Herman Miller has for almost 40 years looked for ways to coexist successfully with the natural environment. During that time, concern for the environment has become part and parcel of corporate life here, from our architecture to our product designs to our operations.

Environmental programs have sprung up from groups around the company, been supported by senior leaders, and improved by our long-standing tradition of employee involvement. We have been fortunate enough to learn from leading environmentalists around the country.

Part of being concerned about the environment is simply speaking up, letting people know where you stand. This little book presents what we've done, what we're trying to do, and what we believe about sustaining the environment. Corporations, no less than people, need to remember Buckminster Fuller's admonition: "On spaceship earth, there are no passengers, only crew."

If so many corporations are gung-ho to live in harmony with the environment, why is getting there so difficult?

Because, like most important things in life, living wisely with the environment is complicated. We should know. Herman Miller has been trying to find the best way of becoming a good environmental citizen for over 40 years-in small ways and large. We have been recycling, cutting waste, decreasing emissions, and hosting biannual environmental conferences for years. That's all good, but not good enough.

We publicly committed ourselves to become a sustainable company five years ago, a commitment that is guiding our future as steward of both business and environment.

Still, deciding what exactly to do isn't easy. We once gave every employee a washable coffee mug, so that we wouldn't be sending all those paper and polystyrene cups to the landfill. Then, much to our surprise, we discovered that washing those elegantly designed mugs (all that water and energy and soap) was worse for the environment than trying to recycle polystyrene!

We have become partners with many environmentalists and with our environment. In 1984, we worked with architect Bill McDonough to create the Ecological Office Exhibit in New York, a connection we tapped again in 1995 to design Herman Miller's award-winning GreenHouse building in West Michigan. We helped found the Tropical Woods Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council, the author of the LEED protocols.

Corporations start environmental programs for all kinds of reasons. Herman Miller's program sprang up because groups of people in many parts of the company knew we could do better, that protecting and living with the environment deserves real and constant attention, that making a profit should go hand-in-hand with thoughtful environmental practices.

But in spite of what anybody tells you, the only real reason for a corporation to become sustainable is this: It's the right thing to do. You know that, and so do we.

At the Energy Center, 1,ooo pounds of trash is reduced to 100-150 pounds of ash.

Today, we look for ways to avoid scrap altogether. Still, we generate 10 percent of the electricity and 100 percent of the steam used to heat, cool, and run the manufacturing processes in our million-square-foot Main Site plant in Zeeland, Michigan. Neighbors and even a competitior pay us to burn some of their wood waste. We're happy to oblige.

After a 10-year effort, Herman Miller won approval from Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality to mix sawdust with chicken manure, compost it, and return it to the economy as high-grade topsoil and soil nutrient. Though marketing plans are not finished, this practice could keep 1,600 tons of sawdust out of landfills and a goodly portion of Ottawa County's manure from polluting lakes, streams, and groundwater.

Grassroots employee involvement led to a grassroots environmental effort.

In 1981 when Herman Miller built its energy center at the request of a group of employee-owners, we only wanted to save money on electricity bills and stop sending so much scrap wood to the landfill.

In 1989 another group of employees decided we needed to coordinate all the environmental work at Herman Miller. They formed the Environmental Quality Action Team and insisted senior management get behind it, and senior management did.

Today, employees all over the company look for-and put into practice-new ways of becoming more environmentally aware. It's not a program. It's part of corporate life.

In 1989, different groups of employees at Herman Miller discovered that their work on reducing waste, preventing harmful emissions, exploring safe materials, and so on had become a de facto environmental effort companywide. They formed an Environmental Quality Action Team, presented it to senior management, and included educating both customers and employees in their mission. EQAT continues its grassroots work today, represented by over 300 people on 9 different subteams.

Talking about the environment is one thing. Doing something about it is another, and doing something about it requires people to act-in small ways and large, once in a while or constantly. The strength of Herman Miller's environmental efforts comes from its employees. They make things happen.

One of the 20th Century's most enduring furniture icons, the EamesR lounge chair and ottoman, was designed to use rosewood veneer in its innovative curved shape. When rosewood became an endangered species and demand for it threatened tropical forests, a team of employees made a convincing case for replacing rosewood with walnut and cherry from sustainable sources. We think Charles and Ray Eames would approve.

