Download - 2011 a Better World Report
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Y
Our Journey Towards
A Better World Around You
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.Who we are
1.1 A message rom CEO Brian Walker
1. Who is Herman Miller?
1.3 Our legacy o leadership, corporate values, and community
1.4 Our history o design and innovation
.Dimensions of our Better World program
.1 Community Service
. Inclusiveness & Diversity
.3 Health & Well-being
.4 Environmental Advocacy
Additional GRI data on hermanmiller.com
Contents
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| A BETTER WORLD REPORT 2011 Herman Miller1
Asking the right questions:
A message from CEO Brian WalkerIts important to ask the right questions, isnt it? We used to ask how to avoid lling landlls.
Or how to reduce our use o styrooam? Now we ask about shrinking our carbon ootprint and
the true environmental and social costs o manuacturing, assembling, and shipping a product.
Or how integral is building a better world to our corporate strategy? Are we using green energy?
Can we point to measureable results?
Times have cer tainly changed since Herman Millers environmental programs began in the s.
Now we see environmental advocacy as part o a larger eortone we call Better World. For
years, one o our corpor ate values has been A Better World, which shows just how critical it is to
our business.
We put together this Better World Report ever y year to let you k now how were doing. Are we
perect and do we always reach our goals? O course not. Building a better world is not so much a
goal as an everyday act o lie.
For me, the remarkable thing about our eorts to build a better world is their broad-based support
throughout the global Herman Miller community. Widespread engagement on the part o Herman
Miller employees has led to wide variety o recognition: # rankings in FORTUNEs Most Admired
companies survey, eighth consecutive listing in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a Sec tor
Leader and Sector Mover in Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) Sustainability Yearbook
, Just Means Social Innovation Award or Best Sustainability Perormance, EPA WasteWise
Award or Green Purchasing, and a perect score or the ourth consecutive year in the Human
Rights Campaigns Corporate Equality Index.
Will we constantly try to improve the perormance o our customers environments?
Yes. Will we continue to work toward the goals stated in this report and build on the progress we
are reporting here? By all means. And I tr uly hope this report will give you some ideas about how
you can join us.
Thank you,
Brian Walker
Chie Executive Ocer
.| Who we are
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Who is Herman Miller?A business is rightly judged by its products and services, but it must also face scrutiny
as to its humanity.
DJ De Pree, ounder, Herman Miller, Inc.
Herman Miller is named afer a West Michigan businessman who helped DJ De Pree buy
the Michigan Star Furniture Company in . It didnt hurt that Herman Miller was DJs ather-
in-law. Since Miller had a good reputation or honesty and was well-known in the business
community, DJ renamed the company afer him. And weve been Herman Miller ever since.
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Our legacy of leadership, corporatevalues, and communityHerman Miller is well-known or its philosophy o leadership and employee engagement. Our
ormer chairman and CEO Max De Pree wrote about it all in his books Leadership Is an Art
and Leadership Jazz. We call our corporate values Things that Matter. Here is our
corporate mission.
We will be the leading provider o thoughtully designed interior products or places where
people work, heal, learn, and live. Our products will solve real problems, delight the eye,
complement the ways our customers choose to express their environments, and they will be
afordable. We will be an inspiration to our customers in the ways we create a great place to
work or our employees, achieve operational excellence, provide a solid investment or our
shareholders, advocate or the environment, unite a diverse and talented group o people,
and exempliy a orce or positive change in the communities in which we live and serve.
Ultimately, our aspiration is to design and build a better world around you. Whether you are
an employee, a customer, a shareholder, or a neighbor, we will use our energy, our creativity,
and our resources to improve the places where you work, heal, learn, and live.
Herman Millers culture results rom the collective attitudes, aspirations, ideals, and
experiences o the people who work here. We believe that each person at Herman Miller has
potential and multiple talents. We also believe that the way we experience Herman Miller asemployees is important to our ability to perorm at the highest levelsor our customers, our
shareholders, and our neighbors.
Our leaders, including our board o directors, take our commitment to building a better world
seriously. They review our perormance, monitor compliance with ethical standards, and
measure their own compensation against their ability to manage our business according
to our values.
We have a strong tradition o employee engagement at Herman Miller. Most o us own stock,
and we work together to delight our customers with great design reliably delivered. For more
about who we are and what we do, please visit hermanmiller.com.
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Our history of designand innovationFor over years, we have worked with some o the most outstanding designers in the world
Gilbert Rohde, George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, Isamu Noguchi,
Robert Propst, Bill Stump, Studio ., and Yves Bhar. They have taught us a habit o mind that
begins with a problem, researches possibilities, and produces a durable and beautiul solution.
