................................................................. o
• y company’s environmental policies and actions are driven
M
by a mixture of cost/benefit analysis and principle.
Each decision is weighed on a balance of moral and cost/
benefit concerns .............................................................................................. o
• y company is not involved in environmental policies and
M
actions – these issues play no role in decision-making .................... o
• on’t know ........................................................................................................ o
D
15. n your opinion, what is the most important environmental
I
challenge facing your company in the next 5 years?
• on’t know ........................................................................................................ o
D
• e don’t face any environmental challenges ....................................... o
W
• ther (please specify)
O
The information below will help us to analyse your answers to our
questions. We will only use this information for the internal analysis of
this survey. (or to contact you if you have won the prize)
Name
Company name
Position
Email
Telephone
Company size
No. of sites
Are you happy to be contacted via email to receive future promotional mailings
etc. (please tick box ) o
www.binfo.co.uk
Would you be happy to have a conversation with one of our research team (Anyone
contacted by our research team will receive a £20 Marks Spencers Gift Voucher
for participating in the additional Telephone Survey) (please tick box ) o
sustainabletimes 17
18. communications
Need for cost savings
drives take-up of unified
communications
The recession has been a major driver in the uptake of Unified
Communications (UC) within global businesses – and a
contributory factor in the decline of the deskphone, according to
a survey undertaken by Frost Sullivan for Jabra.
More than half (57%) of the
352 individuals responsible for
the implementation of Unified
Communications in businesses
stated that the recession was a major
influencing factor in their decision
to adopt UC. Nearly 80% expected
to achieve ROI on their investment
within two years, with a quarter
expecting ROI within 6 months.
The need to make general ‘cost
savings’ was cited by 57% of the
companies polled; a further 52%
also listed ‘productivity increases’ as
something they were looking to achieve;
and 42% said they were aiming to use
“
Fifty-two per cent
of respondents
said they had
already removed
their company
desk-phones...
UC to ‘become more agile through
improved collaboration’.
Andrew Doyle, MD, Jabra UK
Business Solutions, says the results of
the survey clearly show that businesses
recognise Unified Communications
as an appropriate reaction to today’s
harsher financial environment and a
way to foster better, more competitive
working practices.
“What we have here is clear
evidence that businesses recognise that
implementing Unified Communications
can be a serious cost-cutting and
productivity-boosting exercise. The
productivity and cost benefits of UC,
whilst key within this economically
turbulent time, will also remain central
to business growth once the economy
stabilises and will drive smarter working
practices in the future,” he said.
More than half (56%) of respondents
said that IP telephony and PC-based
soft-clients had already generated
better communications within their
workforce, with 41% seeing more
collaboration and 36% experiencing
increased productivity as a result.
Fifty-two per cent of respondents
said they had already got rid of
company desk-phones and, of those
who hadn’t, 70% were planning to
remove them in the near future.
Headsets are the most popular
device in companies that have replaced
their deskphones. Those that have
made the transition report a number of
benefits, including having their hands
free when on calls (58%), improved
sound quality (41%) and better
engagement and collaboration with offsite workers (26%).
The highest proportion of companies
with existing UC implementations can
be found in the UK and US (60.3% and
58% respectively).
www.jabra.com
Video more effective collaboration
tool than email or phone
As mid-size businesses cite video conferencing as a key area for future
investment (see page 5), Brother is releasing the results of research by the
Fraunhofer Institute showing that video is more effective than the telephone
or email for remote team working.
Dr Josephine Hoffmann,
Fraunhofer Institute
18 sustainabletimes
The study commissioned by Brother
for its video and webconferencing
solution OmniJoin analysed the
impact of video-conferencing on the
performance of two teams based
in different locations as they set
about allocating desks for an office
move and deciding how to spend the
employee health budget.
Video was found to be more effective
than the telephone or email at getting
results, providing clarity and fostering
team spirit:
n 0% of participants said they
7
were more willing to engage in the
discussion when video-conferencing;
n 0% said being able to see other
6
people and share documents live
made the discussion more open;
n 1% said that using the phone and
8
email to conduct a task felt divided
rather than united, whereas video-
conferencing delivered genuine
collaboration;
n 4% felt that decisions reached
7
through video-conferencing felt more
like joint decisions than those reached
via phone/email; and
7
n 9% said communication on videoconferencing was more effective
because being able to see others helped
them to concentrate for longer.
