Green News

Level® Certified
Spec products have been level® certified by an independent, third party audit firm to conform to the BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard.

level® goes far beyond indoor air quality and takes into account how a product is sustainable from multiple perspectives, such as a company's social actions, energy usage, material selection and human and ecosystem impacts.

BIFMA International is the recognized leader in developing standards for the North American office and institutional furniture industry.

If we can be of assistance in any manner, our LEED certified Design/Engineering Team is ready to help. Call us! We can even come to you with a level® CEU course!

Spec Products that are Level Certified

Fabric Ordering Reduction
In November of 2010, a special team was created to reduce the amount of fabric Spec orders. Although most of the usable scrap fabric is diverted from landfill, it was identified as a huge cost savings. From January to the end of April, Spec has saved over $30,000.00. Data from this project is being collected to establish a Fabric Calculator that will accurately determine how much fabric is required based on the chair template and the pattern repeat of the fabric.

Earth Day at Spec
On April 21st, employees took time to help clean up the property at 165 City View Drive. Teams were split into recyclable, wood scrap and garbage details. As a result, teams have been put in place to do regular cleanups through out the year.

Energy Retrofit of the Paintline
The retrofit of the Powder Coating Paintline was finished at the end of March. Spec expects to see a dramatic reduction in heat loss and in natural gas consumption in the range of 40%.

Spec teams up with Waste to Wonder
Waste to Wonder provides a unique service for managing redundant corporate assets in the most socially and environmentally responsible way. Waste to Wonder turns corporate waste, into an opportunity not only benefiting the environment, local and international non-for-profit organizations but also your organization and customers. Choosing Waste to Wonder's Environmental Management Process to redistribute, recycle and report on removed corporate assets provides the environmental solution to both enhance your brand and company value. Waste to Wonder is cost competitive with traditional ways of disposal, yet enables you to create a return on investment for something that was initially considered waste. Waste to Wonder is currently available throughout Canada and has plans for expansion across the United States within the next two years.
www.wastetowonder.com

Spec trains 12 staff to be Internal Auditors
Spec trained 12 Spec employees for 1 week each to be internal auditors. With the creation of Spec's Integrated Management System (IMS), which combines OHSAS 18001 (Health & Safety Management System), ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and BIFMA "level" (Furniture Sustainability Standard), the need for internal audit expertise to maintain the implementation of this system is that much more important.

Spec Seating. Now with MORE recycled content!
Standard width Snowball and Cooper seats are now made with re-engineered recycled plastic seat pans. The new material is made from 100% recycled material, of which 55% is from post-consumer plastics. The new seat pan is free of toxic by-products, and any waste generated by the process is put back into the manufacturing of more recycled plastic seats. By switching to the new seat Spec is diverting almost 122,000 lbs of waste from landfills each year, an amount that would have taken up more than 400 cubic yards of landfill space. As a result of this new seat, the Snowball standard width chairs are further aligned with LEED and BIFMA "level®" standards.

Tote Bags (made from scrap fabric) for everyone!
Spec now makes reusable tote bags from left over fabric. This diverts scrap fabric from landfill. Look for them from your local Spec sales representative! This effort will contribute to Spec achieving it's goal of diverting 100% of it's waste by 2020.

Our trucks wear Skirts!
Plastic "skirts" are added to the underside of the trailers which increase their fuel efficiency 8% by reducing wind resistance. These new trailers are also equipped with a new stacking bar system that increases a trailer's load capacity therefore reducing the amount of trips required for shipments.

Lighting retrofit complete
All the lighting at Spec's facility is replaced with energy efficient light bulbs and fixtures reducing lighting energy consumption by 60%, equivalent to taking 48 cars off the road, and increasing the amount of light by 44%. This retrofit not only saves the company money but it dramatically reduces our carbon footprint, thus reducing our negative impact on the planet by lowering our dependency on natural resources.

Spec donates scrap Plastic Laminate to Colleges
Spec collects its unused sheets of laminate and scrap sizes bigger than 4' x 4' and puts them back in their inventory. Pieces that can't be used are donated to local colleges, Sheridan College and Humber College, who use the laminate in their furniture and mill-work classes.