That is our view o design.
This way o thinking about design has led us to be innovative in many parts o our business.
Our environmental advocacy continues to lead our industry. Our graphics and communications
are distinctive and award-winning. The Herman Miller Perormance System, modeled on the
Toyota Production System, innovates every day and delivers our products dependably around
the world. We innovate in our human resource programs to make the employee experience at
Herman Miller ullling and productive.
Above all, our design thinking has led us to consider a better world around you our ultimate
aspiration, one that requires not only sustainable business practices, but community service,
health and well-being, saety, and inclusiveness and diversity.
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When we think about buildinga better world around you,we organize our work into four areas:
Community service
Inclusiveness & diversity
Health & well-being
Environmental advocacy
In working in these areas, it boils down to building communitywith you and around you,
in your work space and in your neighborhood, among amily and among colleagues,
in our backyard and around the world. Read on to see how weve done in the ongoing process
o meeting our goals.
| Dimensions of our Better World program
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Community ServiceWe take community service seriously. Our employees seek out volunteer opportunities in the
community, and we allow each o them sixteen paid hours a year to work with the charitable
organizations o their choice. Herman Miller people regularly take part in initiatives ranging
rom highway and river cleanups to youth mentoring programs. Herman Miller sets goals or the
number o employee volunteer hours we contribute annually to our communities. Our three-year
goal is , hours, and we are well on our way to reaching our goal with , hours afer
the rst year. We report our progress in meeting these goals to the CEO.
Connecting with Kids in Bangalore
August 7, 1, was an unusual Saturday or a group
o Herman Miller employees in Bangalore. Aer 1 days
o collecting donations and a 3-minute drive, the team
arrived at the Ashraya Orphanage. Fourteen kids greeted
them, told them their names, one by one, and continuedwith all the innocent things you can think o, in the
words o Chanda Gohrani. The Herman Miller team
was so touched by the example o a volunteer music
teacher at the orphanage, several o them signed up
to teach classes every weekend. This is what we mean
by community service.
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
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We Care
In its ourteenth year, Herman Miller and the architecture and design community volunteered
in We Carea day o creativity and craf-making or underprivileged children in cities
across the U.S. and Canada. At a local West Michigan event, nearly local youth gathered
to create gifs or amily and riends. We are lucky to have a abulous team o rms that help
make this event possible by donating time, craf materials, and ood.
Women or Women International
Nearly women at Herman Miller volunteered or a ourth year with Women or Women
International, an organization that mobilizes women to change their lives by bringing a holistic
approach to addressing the unique needs o women in conlict and post-conlict environments.
Meeting monthly in small groups by acility, these women write letters to their sisters in
Kosovo to support them in the rebuilding o their lives.
Habitat or Humanity
Over the past six years, Herman Miller volunteers have helped build homes or Habitat or
Humanity. This years LEED-rated home or a amily o three has reported gas and electric
bills totaling $ per month. The house includes an energy-ecient urnace, double-paned
windows, energy-ecient light xtures, light bulbs, and much more. Even the driveway andoundation were mixed with a waste byproduct, ly ash. The house was built in record time
business days!
Japan Relie
In response to the Japan Earthquake, employees throughout the company contributed
nearly $,. This was matched with $, rom the Herman Miller Foundation.
When combined with an initial gif o $,, as well as $, in proceeds rom the sale
o product on our eCommerce site, the total amount available to assist victims o this disaster
was approximately $,. In addition, colleagues throughout Asia auctioned o crafs
by designers to raise unds or victims o the earthquake.
Bath Rugby Community Foundation
Herman Miller in the U.K. supports the Bath Rugby Community Foundations Business Enterprise
Project, which oers local school children the chance to improve their learning skills and to nd out
more about how businesses work. In addition to unding the program, Herman Miller employees
also support this program as volunteers who act as classroom assistants in one o the organized
teaching sessions or discuss dierent aspects o Herman Millers business with the kids.
Herman Miller in the U.K. also supports the Girls Development Squad and the Inclusion afer
Schools Club, which works with children with disabilities and learning diculties.
A ew additional organizations and causes we supported this past year:
- Juvenile Diabetes Research F oundation (JD RF)
- Employees in Bangalore, India planted trees across three streets in one day
- Adopt-a-Highway
- Learning Enrichment through Adult Participation (LEAP) program
- United Way (Greater Ottawa County) Day o Caring
- Charity Co-ed Sofball event
- Throughout the year, hundreds o employees assisted a variety o local
organizations through ood, clothing, personal hygiene and toy drives.