Dr Josephine Hofmann of the Fraunhofer
Institute said: “Our study found that
video collaboration enables effective
teamwork as a genuine group process.
A majority of participants said they were
able to concentrate for longer, whereas
telephone conferences are stressful
and make them switch off. This will
have a positive impact on things like
motivation, acceptance of the decision
and willingness to contribute.”
Brother hopes that the findings will
encourage more small and medium-sized
businesses to adopt a technology that is
widely used by larger organisations and
is starting to gain penetration amongst
SMEs. IDC says that 29% of UK SMEs
already use video-conferencing, but
it expects this figure to grow to 63%
within five years.
Simon Stones, product planning
manager for Brother International
Europe, said: “The clear conclusion
from this research is that seeing really
is believing when it comes to effective
teamwork. In today’s fast-moving world,
a high-quality solution like OmniJoin
helps build trusting working relationships
quickly – by putting a face to a name
and creating a natural atmosphere.”
www.brother.co.uk/OmniJoin_
Conferencing
01732 759725
19. ple Choice
The reliable range of papers with a multitude of uses
MultiCopy Colour Laser CIE Whiteness 168 – The premium for all colour laser
printers and copiers.
MultiCopy Inkjet CIE Whiteness 168 – Specially developed for inkjet printers.
MultiCopy Original CIE Whiteness 168 – A reliable multipurpose paper that
gives outstanding performance.
Multi Laser CIE Whiteness 150 – A paper suited to mono laser printing and
high volume copying.
Multifine CIE Whiteness 145 – A wonderfully uncomplicated wood-free offset
paper with good bulk and excellent opacity.
Email multi@paper.co.uk for samples
www.paper.co.uk
20. what’s new...
The grey suit
goes green
Marks and Spencer
describes this £349
suit as the world’s
most sustainable. All
materials have been
chosen carefully for
their sustainability,
from traceable organic
wool and lining made
from recycled plastic
bottles to reclaimed
buttons and a 100%
recycled polyester
inter-lining. There is still
room for improvement,
though, and MS is
currently looking for more
sustainable sources for the
thread and shoulder pads
used.
www.marksandspencer.
com/SuitsMens/b/43483030
Taking a Responsible
approach to printer
supplies
Xerox has launched the Responsible
range of remanufactured print
cartridges for non-Xerox printers,
including models from Brother, Canon,
Epson, HP, IBM, Konica Minolta,
Kyocera, Lexmark, Oki and Panasonic.
Responsible cartridges are made from
90% re-used parts and deliver cost
savings of at least 50% compared to
OEM originals. Ideal for managed print
services providers, the cartridges are
inspected to ISO 9001 standard and
come with a two-year guarantee.
Tenza bows to reality
Following customer research showing
that ‘Documents Enclosed’ tenzalopes
are almost always thrown away rather
than recycled, Tenza Technologies
has decided to make them from
oxo-biodegradable film rather than
recyclable LDPE. The new envelopes
have the same appearance, quality
and reliability as before, but will now
bio-degrade in landfill. Commercial
manager Alan Lomas said: “The market
demands environmentally friendly
alternatives and now Tenza can offer
that as standard – and crucially, at no
extra cost.” http://tenzatech.com
Small change
Tesa is expanding its range of ecofriendly products with the launch of
the tesafilm Mini dispenser ecoLogo
and the tesa Mini Correction roller
ecoLogo. Casings for both the
handheld tape dispenser and the
correction roller are made from
100% recycled plastic. Tesafilm
ecoLogo tape is 100% recycled, too,
and solvent-free.
Getting heavy
This 350gsm heavyweight is the latest
addition to International Paper’s PRODESIGN range of FSC-certified paper.
Ideal for business cards, presentation folders,
postcards, menus and the like, the paper also
carries PEFC and EU Ecolabel certification.
It is made at the Saillat Mill in France where
greenhouse gas emissions have been cut
by 78% since 1990 and 88% of energy
requirements are met with the on-site
production of green energy from biomass.
In addition, the mill aims to source a majority
of its wood from forests located within
150km of the mill. More than a quarter
(27%) of wood used is a by-product of the
furniture and framing industries.
www.internationalpaper.com
20 sustainabletimes
Turning the tables...on
Cafés, hotels, golf courses and other establishments that
might want give guests free power to charge a mobile device
are some of the potential customers of Solar Technology’s
all weather, solar power generating EcoTable. Other potential
users include those who need a power source in the garden.
