Herman Miller Essay

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Major Facts
Herman Miller is a company that has evolved into a “leader of residential and office furniture and workplace design.” They were founded in 1905 as the Michigan Star Furniture Company but were purchased and remained in 1923 by D.J De Pree. The company grew into an international furniture design house. Herman Miller become known for its design and innovation, humble culture, and economic performance. The company had a strong international presence representing 15% of sales in 2002. The company also had a presence in different markets, such as; healthcare, education, and residential/consumer markets. Herman Miller offered a range of office furniture from seating (work chairs, lounge chairs), systems furniture, filing and storage, …show more content…

They would generate ideas that would push the company toward achieving their environmental goals. In 1991, a series of guidelines were created by the Environmental Health and Safety group called “Design for Environment” (DfE). These guidelines set the standard in bringing environmental aspects to the design process. Herman Miller knew that tighter environmental regulations was were the world was headed, and knew that DfE was going to help them stay above that curve. The Cradle-to-Cradle Design Protocol (C2C) was introduced in 1997 by architect, William McDonough, and German chemist, Michael Braungart. This design approach involved making products that were able to be recycled at the end of their useful lives, and the component materials were able to become valuable products. The C2C was based on two principles: eco-effectiveness vs. eco-efficiency, and waste equals food. They were four key elements for implementing C2C which were biological and technical nutrients, the green-yellow-orange-red list, disassembly, and recyclability and recycled content. Herman Miller wanted to implement the C2C design process into the next product which was The Mirra Chair. This would be the first product designed under the C2C protocol from

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