- Chattahoochee River cleanup
- Ride or Kids to benet children with brain cancer
- Corporate Challenge K walk/run to benet the Atlanta Food Bank
- The Strong Legs Run K or Childrens Healthcare o Atlanta
- Rebuilding Together Eighth annual sponsorship o a needy home repaired
and rehabilitated with the goal o leaving the home warm, sae, and dry.
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
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Inclusiveness & DiversityWe value the whole person and everything each o us has to ofer, obvious and not
so obvious. I believe that every person should have the chance to realize his or her
potential, regardless o color, gender, age, sexual orientation, educational background,
amily status, skill levelthe list goes on and on. When we are truly inclusive, I believe
we go beyond toleration to really understanding what makes us unique and what unites
us as human beings.
Brian Walker, President and Chie Executive Ocer
Inclusiveness & Diversity (I&D) is much more than a social program at Herman Miller. Working
to become an inclusive community is both the right thing to do and a business imperative
that directly aects our ability to grow as a company. To eectively compete in the global
marketplace, we recognize the need to attract and retain the best talent available. An inclusive
environment allows our employees to be more innovative and create products that best meet
the needs o our customers around the world. And a diverse supplier base ensures we have the
best suppliers to choose rom.
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Education Always Comes First
In an initiative called Talent 14, Herman Millers
Inclusiveness Resource Teams ormed an alliance with
Holland New Tech, a brand-new school in the Holland,
Michigan Public School System. We plan to ollow 1
eighth and ninth graders through to graduation in 14,teach them about continuous improvement, teamwork,
and collaboration skills at Herman Miller, and in general
show them the kinds o careers open to high school
grads. We hosted them or their rst day at Herman
Millers design and production acilities in March.
Who knows, there may be a uture CEO in that group.
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Business Contracted with Minorityand Woman Owned Suppliers
80
0
20
40
100
60
120
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
MillionsofDollars
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Eight Inclusiveness Resource Teams (IRTs) organize our g rass-roots eort s: Asian; Black;
disAbility Advocacy; Womens Initiatives Network; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
(LGBT); Hispanic; Male; and Generational Outreach. Two additional IRTs (disability and remote
workers) organize our eorts in the UK. Each IRT is charged with implementing initiatives that
not only benet our employees and communities, but also help Herman Miller to meet our
business objectives. In the past year, IRTs grew to members.
Our I&D scorecard measures our eort s in several critical areas including Who We Sell
to (customers), Who Does the Work (Talent), Where We Work (Employee Engagement),
and Who We Sell to (Supplier Diversity). Scorecard results are reviewed regularly by the
companys senior-level leadership and the Board o Directors. This past year, we improved
our results by points, a % increase over the previous scal year.
We have always worked to build a strong and diverse supplier network. Supplier sourcingand qualication, Tier reporting, mentoring, community and business outreach, and training
and education are among the strategies we use to strengthen our supplier diversity eorts.
A ew achievements by our Inclusiveness and Diversity teams last year:
- percent rating on Corporate Equality Index rom
the Human Rights Campaign (ourth consecutive year)
- Chicago Pride Celebration, co-hosted by LGBT IRT and Chicago sales team
- Fifh annual $, community scholarship
- Addition o three new Inclusiveness Resource Teams
(Generational Outreach IRT in U.S. and Disability and Remote Worker IRTs in U.K.)
- Spring Fashion Show and Fundraiser or local Womens Resource
Center hosted by Womens Initiatives Network (WIN) IRT
- Distribution o backpacks lled with school supplies or , west Michigan children
- Provided instructor-led and online diversity training or all employees
- Total spending with women and minority-owned businesses reached . percent
- Nominated or the Corporation o the Year award by the
Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC)
- Launch o Supplier Diversity Advisory Council, with CFO serving as executive sponsor
- Attended national conerences, including National Urban League (Black IRT),
Out & Equal Workplace Summit (LGBT IRT), U.S. Business Leaders Network (disAbility
Advocacy IRT), and National Hispanic Corporate Council (Hispanic IRT)
Woman Owned
Minority Owned
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. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Roving Leadership Alive and Well at Herman Miller
Dan Bos and Terry Lopez saw a problemtoo ew saety
suggestions and too many saety incidents at GreenHouse
Operations. They asked Kirsten Barkel to do something
about it, and Kirsten took charge. She and a team
talked to people, created communication tools,and generally made saety more visible and more un.