Available in two sizes, the EcoTable consists of a large solar panel
that doubles as a table top above a power bank with a choice of
connections including a traditional wall socket, USB and 12 Volt car
charger.
The EcoTab 120’s battery can be fully charged in as few as 6
hours of sunshine and holds enough power to charge seven laptops,
30 smartphones or 15 tablets. If necessary, it can charge multiple
devices simultaneously.
EcoTab is made from steel and FSC-certified Iroko wood and
costs from £1,299. A selection of complementary bench designs,
including a corner seat, is also available.
www.solartechnology.co.uk
01732 759725
21. Five-star adventure
Outward bounds activity provider Wilderness Scotland is to introduce
a programme of carbon neutral corporate experiences in the Highlands
and Islands. Wilderness Events can devise incentive experiences, creative
charity challenges and team building exercises for groups of 4 to 400
people and all fitness levels. A range of activities is available including
mountain biking, canoeing, sea kayaking and nature walking. Wilderness
Scotland is the only activity company to gain a 5-star, ‘exceptional’ rating
from VisitScotland’s quality assurance scheme. To find out more, visit
www.wildernessevents.com or call 01479 420 020.
Bright and white
Herma has launched a 16-strong recycled labels range. The
Blue Angel-certified labels are notable for their exceptional
brightness of 97% (CIE 133) even though no chlorine bleach
or other optical brighteners are used. According to Herma,
the whiteness is purely the result of very careful waste paper
selection. The adhesive used is water-based and contains no
solvents, plasticisers or acids.
www.herma.com/theblueangel
Online bookings
Climatecars, the Green Fleet Best
Private Hire/Taxi Firm of the Year, has
produced an iPhone App that makes it
easy for customers to book one of their
eco-friendly cars at any time of the day
or night. Climatecars has a large fleet
of environmentally friendly hybrids and
some 100% zero emission electric cars.
All have leather seats and are stocked
with free Belu mineral water and
magazines. Pricing is competitive, with
a trip from Central London to Heathrow
costing around £50.
www.climatecars.com
Adapt for a longer life
A new adapter that converts a digital HDMI port to analogue
VGA overcomes the problem of what to do with an existing
monitor when you replace an old PC with a new computer
that has an HDMI port only. Using the Sandberg adapter to
connect a VGA cable to the computer’s HDMI port would
allow you to continue using a VGA monitor and save the
expense and waste of buying a new screen.
www.sandberg.it
Now food packaging goes
to your waistline too!
Levi’s WasteLess jeans, part of the brand’s
Spring 2013 collection, are made from denim
with a recycled plastic content of at least 20%.
The recycled PET plastic comes from used drinks
bottles and food trays and each pair of jeans
contains as much plastic as eight water bottles.
Waste bottles and food trays are sorted by colour,
crushed into flakes and made into a polyester
fibre that is blended with cotton fibre before
being woven with traditional cotton yarn to
create denim. In total, Levi Strauss Co. expects
to use more than 3.5 million recycled bottles
in the collection of denim jackets and jeans.
WasteLess follows the launch earlier this year
of the WaterLess collection that uses a new
finishing process to reduce water use by up to
96%. Levi Strauss Co. estimates that, to date,
the collection has saved more than 360 million
litres of water. www.levi.com
www.binfo.co.uk
Evergreen Stabilo BOSS
goes green
Stabilo has launched a recycled version of the evergreen Stabilo BOSS highlighter, an office favourite
for more than 40 years. Made from 83% recycled
plastic, it can be bought singly, in a desk set or in an
80% recycled paper four-pack. In other respects, the
Stabilo Green BOSS highlighter is the same as the
standard model, with ‘Anti-Dry-Out’ technology for
a 4-hour cap-off time.
www.stabilo.co.uk 01753 605656
sustainabletimes 21
23. scanners
Scan to go green
Fujitsu is encouraging businesses to invest in scanners
to reduce copying costs.
Fujitsu PFU has launched a Scan-toGo-Green campaign to promote the
environmental, productivity and costsaving benefits of scanning, routing
and storing documents electronically.
The campaign is centred on an
information portal at www.scansnapit.
com/scantogogreen where you will find
a new whitepaper, an AIIM study and an
ROI calculator.