A building's like a reputation.
Once you build it, it hangs around for years.

So we'd better think carefully about what kind of buildings we build. All of our buildings sit as lightly on the earth as we can make them by following the U.S. Green Building Council guidelines and the LEED Protocol. Now, even our leased buildings are designed that way.

We thought very carefully about one building in particular-the GreenHouse. We spend less money per square foot heating and cooling this building than any other we occupy. Light levels and air quality are constantly monitored and adjusted according to the time of day and the season. The grounds are a model of local ecology.

Most important? It works for our business and is good for people. Every once in a while, you can have it all.




In the spring of 2000, the GreenHouse staff noticed two problems: The wildflowers on the naturally landscaped site were dying out and paper wasps were invading the building. With a "no pesticides" policy, what to do? Import 600,000 honeybees, that's what. The bees chased away the wasps within a month, pollinated the wildflowers, and gave the GreenHouse delicious honey, some of which we
bottle and give away as mementos.

In 1993, Herman Miller became a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council, a center for debate and action on environmental issues facing the building industry. The Council has grown to include more than 1,200 international organizations as diverse as United Technologies, the Audubon Society, Bank of America, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Herman Miller's business partners often gladly cooperate with us in environmental programs. The owners of a building we lease, The Granger Group, built the Marketplace Building with a Silver LEED rating as a goal. If they make it, we agreed to pay $.25 a square foot more.





From 1992 to 2001, Herman Miller avoided $200,000 annually in energy costs by participating in the EPA's Green Lights program, a 37 percent return on the company's investment.





It's not enough to put "100 percent recyclable" on a chair and ship it out.

Since design leads to Herman Miller's innovative products, we ask designers to "design for the environment." Yes, that's a nice phrase. What does it mean?
It means that all Herman Miller products are scrutinized for their material chemistry, recyclability, and ease of disassembly. It means that all new designs for products are examined for the same reason.
What materials are not harmful? What can be recycled? What can be reused? What manufacturing processes do no harm? What shipping and packing methods have the least impact? How do we avoid scrap and packing materials? How can our vendors participate in the most environmentally conscious practices? You see, nothing's simple.

One way to make sure new products have the least impact on the environment is to require every ounce of material in them to do as much work as possible. In both our CaperR chair and ResolveR system, high strength-to-weight ratios were design goals, reducing the amount of material used and streamlining production processes. And after all, the Caper chair turns out to be 100 percent recyclable!

Finding a use for scrap upholstery material was an early environmental effort at Herman Miller. We did and still do send it to be used as insulation in automobiles. But we have come to realize that avoiding scrap in the first place is wiser; we now slipcover products with three-dimensionally knitted parts and cut other upholstery with computer-guided lasers to minimize scrap.

Herman Miller has given real attention to its
packaging-both to customers and from suppliers. Blanket wrapping and stretch wrapping have significantly reduced waste. We have eliminated 50 percent of packaging to customers since 1995.

Reusable packaging from vendors also eliminates waste. We examine not only how Herman Miller and its vendors ship parts, but also the material the packaging is made of. In the case of the Aeron® chair, itself consisting of many recycled materials, we have achieved 90 percent reusable packaging between Herman Miller and our vendors.

If you can't measure it, have you accomplished anything?

Depends, doesn't it? It depends on your goals and your measurements. We used to measure how much we sent to landfills, and we still do. We used to measure how much energy we saved, and we still do. Certainly those things are important, but today they're not enough.

We work now on reducing the amount of waste per sales dollar, how much material we can reuse in a particular product without recycling, how our move toward eco-efficiency is going.

Over the years, we've learned the importance of watching the basics. We continue to measure how we're doing and set goals for improvement.

Solid waste includes all materials that we've recycled, sent to a landfill, or used as fuel in our Energy Center.

As we have increased our recycling efforts, we have greatly reduced the amount of waste we send to landfills.

Joining EPA's Green Lights Program and its Energy Star Building Program has helped us improve our energy efficiency and increase our return on investment, which currently is 37 percent.