Saety suggestions rom employees are up 78%; incidents
are down 7%. Kirsten has become the complaint
department with a smile noting that employee ideas
have been crucial to their success. Her Saety Liaison job
is now a development position or anyone interested in
learning about Herman Millers saety culture. We have
leaders with all sorts o titles at Herman Miller
Health & Well-beingWe believe the health and well-being o our community is a goal or all employees, is integral
to our aspiration to create a better world, and is consistent with the way we value the potential
o each and every person. As a company committed to ergonomic design, we want to make
every employee and every customer comortable, sae, and productive at work by applying
these principles: t the user; t the task; and allow or posture change and activity variety.
Our expertise and leadership in ergonomics puts us in a position not only to help our
customers, but also to help ourselves. We strongly believe in a healthy and health-positive
workplace. Many programslike our bike purchase reimbursement programintegrate with
environmental eorts.
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Carpooling/Bike Pooling Programs
Several programs help us reduce the amount o uel we consume, thereby reducing the impact
on our wallets as well as the environment. Employees can create either a carpool or bike
pool prole including their address, hours, and whether or not they are willing to drive or are
just looking or a ride. Then they log their hours to be entered into a monthly drawing or a
$ gif certicate.
Employees receive the ollowing one-time reimbursements:- $ when purchasing a bike or personal use (or $ or a bike tune-up)
- $ when purchasing a hybrid or uel-ecient car
- $ toward an approved helmet or use when riding a motorcycle or scooter
Health Management
We continue to invest in tools that will help employees understand and improve their health.
The Herman Miller Health Management Program helps employees and their partners become
more aware o their health and more involved in improving their overall health habitsand
provides the opportunity to earn nancial rewards or participating.
WebMD
WebMD remains our partner to acilitate health awareness and education. WebMD has
created a personalized site or Herman Miller employees to take their HealthQuotient and
manage their health. Employees who completed the Health Management Program received $
incentive again this year to help o set the cost o medical premiums.
On The Move Walking Program
Employees are encouraged to participate in this w alking program including setting a daily goal o
number o steps. Walking maps are provided or several sites. Employees can then log their daily
steps and be enrolled in a drawing or prizes.
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Fuel Savings Update
602bicycle reimbursements
437,225miles saved by car/bike pooling
111,375total dollars reimbursed to employees
91uel-efcient vehicle reimbursements
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Injury Incident Rate per 100 Employees
2010/2011
4
0
1
2
5
3
6
Herman Miller Industry Average
InjuryIncidentRateper100
Employees
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Saety
From the production loor to the workstation, rom stacking products to adjusting seats
ergonomically, we ocus on saety in everything that we do. Our Corporate Saety Vision is thatHerman Miller will establish a culture where saety expectations are driven by all employees
with the understanding that all injuries are preventable. There is a consistent, veriable, and
ongoing identication and correction o problems and hazards.
Our Saety Policy
Herman Miller is committed to the highest standards in health and saety management.
Our corporate saety goals are key to our business success.
To drive continual improvement in OH&S management and perormance, we will:
- Go beyond compliance with occupational saety and health regulations and other requirements- Pursue prevention o injury and ill health and elimination o any risk.
- Promote employee well-being
- Demonstrate and implement best health and saety practices
- Promote health and saety knowledge and awareness
Our Ongoing Goals:
- Zero injuries
- Excellence in saety perormance
- Elimination o unsae behavior
Four o our acilities are recognized by the Michigan Voluntary Protection Program: ZeelandMainsite, GreenHouse, Midwest Distribution Center, st Avenue acility. In addition to our
participation in the Michigan OSHA Voluntary Protection Program, our Behavioral Based Saety
program helped us work toward our goals.
Behavior Based Saety
We launched a corporate-wide behavior based saety program in . This innovative
workplace strategy reduced on-the-job injuries by percent in the rst year. The program
relies on interactions and coaching between team members to reduce the kinds o accidents
that we believe account or percent o all injuries. Six manuacturing sites have implemented
the behavior based saety program.
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. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Spreading the Word
In March, 11, Steve Jackson, Commercial Environmental
Manager, represented Herman Miller at the Social
Innovation Awards in London. The audience included
executives rom well-known companies like Coca Cola,
Cisco, Nokia, and Nestle. Steve was glad that in 1we reached 91% o our goal to have a zero operational
ootprint by . He was surprised that Herman Miller
was the only nominee in the Sustainability Perormance
category that night in Londons nancial district. The
judges said in introducing Steve and Herman Miller
that we were the clear winner. Now lets go aer that
remaining bit.