Fujitsu is also giving people the
chance to win a new PFU ScanSnap
S1300i scanner on Facebook (http://
www.facebook.com/ScanSnapUK/
app_252899818150134) and has made a
commitment to plant 10,000 mangroves
in Malaysia.
Fujitsu says that one of the best and
easiest ways to save paper is to invest
in a scanner that converts paper-based
information into digital documents so
that just a single paper copy has to be
managed and stored. On the basis that
a typical document can be printed as
many as 19 times, with 45% of these
copies being thrown away within 24
hours of printing, it claims that a single
personal scanner can save up to €1,250
in copying costs each year (not including
processing and filing costs) and reduce
paper consumption by the equivalent of
five trees.
An AIIM study available on the portal
states that unnecessary printing and
copying costs a 10-person company
over €900 per year in ink and/or toner
costs and that introducing a scanner
and making slight changes in business
processes can achieve a return on
investment (ROI) after just 4 months of
deployment and generate an additional
€940 savings over 12 months.
In addition to these financial
savings, investing in a scanner can
improve core business processes,
streamline workflows, strengthen
compliance with regulatory
guidelines, raise productivity and
reduce environmental impact.
PFU is supporting the
campaign with a project
to plant a total of
10,000 mangrove trees
in Kuala Gula, part of the
Matang Forest Reserve in
Malaysia. Mangroves are essential to
“
...investing
in a scanner
can improve
core business
processes...
Scan for productivity
October 25 was the third World PaperFree Day. To mark the occasion, AIIM
(the global community of information
professionals) released a digital
e-book entitled The Paper-Free Process
Revolution Handbook.
Available for download at www.aiim.
org/wpfd, it includes a checklist and advice
on how to enhance productivity and
speed up processes by capturing data in
electronic format at the onset of a business
process. AIIM research shows removing
paper can result in a 30 to 50% gain in
process productivity and a three- to 10-fold
reduction in turnaround response times.
AIIM President John Mancini said: “The
predictions in the ‘70s for a PC on every
desk and a paperless office contradicted
each other creating a significant disconnect.
Desktop computers connected to highspeed printers, copiers and fax machines
fuelled paper trails rather than paperless
processes. With laptops, tablets and smart
phones prevalent today, it is a necessity
www.binfo.co.uk
for companies to rethink paper use and be
able to respond in a time-frame customers
and employees have come to expect from
consumer interactions.”
Even so, AIIM finds going paperless continues to be a challenge and
unproductive habits persist. An Industry
Watch report issued in April this year,
Process Revolution – moving your business
from paper to PCs and tablets, shows that
35% of organisations are reducing paper
consumption, with the majority achieving
payback for scanning and capture projects in
18 months or less. Typical improvements in
customer response times are two and three
times faster with many cases being five to
10 times faster.
Despite these benefits, the report reveals
that 77% of invoices that arrive as PDF
attachments are printed, 31% of fax invoices
are printed and then re-scanned and 32%
of businesses report using more paper and
doing more photocopying.
www.aiim.org/wpfd
the inhabitants of this area, as the trees
protect people against storms at sea and
are an important breeding ground for fish,
crabs and crustaceans.
www.pfu.fujitsu.com/en/
www.scansnapit.com
Fujitsu has sold two million ScanSnap
personal document scanners
worldwide since launching the series
in 2001. The latest model is the cloudenabled ScanSnap S1300i featuring
a new connector that makes it easy
to scan to third party applications
for enhanced productivity, including
Dropbox and Android smartphones
and tablets.
in brief
Green product of the Year
Document process automation specialist
ReadSoft Online has been named
‘Environmental Product of the Year’ at
the annual Document Management (DM)
Magazine awards. Nominated in a record
seven categories, the award recognises
the company’s work in delivering business
innovation whilst responding to growing
environmental concerns.
Automation’s ability to reduce levels of hard
copy paperwork is well known but with ReadSoft
Online, businesses can now use the flexibility and
power of the Cloud to scale up and down the
automation of back office processes. This delivers
greater control which can positively affect a
business’s environmental impact.
ReadSoft Online lets users scan, upload and
e-mail documents and invoices. The software
automatically extracts relevant data from
fields, verifies it and sends it to the receiving
applications.
www.readsoft.com
sustainabletimes 23
24. document management
Signs of the times
In honour of October’s World
Paper-Free Day, we highlight
three paper-less business
processes that can
save time and
money
3. ata capture in
D
the field
1. e-Signatures
Greater Baltimore Medical Center
(GBMC) is using Wacom signature
tablets to reduce its environmental
footprint, lower costs and increase
patient satisfaction.
