A revolution in seating, a Grand Rapids tradition

Many Grand Rapidians know that our city  has been known as the Furniture City since the late 19th century. Perhaps you've had a chance to browse the Furniture City exhibit at the Public Museum. Grand Rapids rose to a city of fame in furniture production due to its proximity to the large stands of hardwood that were logged between 1840 and 1900. Michigan was the largest lumber producer in the United States in the latter half of the 1800s. Grand Rapids, being situated on a river between the north woods and Chicago, grew exponentially as a result of this industry and spawned another industry: furniture. All over the city even today stand the old furniture factories that employed so many migrating Americans and Europeans.

But along with the mass-produced parlor and bedroom suites that were shipped to fill new housing going up around the developing country, Grand Rapids companies produced and are still producing innovative pieces that have changed the way we Americans have lived our lives.

In 1886 Grand Rapids School Furniture Company introduced the student-desk combination, which revolutionized school seating. Eventually this company would be known as American Seating and would locate on the Westside. In 1921 American Seating updated this desk to the “Universal” which featured adjustable height, swivel seats, and bases that didn’t need to be bolted to the floor and which was scientifically designed to promote good posture. This model was successfully sold and used for decades.

If you didn't sit in the "Universal" in school, there's a good chance that you sat in another American Seating desk iteration, or rode to school on a bus with American Seating benches, or cheered for the Detroit Tigers in an American Seating fold-up chair.  Grand Rapids chair design has affected our experience of studying and recreating for much of the 20th century. But it would also affect the way we worked.

In 1976 William Stumpf created the Ergon chair for Herman Miller - the first ergonomic chair designed to limit stress on a person working at a desk. By now ergonomics is a commonly used phrase and we have numerous products available to prevent neck and back strain as well as carpal tunnel syndrome and any number of conditions that result from long-term sitting and typing. But the Ergon, and later models, the Equa and Aeron, were breakthroughs for making "a beautiful chair comfortable."

More recently sustainable furniture design has become a focus of Grand Rapids furniture manufacturers. Steelcase designed the Think chair to be not only attractive and ergonomic, but environmentally sustainable. It is Cradle to Cradle certified and composed of only safe materials, 40% of which are recycled. There are no harmful toxins or dyes used in its manufacture which is deliberately designed to minimized energy use and emissions. When the chair is no longer usable, it is 98% recyclable itself.

Clearly, this type of manufacture is an order of magnitude away from clear cutting forests to mass produce furniture, although much of that original Furniture City furniture still occupies bedrooms and dining rooms around the country.

What direction will Grand Rapids furniture manufacturers go in next given that models of education and work are likely to change, possibly quite radically, in the next quarter century?

Building a Greener Grand Rapids, Literally

Sustainability is one of the most important issues today.  We are continuously looking and discovering new ways to live greener lives and ensure the preservation of our environment for future generations.  Grand Rapids is at the forefront of the sustainability effort.  Most residents may not realize the efforts Grand Rapids takes and has taken to push for greener living.  In 2008, Grand Rapids was named “America’s Greenest City” by Fast Company magazine.

Our fair city leads the nation in LEED-certified buildings per capita; a fact that in 2005, Mayor George Heartwell did not take lightly.  That same year he pledged that 20% of the city’s power would come from renewable resources by 2008 and hit this target a year early.  He then pledged that by 2020, the target would be 100% of the city’s power from renewable energy.  This is a large goal, but the steps Grand Rapids has made may walk us right to this target by 2020.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  LEED-certification is third-party verification and recognition that a building was designed and built using high performance standards in human and environmental health.  There are numerous prerequisites that buildings must meet to be certified, and credits they can receive to gain extra points in their certification.  LEED provides a basic framework for buildings, neighborhoods, and communities to implement green building design, construction, and operation.  

Grand Rapids boasts numerous firsts in the sustainable buildings effort.  We have the first LEED-certified YMCA (downtown), Gold art museum (Grand Rapids Art Museum), transit station (Rapid Central Bus Station), Habitat for Humanity Home, church (Keystone Community Church), and healthcare project (Lacks Cancer Center), to name a few.  In 2012, we were voted 1 in 5 model cities for sustainability by Earth Day Network.  BillMoyers.com voted Grand Rapids 1 of 12 cities leading in sustainability in 2013.  

Sustainability and conservation in Grand Rapids is coordinated by the Office of Energy and Sustainability.  The Sustainability Plan sets more than 200 goals for our city to reach every year, such as increasing household participation in recycling to 45,000 by 2013.   Sustainability is not only the building itself, but extends to interior design and furniture.  There are extensive LEED-certification prerequisites and credits for building sustainable furniture and interior design.  Furniture companies such as Custer, a Steelcase dealer in West Michigan, has contributed and participated in more LEED-certified building projects than any other dealer.  The list of sites they have contributed to is extensive.

Grand Rapids has no plans to slow down their sustainability efforts in the years to come.  Our efforts have far exceeded so many cities in the United States and we should feel proud.  You never know when you are stepping into one of our numerous LEED-certified buildings or sitting in an office chair that was built using sustainable resources.  These efforts are not always clearly recognized or realized, but they are helping preserve our city and environment.