Environmental Advocacy
Like community service, inclusiveness and diversity, and health and well-being, environmental
advocacy at Herman Miller began with corporate values rst put into words by the ounder
o our company, DJ De Pree. In , DJ said that Herman Miller will be a good corporate
neighbor by being a good steward o the environment.We have been working toward that
goal ever since.
DJ also had other ideas ahead o their timewindows in all company buildings, including
manuacturing acilities, and requiring that percent o any Herman Miller corporate site be
set aside as green space. Today, living with integrity and respecting the environment are
two ways we work to build a better world.
We believe the environment is a cause every corporation should put high on its agenda.
As part o our annual Earth Day events, employees can bring in their own recyclable waste rom
home (newspapers, paper, burnables, etc.) Employees have taken it upon themselves to make
a better world or all o us.
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Our Environmental Policy
Herman Miller is committed to sustainable business practices in every thing we do. Our corporate
environmental goals are a key metric o our business success.
On the journey toward sustainable business practices, through continuousimprovement, we will:
- Go beyond compliance with environmental regulations and other requirements
- Pursue prevention o pollution and elimination o waste o any kind
- Implement technologies to eciently use energy resources
- Design our products, processes, and buildings or the environment
- Promote environmental knowledge and awareness
Environmental Quality Action Team (EQAT)
In a group o our employees launched the Environmental Quality Action Team (EQAT) and
persuaded senior management to elevate environmental advocacy in Herman Millers corporate
agenda. This grass-roots eort , typical o our belie in employee engagement, has ensured that
being mindul o the environment extends to all groups and all parts o Herman Miller.
One important component o the EQAT initiative is our ISO Team, which includes
Environmental Health and Saety (EHS) Specialists at all o our major oce and manuacturing
locations. The EHS Specialists meet regularly to share inormation and to ensure that Herman
Millers EHS requirements are maintained company wide.
Fiscal year brought about some challenges with regard to our sustainability goals.
As we reach closer towards our zero ootprint goals, we ace the challenge that on the path
to zero, the nal % reduction will be the most dicult to achieve. Additionally, the sales
volume or this past year was ver y strong, driving up material usage and energy consumption.
Still, we believe that we have the programs in place to meet our scal milestones and
goals launched in .
Electric
Gas
2008/2009
90 million k Wh
2009/2010
85 million k Wh
2010/2011
82 million k Wh
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Energy Use
2008/2009
353,500 mmbtu
2009/2010
340,500 mmbtu
2010/2011
301,310 mmbtu
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Perfect Vision Goals
320.30 tons (/)
53.83 tons (/)
59.98 tons (/)
50.83 tons (/ goal)
13,171.80tons (/)1064.11 tons (/)1327.91 tons (/)
768.59 tons (/ goal)
0.0percent (/)
71.6percent (/)100.0percent (/)
100.0percent (/ goal)
320.93 tons (/)12.05 tons (/)
15.37 tons (/)
10.90 tons (/ goal)
114.80million gallons (/)
20.60million gallons (/)
28.80million gallons (/)
20.80million gallons (/ goal)
. percent (/)
.percent (/). percent (/)
. percent (/ goal)
VOC air emissions
Solid waste to landfll
Renewable energy
Hazardous waste
Process water use
Operational ootprint reduction
0
0
100
0
0
0
TONS2020 GOAL
TONS2020 GOAL
PERCENT2020 GOAL
TONS2020 GOAL
GALLONS2020 GOAL
TOTALOPERATIONALFOOTPRINT2020 GOAL
95%
75%
88%
PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
81%
90%
100%
PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Operational Footprint
Operational Footprint: We experienced an % reduction against our goal o % (last year s
actual). With the .% increase in sales over scal , we exper ienced these increases:
- Air emissions increased by six tons rom scal .
- Hazardous waste increased by three tons.
- Landll waste increased tons.
- Process water use increased by eight million gallons.
VOC Emissions to Air
Between and Herman Miller recorded more than an percent decline in VOC
emissions. We also track our nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulur oxide (SOx) emissions at our
Energy Center, where we burn scrap wood to create energy. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulur
oxides (SOx) emissions rom our Energy Center operations were . tons and . tons,
respectively. Our UV water-based nishing system or Zeeland Operations has been up and
running since , resulting in lower air emissions and hazardous wastes.
Since we have recently grown through acquisition, we continue working hard to improveseveral acquired sites that manuacture wood products. With their emissions, our reduction
to baseline slipped rom percent to percent.