It recently deployed 20 Wacom
STU-500 signature tablets with Access
Intelligent Forms Suite (IFS) and Access
e-Signature software to help generate
e-forms at patient registration. Forms
now come with patient demographics
pre-filled and barcodes that facilitate
auto-indexing in a Hyland Software
OnBase electronic content management
system.
According to Cherie Patterson, Patient
Access Applications Trainer at GBMC, the
ability to capture and apply electronic
signatures has made registration quicker
and easier for patients.
“The combination of Wacom’s LCD
STU-500 signature tablets and Access’s
e-forms and electronic patient signature
solutions have created a fast, paperless
registration process. It has further
reduced our paper costs and several
patients have commented on how much
faster their registration experience now
is,” she said.
Instead of printing patient forms
twice, with one copy for the patient and
one to go into their chart, GBMC now
asks if patients would like a copy. Most
say “no,” helping GBMC to save money
and maximise the environmental benefits
already achieved by switching to e-forms
on demand.
“With our Wacom and Access solution
we’ve greatly reduced our paper output
and waste,” said Patterson. “Ninety-seven
percent of patients decline a copy of their
forms packet, so everybody wins.”
www.wacom.com
24 sustainabletimes
2. Digital mailrooms
Scanning mail as it is opened in a mailroom enables mail
to be stored and distributed electronically. This reduces
the amount of paper flowing around a business and, when
integrated with an electronic document management
system, improves retrieval times and gives staff a single view
of all PC-generated and scanned documents relating to a
customer, supplier or process.
Organisations with high volumes of incoming mail are
already capturing and digitising mail to save manpower,
speed up document workflow and improve access to
information, and there now exist solutions for smaller
businesses too.
Neopost has just launched an all-in-one electronic
document management system comprising a duplex colour
scanner (with 50-sheet ADF); computer with touch screen
display; embedded archiving server with 1000GB disk storage
(enough for 3 million BW pages); and software for scanning,
digitising, processing, storing and retrieving all manner
of paper documents, including letters, invoices, internal
documents and forms.
The IMW-20 offers specific workflows for invoice
validation and mail scanning. In the case of the latter, this
includes the ability to route scans directly to a department,
departmental supervisor or to the virtual mailboxes of
individual workers who receive email notification when any
new mail is received.
Other useful features include built-in traceability so that
a scanned letter can be tracked on its route to the intended
recipient; stamp and barcode separation for batch scanning;
OCR data extraction for automatic indexing; and a network
capability that allows remote groups, warehouses and offices
to be integrated into enterprise-wide systems.
www.neopost.co.uk/imw-20
0800 731 1334
For digital pen and paper
specialist Anoto, scanning itself
is an unnecessary expense and
productivity drain.
It recently surveyed US and UK
businesses with 50-200 employees and
found that 61% of respondents scan
between 50 and 100 pages per day and
more than four out of 10 (44%) spend
between one and five hours per day
scanning documents. Based on Anoto’s
estimate that scanning costs 5.4 pence
per page, this represents a big cost to
business.
Anoto says a digital pen solution
is far more efficient at capturing
data, as it simultaneously creates a
handwritten record on a paper form
and a digital version that can be
transmitted instantly via a Bluetoothenabled smartphone for validation and
processing.
Torfaen Training is using a destiny
e-pen solution based on Anoto
technology to speed up the enrolment
of new students and apprentices. The
company’s 40 assessors still fill in paper
enrolment forms, but they now use a
digital pen that digitally captures all ink
marks made on the form and transmits
them to destiny’s secure servers where
they are converted from handwriting
to text. A couple of minutes later
the completed form is available on
destiny’s hosted online ‘Manage’
service where Torfaen Training’s admin
support team can compare it against a
PDF of the original handwritten form.
Once approved, the information is
automatically submitted to the training
company’s Maytas MIS system.
www.destinywireless.com
01732 759725
25. ple Choice
Multi and the Environment
The Multi range is mainly made from forest thinnings from sustainable
forests and chippings from saw mills.
The pulp and paper are produced on the same site, minimising transportation.
95% of the heat energy used to make Multi is generated from renewable
bio-fuel produced as a bi-product by the mill.
