Date: 2010-01-20
Vermont furniture manufacturer wins Sage Award for environmental designs, practices
Tim Copeland, president and CEO of Copeland Furniture, left, receives the Sage Award from Yusuf Wazirzada of Cargill during AHFA's Sustainability Summit.
Copeland Furniture of Bradford, Vt., won the 2009 Sage Award for environmental excellence, according to an announcement from the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA). The award program recognizes environmental accomplishments within the home furnishings industry and was created by AHFA and Cargill's BiOH polyols business unit.
The competition was open to manufacturing, retail and supplier companies in both furniture and bedding. AHFA CEO Andy Counts said there were a variety of entries, from large publicly held companies to small, family-owned firms. Copeland was chosen for its focused approach to sustainable business operations. The company holds a Forest Stewardship Council chain-of-custidy certificate and currently manufactures eight product groups that qualify for on-product labeling.
Copeland is designing its products to achieve environmental goals. It is working with its finish suppliers to formulate improved water-based wood finishes. The 32-year-old company produced bedroom, dining room, living room and home office furniture using hardwoods sustainably harvested from forests within 500 miles of the plant in Vermont. The company also holds the exclusive license to produce the furniture designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. Visit www.copelandfurniture.com for more information.
Company president Tim Copeland says that the company also in the process of converting the heating plant from oil-fired hot water to wood-fired, using its own waste scrap as fuel. And 90 percent of the electricity used to power the manufacturing equipment comes from low emission sources.The company is also reducing non-recyclable materials in its product packaging.
Copeland was recognized during the furniture industry's Sustainability Summit held in Greensboro, N.C. Century Furniture of Hickory, N.C., and La-Z-Boy of Monroe, Mich., were also recognized for their environmental efforts.
Updated: Jan 27, 2010