Hazardous Waste
To achieve our goal o zero hazardous waste generation by , we have reduced the use
o hazardous materials in every aspect o the manuacturing processrom raw materials to
building and equipment maintenance. The number o our acilities that release toxic chemicals,
dened by the EPAs Toxic Release Inventory, has been reduced rom seven to one and the
number o toxic chemicals that we use in our acilities rom twelve to two. The reduction to
the / baseline year decreased rom a percent reduction to percent.
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Non-Hazardous Solid Waste
2008 / 20092007 / 2008 2009 / 2010 2010 / 2011
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
MillionsofPounds
Fiscal Year
Composted
Sent to landll
Waste to Energy (on-site)
Waste to Energy (including o-site)
Recycled
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Solid Waste to LandllOur goal is to deposit no solid waste in landlls by . Although landll increased by
tons, in mid-, we started composting the bottom ash rom Herman Millers onsite Energy
Center. Since this bottom ash had been one o the largest contributors to landll, we expect
to see a sizeable reduction in landll during the coming year. We are also pursuing additional
reuses o the waste powder resulting rom the powder-coat painting o our metal parts or
ling and storage products. Our Geiger, Georgia site sends nothing to landlls; what they cant
recycle they send to Huntsville, Alabama to generate power or the NASA operations there.
Our Ningbo, China site also sends all non-recyclable solid wastes to a waste-to-energy acility.
Process Water Use and Quality
We look or every opportunity to upgrade and improve the ways in which we use water, rom
installing low-lush toilets and waterless urinals to reducing the amount o water used or lawn care.
None o our acilities discharge waste water directly to the environment. All process water is
either discharged to local waste water treatment acilities or hauled away or treatment.
Meeting our goal or process water consumption in manuacturing is among our greatest
environmental challenges, and we are determined to get there. Although our reduction to
baseline slipped rom percent to percent last year, we maximize the reuse o process
water throughout various manuacturing operations. We continue to investigate the most
current technologies to help us meet our goal o zero process water use.
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22
6
3
69
35000
25000
15000
0
55000
45000
75000
65000
Scope 1direct
CO2-eq(metrictons)
Scope 2indirect - electricity consumed
Scope 3other indirect
RECs
2008
20092010
2008
20092010
20082009
2010
20082009
2010
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Climate Change and Carbon Footprint
Last year, we reported that, as o May , , we were using percent renewable electrical
energy in all our acilities world-wide by purchasing certied Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)
and continuing a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with our local electric provider.
This continued or scal year . The RECs retired or , along with the PPA, represented
percent wind and percent biomass projects. Savings rom energy eciency suggestions
rom our employees covered the additional expenses we incurred in purchasing the RECs.
New in , we added a goal o being carbon neutral by (Scopes and ) to our Perect
Vision goals. For scal , we achieved a % reduction in our carbon ootprint against our
goal o a % reduction, based on the purchase and retirement o RECs and the PPA.
We have purchased over , Mwh o RECs and over , Mwh o percent wind power
rom the Harvest Wind Farm located in Huron County, Michigan, one o the largest commercial
operating wind projects in Michigan. Our renewable energy certicates (RECs) are purchased
with savings achieved rom energy eciency projects such as Energy Star projects, lighting
upgrades, LEED projects, and manuacturing-related projects.
The Herman Miller Energy Center generates percent o the steam needed by Zeeland
Main Sites manuacturing operations, o which percent comes rom the incineration o
wood waste.
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
%LESS
%LESS
%LESS
%MORE
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Third-party veried
** Wood waste at Energy Center and biodiesel
* Metric tons o COe [CO equivalent]
Note: 63 percent o our greenhouse gas emissions rom electricity were ofset by RECsNote: The purchase and retirement o 59,386,614 kwh o RECs was third-party veriedNote: Our 9 worldwide Scope 1, Scope , and Biomass emissions have been third-party veried
Calendar metric tons*
Renewable Energy Certicates (RECs) 41,489 59,154
Calendar metric tons*
Stationary Combustion owned and leased
Local Fleet north america
Company Vehicles
Subtotal Combustion Emissions north america
Combustion Emissions outside north america 630
2,340
996
22,505
19,169
2,739
1,119
21,120
679
17,262
Emissions rom Purchased Electricity outside north america
Subtotal Emissions rom Purchased Electricity north america
Purchased Electricity owned and leased
60,26060,113Total Scope Two Emissions
2,077
58,183
58,183
1,774
58,339
58,339
Product Delivery north america
Business Travel north america
34,339 33,467
30,280 28,221
5,2464,059
Total Scope Three Emissions
CO rom Biomass** north america
13,118 16,265
13,118 16,265
Biomass
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Energy Conservation
Energy reduction projects resulted in a net decrease in electrical energy and natural gas use
last year. Included in the energy numbers are all leased acilities and acilities included in
our organizational carbon ootprint calculations. The EPAs Energy Star program, purchasing
renewable energy, and implementing company-wide energy eciency programs allowed us
to achieve signicant savings in energy use and dollars during scal , including an annual
cost avoidance o over $,.