The surplus heat from the manufacturing process is piped to over 3,000 homes
and civic buildings throughout the surrounding area.
0% CO2 emissions from fossil fuels during the production process.
Email multi@paper.co.uk for samples
www.binfo.co.uk
www.paper.co.uk
sustainabletimes 25
26. green buildings
Green beacon
The Palatine Centre at Durham University is packed with the latest green
technologies, from solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels to
rainwater harvesting and sedum roofing, making it a beacon
of sustainability on the edge of this World Heritage site.
Durham University has set itself an
ambitious target of a 30% carbon
reduction by 2013/2014 so one
would expect any new building to
be designed and built to the highest
environmental standards. Even so,
with an excellent rating under the
Building Research Establishment’s
Environmental Assessment Method
(BREEAM), the Palatine Centre is
clearly out of the ordinary.
Providing offices and student services
under one ‘green’ roof, the building was
designed to be efficient and ecological
from the outset. As well as taking
advantage of the latest technology in
solar collectors, photo-voltaics, natural
ventilation, solar shading, rainwater
harvesting and green roofing, the
architects have used recycled and ‘Green
guide’ materials throughout.
The result is a building that generates
15% of its own energy and constantly
adapts and responds to the surrounding
environmental conditions to reduce the
need for heating/cooling and minimise
unnecessary energy use.
Office spaces include motionactivated lights to save energy, integral
recycling with dedicated waste areas,
and the use of natural light; while
outside 65m2 of solar thermal panels
provide hot water for the kitchens and
160 photovoltaic panels on the roof
provide a source of low carbon energy.
26 sustainabletimes
‘Green’ Roofs
More than 15% of the Palatine Centre’s
roof has been planted with flowering
sedum. As this surface doesn’t heat up to
the same extent as concrete or shingle,
it helps keep the building temperature
down in summer and, through an oasis
effect, cools the surrounding area. Green
roofs help retain rain water and reduce
‘run-off’, too, lessening the pressure on
sewer systems. Elsewhere on the roof,
solar collectors reduce water heating
demand.
Cedar cladding on the roof and the
external structure protects the building
from the elements and in time will fade
to a soft grey as part of the natural
weathering process. The wood’s open
cell composite construction is naturally
resistant to damp and decay and boasts
excellent thermal and acoustic properties.
“
More than 15%
of the Palatine
Centre’s roof has
been planted
with flowering
sedum.
Lighting and Solar Shading
With the dual purpose of reducing
energy consumption and taking full
advantage of natural light, the Palatine
Centre maximises available light from a
large, predominantly north facing glazed
façade. Artificial lighting in work areas is
efficiently controlled by daylight sensors,
while less used areas feature automatic
presence and absence detection
technology that switches lights on and
off as necessary. The centre’s overhanging
roofs and internal roller blinds provide
solar shading and glare protection.
The Palatine Centre is designed to be
naturally ventilated. Sophisticated energy
modelling was used to optimise window
sizes and openings, and energy efficient
air source heat pumps with waste heat
recycling are only incorporated to cool
high occupancy spaces.
www.durham.ac.uk/greenspace
www.durham.ac.uk
01732 759725
27. ple Choice
Multi Environmental Standards
The mill is EMAS registered
(EU’s Eco Management and Audit Scheme)
TCF (Totally Chlorine Free)
The pulp is manufactured without any use of
chemicals that contain chlorine.
ECF (Elementary Chlorine Free)
The pulp is manufactured without the use of
elementary chlorine.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)
Nordic Ecolabel
Nordic Environmental Label
EU-Ecolabel
(EU’s Environment and quality label)
Email multi@paper.co.uk for samples
www.binfo.co.uk
www.paper.co.uk
sustainabletimes 27
28. office design
Grasping the nettle
Autodesk’s new offices in Farnborough, Hampshire are not just a demonstration
of the savings that can be achieved by designing a workplace compatible with
today’s flexible, mobile working practices; they are also a great example of
sustainability in action. The latest edition of Business Info looks at how the
3D, design and engineering software company has created a space to meet the
needs of its 177 employees. Here, we look at what it has done to reduce its
carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.
Autodesk hopes that its new 21,000
square foot UK HQ in Farnborough,
Hampshire will become the
company’s 13th office to achieve LEED
Commercial Interiors certification, a
byword for sustainable office design.