New Bio-degradable Bags used for packaging Spec Seating
Spec chose to use a new additive that makes our Low-Density Polyethylene bags bio-degrade in a landfill. The bags have 80% recycled content and are still 100% recyclable. The ink used for the label is water-based as opposed to solvent-based which creates harmful emissions. The large label facilitates recycling and educates users about the bag's composition and that it can be recycled (where facilities exist). We decided against a plant-based compostable plastic due to the current reality of construction sites most likely not having compost bins. Also, by using plastic that is 80% recycled we're getting closer to a Cradle-to-Cradle industrial system. We opted not to use Oxo-degradable bags due to the debate that they are not truly biodegradable.

Spec receives Green award
Donald Taylor and Reg Bernard, VP's of Spec , featured in the Ontario publication "Think Green", accept the award of a Certificate of Recognition for Spec for being a Champion of Green from the Government of Ontario.

Reclaimed Paint system implemented
Overspray powder from our paint line is collected and mixed to create a dark grey color which is used to paint unseen parts. This reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfill.

BIFMA announces new product certification program
BIFMA International, the trade association for the commercial furniture industry, representing the leading firms in the contract furniture market, announces the introduction of the product certification program, level®. For more information on the level® program, go to www.levelcertified.org

Spec is featured in the Think Green report
a Government of Ontario report which promotes the effective management practices of CEOs, presidents and owners of Ontario's innovative, high-performance firms.

Spec has Worms!
Spec starts to compost its food waste using an indoor vermicomposter (worm composter). Worms break down the food waste into nutrient rich soil for gardens. For more information on Vermicomposting go to www.cathyscomposters.com

Earth Day at Spec
On Earth Day every employee was given a stainless steel water bottle. This allowed us to eliminate the paper cups used for the water cooler and it dramatically decreased the purchasing of disposable water bottles that would other wise be thrown out. Spruce tree seedlings were also given out to employees for their homes. Spec employees took time to clean up the outside property.

New Waste Management system implemented
Besides steel, aluminum and cardboard; particle board, solid wood, PVC Edging, and consumer recyclables are now being recycled. This has increased our waste diversion from landfill from 7% to 75%. Spec has set a goal of 100% diversion by the year 2020.

Spec has an in-house LEED AP
Jed McKie becomes a LEED AP, Accredited Professional. Having a LEED AP on staff helps Spec help our customers who are trying to achieve LEED credits for projects they are working on. Spec is in the early transition phases of having its own facility become a LEED certified building. Having a LEED AP will help Spec along with the process.

Spec has changed to Earth Friendly binders!
Our new cardboard binders are FSC certified and 100% recyclable. All new Spec literature is also FSC certified

Bamboo Gloves
Spec purchases light use gloves made from bamboo for a variety of applications throughout our facility. Featuring 100% bamboo shell with natural foam latex coating, these gloves are recyclable, biodegradable, and washable, providing hand protection while minimizing impact on environment. The multi-purpose gloves are also anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and highly absorbent, minimizing odors.

New 'Green Guy' Hired
Spec hires Jed McKie as new Design Engineer (aka Green Guy) with his primary goal being to help Spec achieve the BIFMA Furniture Sustainability Standard aka "level®". The standard is an open, consensus-based method to evaluate the sustainable attributes of furniture products. It addresses all three aspects of sustainability: environmental, economic and social.

Spec Tables Go Green
All Spec tables are now standard with Nu-Green - an earth friendly core made of 100% recycled wood fiber with no added urea formaldehyde. The core is FSC certified, exceeds CARB standards and helps achieve LEED credits.

Spec gives 578 lbs of food to local food bank
Spec employees spent the month of December donating groceries to give to the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank. To this date Spec has donated 1003 lbs of food to the Daily Bread Food Bank.

Indoor Air Quality
Spec chooses BIFMA FES as their testing standard to measure Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). BIFMA FES is recognized by LEED as equivalent to GREENGUARD. Spec chose BIFMA FES because it's more stringent whereas GREENGUARD is too broad and doesn't address furniture specifically.

Plant Based Foam
Spec changes to a more environmentally friendly foam for all seating products. Spec uses new foam technology in all our seating products which displaces up to 25% of the existing non-renewable petroleum materials with a sustainable plant-based substitute. All scrap from this foam is recycled by the manufacturer into carpet backing.

Spec Compost Cones
Spec uses a new idea for their biodegradable food waste. All food waste is transferred into compost cones that are located on the front lawn of the head office. Dug 2 feet into the ground, these cones act as composters to help reduce waste.