It's the Right thing to Do!

The decision “To Be Green” and to continously strengthen an environmentally responsible attitude for ALL members of  Charter Fine Furniture (CFF) was made  long before it was popular to do so. . Doing so has made Charter not only a friend to the environment but a friendly neighbor and a responsible company you should consider partnering with.

Green from Start to End - At CFF we believe that “BEING GREEN” starts with the materials we purchase and includes the manufacturing processes we employ. It also encompasses how effectively we utilize our off fall to produce our own energy, and ends with the way in which we finish, package and ship our final product. But that only speaks to the manufacturing we do. CFF has long been making strides in our own facilities, employees, and community to be responsible in all that we do ourselves. Because it is our way of life and more than just compliance to a trend, our efforts are more than just words.

Green because it’s Local – CFFutilizes suppliers primarily within a small geographic area whenever possible. Being located centrally on the East coast of the U.S., we are able to minimize the distance raw goods travel to our plant and the distance our finished products travel to reach their final destination. This all reduces the CO2 emissions enormously  when comparing an East Coast manufacturing location with a manufacturing location located in Asia. Transporting finished products from Asia to the US East Coast customer increases the distance that the product has to travel by about 15 times with an equivalent  increase in the amount of CO2 emissions. Because a lot of logs are exported from the US to Asia and the lumber represents a significant weight percentage of the final product, the total CO2 emission for a piece of furniture manufactured in Asia is increased even further.

We use lumber suppliers that are triple certified in FSC, PEFC & SFI Certifications, and because we live and work right in the heart of the Appalachians we have a personal commitment to preserving our forests for ourselves and future generations. Our Hardwood is not only in close proximity when harvested, but we use suppliers that are certified by the AHMI. Currently, 2.3 trees are grown for every one we use. A lot of hardwood that is  exported from our region half way around the world comes back as a finished product. The Port side arrival is in addition to the "in country" shipping we all must do before the furniture reaches its final destination. With some imports landing on the west coast even just the inland shipping is much more invasive to our world than product shipped right from our plant in the middle of the East coast.

 On a value comparison with most other procuts, furniture is extraordinarily bulky and consumes an inordinate amount of  transportation energy that generates significant CO2 emissions. With energy cost on a continuous rise, the advantage of lower laber cost in Asia is fast dwindling. Environmentally there is only one responsible choice: manufactture furniture as close to the final destination as possible.   

Green by being Innovative - Here are some of the unique ways in which CFF has accomplished a smaller footprint:

We have completely eliminated the use of our oil furnace, and modernized our wood burning furnace burn all of our material waste. In fact we recently removed our oil furnace all together making it impossible for us to return to the old wasteful past. The burning of fossil fuels adds to the amount of CO@ in the athmosphere. The burning of wood is recognized to keep the CO2 balance neutral. In the growing of wood the CO2 is absorbed and then freed again when burnit. 

The material wast based heat is used for our finishing ovens and it provides the heat for the plant and the offices. There are no electriclal space heaters in use anywhere. Here at CFF we have cut energy consumption in half by streamlining our dust collection system, by totally updating our whole lighting system, by replacing motors with new highly energy efficient motors and by using motion controls and timers whereever possible . Energy Star vending machines have replaced old ones. Electric water heaters with storage tanks have been replaced by small on demand only heaters. But we are still not done! Still slated for consideration and completion are:  

• Changes in our water supply system.
• Effective use of new controls for compressed air and other energy consumers during breaks and down times.
• Collection of rain water from our 200,000 sq. ft of roof area to minimize erosion and supply grey water.

Landfills  are genrally kept out of sight, but they do not last indefinitely. We have reduced our overall annual "landfill waste" by nearly 90% from 150 tons to nearly 15 tons. And we are not finished yet. Our goal is to have a near complete landfill free operation, that recycles 99%.

Recently we began our Company Garden project. This volunteer project utilizes land surrounding our building to grow produce used by our employees. Doing so enriches the lives of our employees and their families. It greatly reduces the use of chemicals and preservatives needed to process and ship food. It eliminates all of the shipping and packaging material of store bought items, and helps to control erosion. There has even been a new haven created for nature's residents, keeping in mind our responsibility to all of nature that we enjoy.

Green Recognition – CFF has not asked for a pat on the back or any special recognition from public and private industries. We do it because IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Recently, CFF's efforts were recognized by the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) in their periodic site examination as follows:

• Our wood furnace stack has a 20% opacity (visible emission) permit. DEQ measured and reported an actual  5% level, and most of the time you cannot see any fume exhaust. You won’t drive by our plant seeing a bellow of smoke from burnings.
• The oil furnace was also allowed a 20% visible emissions. Because we did away with it altogether we have reduced that to ZERO.
• Our spray booths are allowed a 5% opacity. DEQ measured and reported ZERO emissions as well.
• Outside dust systemt emissions are permitted at 5% opacity. Again, DEQ measured and reported ZERO observed emissions.
• All of this can be found on our inspection reports. And we continue to see improvements with each year.

In reviewing further finishing room improvements with the DEQ Charter was reclassifiied as a “Non Hazardous Waste Generator”. This is an accomplishment not easily obtained.

Your own efforts to be green can be enhanced by our efforts allowing you to receive LEED points with the measures we have made. Charter is in the process of adding LEED certifications so you can gain LEED points on your own properties. While we work on those certifications Here are some of the places you can benefit already.

LEED – MATERIALS & RESOURCES

• MR 4.1 & 4.2 – Recycled Content: Use recycled content materials and reduce the impact from the extraction and processing of virgin materials.
• MR 5.2 – Regional Materials: Support regional economies and reduce transportation impacts by using building materials that are extracted and manufactured locally.

LEED – INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

• EQ 4.1 – Low-Emitting Materials: Reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, potentially irritating and/or harmful.
• EQ 4.4 – Low-Emitting Materials: Reduce the indoor air contaminants that are harmful via composite wood and laminate adhesive selection.
• EQ 5 – Minimize exposure of occupants to potentially hazardous pollutants that adversely impact air and water quality.

Look for continued efforts and accreditation's from CFF. We are proud of the accomplishments we have made already. However, we continually strive to learn about new ways and new technologies that will make our world a safer and more sustained place for our generation and those that follow. Thank you, for your support in your own areas of Doing the Right thing, because it is the right thing to do.