Regional FM Donna Bourne is confident
that it will achieve Gold accreditation
– not as good as the Shanghai and
Singapore offices, which are Platinum
standard, but impressive nonetheless.
The fit-out based on workplace
usage analysis by DEGW and
sustainable office design by Morgan
Lovell has already delivered big savings
for Autodesk, including a 21% cut in
lighting-related energy use and a 27%
reduction in water use.
Donna points out that as a tenant
Autodesk has not been able to implement
all the measures it would have liked, but
says the landlord has worked hard to
accommodate most of its wishes.
“The main plant isn’t ours so we
can’t touch the plant room, chillers and
boilers, but we can make suggestions. For
example, we have reduced the water flow
to the taps and toilets in our space by
25% and we have put in efficient shower
fittings. And we are working with the
landlord to get local control of heating
and air conditioning, but at the moment
the building management system (BMS)
is old so this isn’t possible,” she explains.
Like any FM, this is a battle Donna
28 sustainabletimes
“
...we have
reduced the
water flow to the
taps and toilet by
25% and put in
efficient shower
fittings.
would love to win as temperature levels
are as polarising an issue in Autodesk’s
HQ as in any other office. “We did a postoccupancy survey and the design was one
of the things people loved. The moans
were to do with the air conditioning and
the removal of bins,” she says.
A wide variety of energy-efficient
lighting is used throughout the offices,
all of it daylight or motion-sensitive.
Personal lighting is not allowed: Autodesk
wants to keep energy use down and the
offices are light enough anyway – the
building has glass on all sides and is
arranged around a large central courtyard
so that all desks are within 7 metres of a
natural light source. User-controlled blinds
on the south and east sides prevent glare
and solar gain.
Reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions also come from the dedicated
Cisco 3000 teleconferencing suite, one
of 50 video conferencing systems used
globally by Autodesk. The system cost
$200,000 but because it is on the IP
infrastructure there are no monthly call
costs so it is relatively cheap to run –
previously Autodesk was paying $5,000
a month in video calls. The fact that this
room is occupied 65% of the time gives a
clear indication of its impact in reducing
travel-related CO2 emissions.
Outside the suite there is a large
media wall that is used to display
No bin policy
Donna has replaced under-desk waste
paper baskets with central recycling bins.
This has a financial advantage – “We are
paying less because the cleaners do not
have to empty the bins so much” – and
also contributes to higher recycling rates
and a neater working environment. So,
too, does the lack of desktop printers,
which are now only found in the HR
department. Everyone else has to walk to
one of two central printing stations.
01732 759725
29. office design
Autodesk show reels during customer
events but which remains turned off at
other times to conserve energy.
Despite these measures, Donna
believes there is still more to be done.
“One area we need to address is people
leaving their monitors on. We have
implemented software to shut machines
down automatically but people still need
to be better at turning things off.”
promote the capabilities of Autodesk’s
3D, design and engineering software are
PVC-free.
Like the comfortable sofa made from
stinging nettles in the break-out area,
Morgan Lovell’s welcoming design does
a remarkable job of hiding its hair shirt
beneath a luxurious exterior.
Green team
Around the fringes, Donna and the
eight-strong Green Team are quietly
encouraging staff to modify other
practices: Autodesk has set aside 10% of
car park spaces for a car-sharing scheme,
but so far only three cars have joined in.
It is also promoting green travel through
the Travel Plan Network and by partnering
www.binfo.co.uk
with the Chambers of Commerce and
Hampshire County Council.
One of the options Donna is
considering is a shuttle bus that lets
people hop on and off at will. “At the
moment, we have a dedicated shuttle bus
that runs between the office and main rail
station and into town at lunchtimes,” she
explains. “This costs £4,700 a month, but
it isn’t used much – 4 or 5 people use it
to get to and from the station and 8 or 10
people use it at lunchtimes.”
She is also thinking of expanding
recycling in the on-site restaurant, which
already covers cooking oil and coffee
beans, to include all food waste.