The bulk of hazardous waste consists of cleaning solvents contaminated with paint waste. More efficient manufacturing processes have played a huge role in reducing them at Herman Miller.

Air emissions refers to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are emitted during painting and finishing processes. Our move to powder-
and water-based technologies has significantly lessened VOC emissions.

Over the last 10 years, by converting 6 of our paint lines to a powder coat process, we eliminated 60-100 tons of air emission waste per year per
line. We have one more to go, and plans for its conversion are under way during 2002

Other organizations have measured us and found us award worthy. We've certainly done a lot. We still have a lot to do.

2002. Business Ethics magazine gives top ranking to Herman Miller for Service to the Environment and puts Herman Miller in the top 10 of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens.

2002. Fortune magazine lists Herman Miller as America's Most Admired furniture company for the 15th time in the ranking's 16-year history.

2002 and 2000. The State of California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes Herman Miller with its Waste Reduction Award Program (WRAP).

2001, 2000, and 1999. The EPA recognizes Herman Miller's overall waste-reduction efforts with its Large Industry Partners of the Year Award.

2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, and 1995. The EPA recognizes Herman Miller's overall waste-reduction achievements with the WA$TE WI$E Award Program Champion, and names Herman Miller "Overall Champion" in 1999.

2000 and 1999. Fortune magazine lists Herman Miller as one of America's Most Admired companies and ranks it number three overall for Innovation and Social Responsibility.

1998. Fortune magazine lists Herman Miller as America's Most Admired company for Social Responsibility.

1998. The General Services Administration (GSA) recognizes Herman Miller's product design and business practices with the EverGreen Award.

1997. Business Ethics magazine recognizes Herman Miller's environmental initiatives with its Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics Award.

1997. Renew America and the National Awards Council for Environmental Sustainability recognizes Herman Miller's GreenHouse with a certificate of environmental achievement and includes the building in its Environmental Success Index.

1995. The National Office Paper Recycling Project recognizes Herman Miller with the National Leadership Award for Environmental Responsibility.

1994. The National Wildlife Federation presents the Environmental Achievement Award to Herman Miller for its commitment to earth stewardship.

1992. The Michigan House of Representatives Republican Task Force on Solid Waste Management presents Herman Miller with the Recycler of the Year Award.

1991. The White House awards the Presidential Citation for Environmental Management to Herman Miller.

ON SPACESHIP EARTH THERE ARE NO PASSENGERS, ONLY CREW

-Buckminster Fuller

From capitalism to sustained capitalism.

We must keep working to find the path that leads our corporation and the natural environment we touch to survive together. To quote businessman and environmentalist Paul Hawken: "Any time there is inefficiency in the form of pollution or waste, it is uneconomic and therefore more costly." For either the environment or capitalism to have a future, both must have a future.

Herman Miller's interest in the environment began with the strong religious convictions of its founder, D.J. De Pree, who believed that corporations, like people, should see themselves as stewards.

This feeling of responsibility for our environment has taken shape over 40 years in programs, initiatives, committees, and teams. Our determination to coexist fairly and wisely with the environment is now leading us into new territ0ry-sustainable capitalism-using materials at a rate slower than the natural environment can provide them for future generations.

Part of Herman Miller's heritage lies in the beautiful veneers used in many of our products. Veneer finishing had been done traditionally with solvent-based stains, which resulted in large VOC emissions. Beginning in the 1990s, we have switched entirely to water-based stains, which emit 90 percent fewer VOCs and actually give us more color consistency.

When Herman Miller became one of three charter supporters of the Tropical Forest Foundation in 1990 (along with Caterpillar and Georgia Pacific), the goal was to promote the sustainable management of tropical forests. The group sought to preserve tropical forests by giving them an ongoing economic value. Today, we believe that the environment must become part of the economic system, not separate from it.

First, we have to make our commitment to the environment live at Herman Miller. Next, we have to help others understand how sustainable practices can be good business, not just good works. Finally, as individuals and as citizens we have to encourage other organizations and other communities to understand the importance of protecting this precious gift, this biosphere that we call earth.

-Mike Volkema, Chairman and CEO, Herman Miller, Inc.