Reduce Furniture's Carbon Footprint

FIRA is to launch a comprehensive carbon footprinting system developed specifically for the furniture industry in partnership with leading environmental consultants Best Foot Forward.

FIRA's Furniture Footprinter™ is a revolutionary analysis and accounting tool developed to help companies within the furniture supply chain to reduce their carbon footprints.

Far more sophisticated than a simple carbon calculator, the next generation carbon and ecological accounting tool is geared towards the issues facing the furniture sector, and calculates the footprints of specific products, projects, processes and whole organisations.

The easy to use, cost effective, secure, web-based tool is compatible with existing and emerging national and international standards. It is accessible to multiple users within an organisation and is supported by accurate, comprehensive data, which are retained on the system to allow ongoing analysis.

Main features of Furniture Footprinter™:
* Calculates the carbon and ecological footprints of products, processes, projects and companies
* Compares the impacts of different product or project options
* Identifies areas where significant improvements can be made
* Creates easy to understand reports and charts
* Helps to raise employee awareness
* Demonstrates continuous improvement
* Stores your data and is continuously updated to reflect the latest footprint figures

Pete Beele, FIRA's Head of Technical Development, said: ‘We quickly identified that the furniture industry would be pressurised by major specifiers, Government and retailers to reduce its carbon footprint. Companies are now able to confidently address this problem by using our Furniture Footprinter™, safe in the knowledge that FIRA's experts will offer additional support to help with data collection, measurement, and the implementation of cost effective carbon reduction techniques’.

‘Pressure is ramping up from legislators, investors and consumers to tackle climate change through reductions in CO2 emissions, and the adage 'if you can't measure it you can't manage it' is as true as ever,’ said Best Foot Forward Managing Director Nicky Chambers.

‘It's our aim to take the strain out of carbon accounting so that others can concentrate on reducing their footprint. With no more messing around with spreadsheets or struggling to find conversion factors, the Furniture Footprinter™ tool provides a full web-based solution backed up by the experience of Europe's leading footprint specialists.’

Footprinting is a natural addition to FIRA's strong environmental and business support portfolio, which includes the Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme (FISP), Club Green, sustainable timber purchasing, environmental management (ISO 14001), and, through ukfirst, lean processes and supply chain management.

The Furniture Footprinter™ has been created using a model devised by Best Foot Forward, which has received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development and has worked on footprinting projects with organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, the NHS, Virgin Trains and the rock band Radiohead. BFF already has a presence in the furniture sector having worked closely with manufacturers Herman Miller and Orangebox. For further information, please contact FIRA on 01438 777700, or email info@fira.co.uk.