The office design created by Morgan
Lovell is equally rigorous: materials such
as carpets and acoustic panels are chosen
for their recycled content and stuck down
with chemical-free adhesives; all wood
comes from sustainable sources; and
the striking graphics used throughout to
“
One area we
need to address
is people leaving
their monitors
on. We have
implemented
software to shut
machines down
automatically
but people still
need to be better
at turning things
off.
sustainabletimes 29
30. office seating
Keeping it simple
Sustainable Times visited Humanscale’s London showroom
to find out about its latest seating products
Editor’s Choice Award
One of the consequences of a more
mobile workforce is that fewer people
work in the same position or even
the same chair for extended periods,
but instead move constantly from
workstation to meeting room to breakout area. Modern office chairs reflect
this new style of working with lighter,
more intuitive designs perfect for
interrupted use, among them the new
Diffrient World chair from Humanscale.
Humanscale started out in 1983
selling anti-glare screen filters before
expanding into other areas of ergonomics
including monitor arms, laptop holders,
seating, LED lighting and air purifiers.
In 1999 it broke into the international
seating market with the revolutionary
Freedom chair designed by Niels Diffrient.
Something of a game changer for
Humanscale (a million sold to date) and
seating design in general, the chair was
a breath of fresh air for office workers
fed up with overly complicated manual
adjustments. Freedom replaced the
multitude of knobs and levers found on
office chairs at the time with a weightsensitive recline so that all the user needs
to change are the seat height, arms and
lumbar support: everything else adjusts
automatically.
Brilliantly simple, but according to
Humanscale account manager Natalie
Hodson, not simple enough for a designer
who has always been interested in
reducing the number of materials used
in the manufacturing process.
“When Niels first designed
Freedom the chair that he
wanted to design
was the Diffrient
World Chair, but he
didn’t know how to do
it then,” she said.
He does now.
The Diffrient
World chair, at last
available in Europe, reflects
the current trend for lightness and
simplicity. An all mesh task chair,
Humanscale’s first, it has just
8 components
30 sustainabletimes
Sustainable
Humanscale
“
The key driver
is to create
products that are
simple to use and
very ergonomic.
The Diffrient Smart
with signature chair
mechanism
compared to more than 30 in the
Freedom chair, weighs 25 pounds – half
that of a traditional task chair – and is
99% recyclable compared to 97% for
Liberty and 87% for Freedom.
Humanscale has been able to reduce
the number of components thanks to
a patented technology based on ball
bearings within the frame of the chair.
This provides a degree of automatic
adjustability without the need for a bulky
automatic counter-balance mechanism.
Minimising the number of resources
used has obvious sustainability benefits,
but according to Hodson, the key driver,
as with other Humanscale products, is to
create products that are simple to use and
very ergonomic. The Diffrient World chair
also has a slightly lower price tag – about
£100 or 20% cheaper than a Freedom
chair.
The launch of the Diffrient World chair
increased the number of Humanscale
chairs to three, giving customers more
choice and allowing Humanscale and
the designers who specify its products to
meet a broader range of needs.
The other two chairs in the existing
range are the flagship Freedom chair,
available with or without a neck rest
and, with Freedom 2.0, a new back shell
design and armrests that can be
adjusted with just one
hand; and the Liberty
chair launched in
2004. Popular with
media companies,
A light touch: the
Diffrient World Chair
Clicking
into
place
As well as reducing the number of
components used in seating products,
a growing number of furniture
manufacturers are designing their
chairs to reduce transportation costs
and associated emissions. Wilkhahn’s
award-winning ON chair, for example,
has a clever assembly method that
allows it to be shipped with the
backrest ‘knocked down’ . This reduces
the size of carton needed by 45% (in
volume), bringing significant savings
in packaging materials and space
taken up in transport and storage.
For its new ‘quarterback’ swivel chair
(top), Sedus has reduced packaging
by 40% by designing the chair so that
it can be dismantled for shipping and
reassembled without tools on delivery.
At Orgatec, Connection Seating was
previewing Why? by Roger Webb
Associates. Like the previous examples,
this ‘chair-in-a-box’ is designed to
be shipped economically and quickly
re-assembled simply by clicking its
elements together.
this has the same automatic counter
balance mechanism as Freedom but a
different aesthetic, with a mesh back
that takes on the shape of the sitter’s
back removing the need for additional
adjustment.
In 2013, Humanscale plans to add
the Diffrient Smart chair to its range.
This lighter, simpler chair combines a
lower price with a more architectural,
masculine appeal thanks to a square back
and recycled aluminium construction. It
features Humanscale’s signature weight
sensitive recline, a mesh back and the
option of a mesh or fabric seat.
www.humanscale.co.uk
01732 759725
