Innovation

In 1997 Mr. King met renowned chair designer, Niels Diffrient, to design a chair that was “easy to use”. Humanscale’s chairs are less cumbersome than typical office chairs. These chairs are designed with intuitive chair controls for the user. Diffrient and King both believed in innovating simple products that are easy to use. With these goals in mind, Diffrient went on to create the Freedom Chair.

“We focus on keeping people healthy at the workplace. It’s all about ergonomic keeping people healthy (SDG#3 Good Health and Well-being) and fitting technology to the person instead of the other way around. We often discover it as creating a more comfortable place to work.”- Jane Abernethy.

Inspiration

Designer Niels Diffrient’s career as an industrial designer spanned 50 years. He approached his work by individualizing the products he designed. He looked at each individual component for functionality in the whole design before developing a final product. For instance, he would study the functionality of an armrest and other parts before the final chair design. Diffrient wanted to create a product that adapted to the user, rather than the other way around. He believed that products should be designed to be useful and user-friendly, rather than only for the sake of production and profit. His products also took into account human impact on the environment. He strives to use a minimal amount of materials during production and to reduce waste and negative impact on the environment ("Remembering Niels Diffrient", 2013). By developing innovative products for Humanscale, he and Mr. King paved the way for the company to develop eco-friendly production policies.

“The goal is to meet all kinds of people’s needs. Peoples size, strength or capability. We design our products universally, so it can apply to people of all types.” - Ross Bergman

Overall impact

The Freedom Chair was not only revolutionary in chair design regarding ergonomics, but the chair was also at the forefront of sustainability and environmentally friendly production. As a company, Humanscale strives to meet the environmental and sustainability standards set forth by the Living Product Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to be sustainable in areas of production such as buildings, products materials, and energy.

Humanscale was the first company to meet all the challenges of the Living Product Challenge ("Humanscale and the Living Product Challenge", 2017). At the Piscataway facility, 90% of production waste is reused or recycled, 85% of the energy used is from solar panels installed on the roof and the company does not use materials that are harmful to the environment and/or their employees. By using fewer materials, parts, and energy, Humanscale has been able to help the Earth and reduce costs to the organization in the long-run ("A Calculated Approach: Making an Impact", 2017).

The impact of Humanscale’s innovation improves comfort in the workplace and reduces the risk of injury from ill-fitting furniture. The goal of Humanscale products is to increase a worker’s well-being and job satisfaction while increasing productivity. Humanscale’s reputation has become one of a company that cares for the well-being of their employees, as well as for their customers. Also, their concern for the environmental impacts communities worldwide.

“We are always thinking about creating new products, expanding all around North America, and hopefully all around the globe.”- Jane Abernethy

Business benefit

Ergonomic designs have resulted in Humanscale’s Consulting business which shows businesses how they can also reduce their costs. By working in tandem with other businesses, the consulting process can result in a 25% increase in productivity, as well as significant decreases in areas such as worker’s compensation claims, employee turnover, and absenteeism.

Social and environmental benefit

Humanscale researched their manufacturing and operational activities to understand key impact: energy, water, emissions, resource depletion, wildlife preservation, social responsibility, and healthy materials. In each of these areas, Humanscale took their innovation to go beyond “sustainability” by making a truly positive impact on the world. The innovative and scientific design of ergonomic chairs helps to achieve criteria of UN Global Goal #3 Good Health and Well-being. The utilization of rainwater as the only source of production water and use of solar energy as 85% of the production energy achieves Goal #6 Clean Water & Sanitation and Goal #7 Renewable Energy. The more efficient and innovative manufacturing process has resulted in a net positive effect on the environment (taking less from the environment and giving back more) and infrastructure that promotes environmentally-friendly practices which achieve Goal #9 Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure. When Humanscale’s products are purchased for offices, hospitals, etc., the products improve the sustainability of cities and communities (Goal #11 Sustainable cities and communities). In addition, Humanscale achieved Goal #15 Life on Land by partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to contribute to preserving the ecological environment needed to ensure the sustainability of ecosystems for wildlife in Cambodia.

Interviews

Jane Abernethy, Sustainability Officer

Ross Bergman, Sustainability Engineer

Alexander Tselepis, Sustainability Coordinator

Luke Zhou, Lead Sustainable Materials Specialist