Our most successul energy eciency projects have ocused on the updating o our actory
lighting systems and LEED projects. By converting HID lighting to T luorescent lighting and
adding control technology, we cut our lighting bills in hal. General system upgrades as a resulto our continuing improvements through the LEED certication process has netted a %
reduction in building energy costs where LEED is implemented.
Our energy reduction eorts are equivalent to not driving . million miles, or planting
acres o trees, or saving enough energy to power averaged size homes or one year.
We continue to reduce our energy use, increase our use o renewable energy, decrease our
transportation, and design our products to be energy ecient. Herman Miller is publicly
reporting our GHG emissions and strategy to allow investors and other interested parties
to view this data. This is our second year o publicly reporting our emissions through the
Carbon Disclosure Project, the only international climate change reporting system.
Total Scope One Emissions 23,135 21,799
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. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: reducing our carbon ootprint
In we began the process o documenting our carbon ootprint using the World Resources
Institute and the World Business Council or Sustainable Development (WRI/WBCSD)
Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition),
The Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol (version ., May ); and The Climate
Registry General Reporting Protocol . Updates and Clarications ( December ). We
have used emission actors provided by the Climate Registrys General Reporting Protocolto calculate our Scope direct greenhouse gas emissions that are under our controlour
natural gas usage and local leet emissions. Scope indirect emissions are calculated rom our
purchased electricity. We have also included a limited amount o our Scope (optional) indirect
emissions rom our product distribution process and our corporate business travel.
We believe it is important to report a portion o our optional emissions because shipping goods
to our customers is a big part o our business. We will continue to track and include optional
emissions rom product delivery miles and business travel (Scope ).
We believe it is important to report a portion o our optional emissions because shipping
goods to our customers is a big part o our business. We will continue to track and include
optional emissions rom product delivery miles and business travel (Scope ).
Our Buildings
Architecture and architects are important to us and to our business. We helped ound the U.S.
Green Building Council (USGBC) and our GreenHouse building won LEED Pioneer status in
light o its environmentally sound, aesthetically pleasing, and nancially benecial qualities.
Today, we are committed to building or renovating our acilities to achieve at least Silver
LEED criteria. We are among the top tier o Michigan-based companies with the most
LEED-certied buildings. We have LEED-rated projects in the U.S. and U.K., including
Herman Millers ,-square-oot Los Angeles showroom, the rst LEED-CI Platinum
project in Los Angeles.
Habitat Restoration and Protection
Several o our West Michigan building sites eature native lowers and g rasses, as well as retaining
ponds that support a diversity o plant and animal lie. We use Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
at all acilities to reduce pesticide use and minimize our impact on biodiversity and human health.
For acilities that require regular groundskeeping, we use a phosphorus-ree ertilizer to prevent
harmul runo into surrounding natural areas.
None o Herman Millers operations directly aects the International Union or Conservation
o Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List threatened species habitats.
The rePurposeSM Program: helping the community and the environment
Our rePurpose program provides new lie or no-longer-needed oce urniture and other
items in a socially responsible, economically viable way. We take used oce urniture rom
our customers and match it with non-prot groups. The customer realizes tax advantages;
the non-prots get the urniture they need; we prevent tons rom going into landlls. Were
continuously expanding the rePurpose program, and our customers are enthusiastic about it.
In rePurpose diverted tons o assets rom landll.
This equals*:
, gallons o gasoline NOT being consumed
, tree seedlings grown or years
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DfE Goals
. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Design or the Environment Initiative (DE)
Designing our products with consideration or their environmental impact is a central corporatestrategy. Were ocused on incorporating environmentally sustainable materials, eatures, and
manuacturing processes into our new product designs.
Working with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), our DE Team evaluates new
product designs in the key areas o material chemistry and saety o inputs, disassembly,
recyclability, and carbon. Today, all new Herman Miller products are designed using the DE
protocol and all pre-existing products are held to these standards as well. In scal , we saw
a shif in our product mix to those products that have not yet been approved against our DE
protocol. We also added the sales rom the recent acquisition o Nemscho. This is relected in
our scal result o % to our goal o % o all o our product sales coming rom DE-
approved products. Our goal or is %.
