Contract - December 2012 - (Page 10)

Raising Awareness of the Origins of Product As designers, you specify a wide range of products, from furnishings to accessories to fabrics. And you’re more ecologically conscious than ever, which means you are more aware of the materials in a given product as well as the origin—where a particular product is produced, and how it is manufactured. That has great implications for both the interiors you design and the healthful longevity of projects for your clients. In this issue, we both highlight products we think you should know about across a range of product types, and we examine changes in the product supply chain, particularly in fabrics, and the impact that has on your world. In an important step related to healthy and safe materials, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute announced the release of version 3.0 of its Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM Product Standard certification program at Greenbuild last month. The Institute, co-created by William McDonough, FAIA—1999 Designer of the Year— and Michael Braungart, was initiated to make the standard available worldwide and to inspire innovation based on the Cradle to Cradle principles. More than 100 companies have adopted the methodology and 400-plus certifications have been issued for Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM products since certification began in 2005. The standard evaluates products in five categories: material health and reutilization, water stewardship, social fairness, and renewable energy and carbon management. Learn more about this at c2ccertified.org. A shrinking supply chain Specifically when selecting fabrics, or furnishings covered in fabrics, are you fully aware of where the fabric is made and the significant changes in the textile industry in this country? The supply chain to bring fabrics to market has severely shrunk in the past 15 years— 662 textile mills have closed in the U.S. in that time, according to the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)—and that has wide ramifications for the fabric industry. In her story, “Far Fewer Mills Impact Textile Design and Production,” (page 44) Contract contributing editor Murrye Bernard sheds light on the dramatic changes that effect how fabric companies bring product to market. Read the story to learn more and to gain insights from national leaders in the fabric industry, including Dorothy Cosonas, Susan Lyons, Sina Pearson, and Marybeth Shaw. Nearly 400,000 Americans work in textile and apparel manufacturing overall as of 2012, but that is less than a quarter of the 1.6 million people who worked in apparel and textile factories in 1990. Textile mills in this country are mainly concentrated in the Southeast—232 mills closed in North Carolina alone in the past 15 years—often in smaller rural communities. Mills are a major source of employment and economic livelihood for a town, and primarily employ women and minorities. So when a textile mill is shuttered, the economic ramifications are vast and have a ripple effect throughout the region. Textile companies that thrive do so with fewer workers. According to the Department of Labor, U.S. textile mills boosted their output per hour of work by about 49 percent from 1998 through 2008. That increased productivity is driven by automation through technology as well as basic cost cutting. With fewer mills, this impact reaches companies that produce the fabrics you specify, like KnollTextiles, for example, which now works with only about 25 different U.S.-based mills, about half of what it could rely on a decade ago, Cosonas says. She and others in the fabric industry that Bernard spoke with feel strongly about continuing to work with U.S.-based mills, though, because the long-standing relationships have developed over time, the workmanship is strong, and those factors overall contribute to the product quality. I urge you to learn more about the origins of the products you select. That knowledge will only strengthen the design professions in this country. Finally, check out our 2012 Contract Brand Awareness Survey (page 69), in which Contract readers named their favorite manufacturers across 32 categories. Which company inspires readers to design their best interiors? Find out in the annual Brand Report. Sincerely, John Czarnecki, editor in Chief contractdesign.com 10 december 2012 PhOTO: MeG WALTON editoriAl http://www.c2ccertified.org http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - December 2012

Contract - December 2012
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Focus: Rex-Ray Analysis
Designers Select: Office
Designers Select: Healthcare
Designers Select: Hospitality
Designers Select: Education
Highlights of the Year’s Great Products
Far Fewer Mills Impact Textile Design and Production
IIDA Best Interiors of Latin America
Showroom: Swarovski Lighting Showroom
Showroom: Milliken Studio New York
2012 Contract Brand Awareness Survey
Sources
Ad Index
Installation: Petra Blaisse and Desso Woven into the Fabric of Stedelijk Museum

Contract - December 2012