Commercial Interiors: Sustainable Certification
Sam Rowe, CEO of Istoria Group
Time was when architects and designers would be shown dimensions and material options when specifying furniture, lighting and other fixtures and fittings.
Nowadays, sustainability credentials take up significant space in presentations and brochures and rightly so. After all, as recently as March 2023, Antonio Gutteres, United Nations Secretary General said, “We have never been better equipped to solve the climate challenge, but we must move into warp speed climate action now.”
BREEAM, a method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of buildings dates back to 1990 with ISO 14001 and also LEED launching that same decade. In common with LEED, the WELL Building Standard, dedicated to the integration of health and wellness technologies in the places we live, work and learn, is third party certified through collaboration with Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI).
B Corp is the newer kid on the block with the first generation of certifications coming in 2007. Billing itself as a “non-profit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet” B Corp rates the social and environmental performance of for-profit firms. Currently there are over 1,200 B Corps in the UK.
Istoria Group is a collective of creative agencies including Ignition which works in live events, exhibitions, and experiences; Phoenix Wharf which focuses on interior design and branding plus digital specialists Tiny Spark. The group gained B Corp certification last year. Its CEO Samantha Rowe says, “The rigorous audit process was the toughest out of all of them to get through, but it enabled us to walk the walk. If we talk about B Corp now to our clients who in the main are large corporates, they are very interested in it. And as far as recruitment goes, people are coming to us because they’re interested in the fact that we have done something about people, the planet and communities, it’s made us very attractive to employees.” Echoing The Furniture Practice’s sentiments about the community aspect, Rowe adds that the supplied list of other certified companies helped Istoria find, for example, an HR consultancy that shared its values.
The group and its constituent companies have also gained ISOs 9001 and 14001 as well as The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. One scheme that ensured Ignition secured the latter was, says Rowe, “working with clients in exhibitions, events, and congresses to invest in a kit that can be reused rather than design and build an exhibition stand for each one. A lot of these standards come from a manufacturing base but we’re not a massive manufacturing organisation. So we find solutions to do our best.”
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