All Herman Miller engineers and purchasing agents go through DE training, including product
development teams in the U.K. as well as in China. We have also trained our design sta at
Brandrud and Nemscho.
Along with DE, ull lie cycle assessments (LCA) have been conducted or major product
categories/product lines representing percent o revenues. LCA is a tool that, rom raw material
extraction through end o lie management, identies the ull range o environmental impacts
assignable to products and services. LCAs help to quantiy how much energy and raw materials
are used, and how much solid, liquid and gaseous waste is generated, at each stage o the
products lie.
54% PROGRESSTOWARD2020 GOAL
58%2011/2012 GOAL
100%2020 GOAL
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. | Dimensions of our Better World program
Recycled Content
Since we try to incorporate recycled materials into all o our products, we careully monitor
each products weight and the percentage o recycled content used. We work to balance ahigh percentage o recycled content with our desire to provide the most environmentally sae
materials.
Energy-Efcient Products
As part o our environmental advocacy, we try to create products that reduce energy use or our
consumers. LED technology in the Flute TM personal light uses to percent less energ y than
traditional task lights. The Twist LED Task Light uses %-% less energ y than traditional under
cabinet luorescent task lights.
level Certication
level is the certication program or the BIFMA e-: Business and Institutional Furniture
Sustainability Standard (BIFMA e). It has been created to deliver the most open and transparent
means o evaluating and communicating the environmental and social impacts o urniture products in
the built environment. Currently, percent o our product lines are level certied.
GREENGUARD Certication
Herman Millers major lines o systems urniture, oce seating products, and ling and storage,
including Meridian products, have earned GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certication and
GREENGUARD Children and Schools Certication or low-emitting products.
Sustainable Wood
We acquired Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain o custody certication at our Zeeland, Michigan,
Main Site manuacturing acility in . In , we expanded the scope o our cer tication to includeour Spring Lake, Michigan, acilities making ling and storage products. We can oer FSC-certied
products in a variety o laminate and veneer work sur aces and tables, as well as certain ling and
storage products with wood tops/ronts. Geiger Internationals Fulton manuacturing acility in Atlanta,
Georgia was granted FSC Chain o Custody Certication in . Geiger can contribute to LEED
projects by oering FSC-certied products manuactured at the Atlanta acility.
ecoScorecard
In , Herman Miller became the rst large contract urniture manuacturer to incorporate
ecoScorecard into its product catalog. Herman Miller ecoScorecard is a ree, web-based technology
platorm providing environmental inormation and sustainability documentation about products or
all major green building rating systems. We continue to work to expand our product catalogue on
ecoScorecard in order to make pursuing LEED certication easier.
These eor ts contributed to our eighth consecutive listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.
The Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) group selected Her man Miller, Inc., or inclusion in The
Sustainability Yearbook and awarded Herman Miller both the SAM Sector Leader and SAM
Sector Mover distinctions. The Sustainability Yearbook provides an overview o the results o the th
SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). Only the top-scoring % o participating companies,
with a minimum score o at least % o the score o the SAM Sector Leader in each o the sectors
assessed, are eligible or inclusion in The Sustainability Yearbook. And this past year we were given the
Best Sustainability Perormance Award at the Just Means Social Innovations Awards.
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Log onto hermanmiller.com to learnmore about what we are doing ora better world around you.
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Illustrations done by:Ben Goss
For more inormation about our products and services or to see a list o dealers,
please visit us at hermanmiller.com or call (8) 851 1196.
1 Herman Miller, Inc. Zeeland, Michigan.
Aeron, Meridian,y,z are among the registered trademarks o Herman Miller, Inc.TM Flute is among the trademarks o Herman Miller, Inc.
SM rePurpose is among the service marks o Herman Miller, Inc.
GREENGUARD is a registered trademark o the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute.
TM level is a trademark o BIFMA International
SM ecoScorecard is a registered service mark o ecoScorecard, LLC.
Were the types that think that the only way to reach audacious results is to set audacious goals.
Were very proud to share our accomplishments with you, but we know were not perect and
can always do better. Were committed to doing our part and excited to share what weve learned
with you.
We hope our Better World Report will give you some idea o the scope o our eorts to make
the world a better place. We update this report annually. We make every eort to respond to all
GRI disclosures; we report additional GRI data on hermanmiller.com.
We welcome your eedback on this Report. Send your comments
to the [email protected].