Sustainability Check
A comprehensive, holistic overview of our brands’ sustainable practices at Denvir Enterprises. Learn about DE brands materials, manufacturing + production, carbon footprint, LEED credits, and more.
Why ✸
Before the launch of Denvir Enterprises, we, like many of you, were frustrated with the lack of transparency and thoughtful production practices in the interiors industry. Here’s why:
GREENWASHING: Today, you see words like “sustainable” or “eco-friendly” slapped on almost everything you buy–and naturally, you’re enticed, because choosing a “sustainable” product over one that’s not makes you feel like you’re saving the Earth, right? But if the product creates toxic waste byproducts, utilizes unjust labor practices, and takes millions of years to biodegrade–is it really sustainable? Sustainability is more than materials.
CERTIFICATES: Certificates like Greenguard, Cradle to Cradle, and Declare, exist to help legitimately uphold practices like better air quality, safer forest regulation, and equitable labor standards. Although we’re on board with these goals, these certs make it easy for interior design firms to look solely to brands with certs, excluding and overlooking many small brands from projects simply because they don’t have the stamp. The reality is that certifications are expensive–and when you’re a smaller brand, your funds would be more impactful if invested in other places such as hiring a team, product development, etc. Yet, it doesn’t necessarily favor big brands, either. When you have a huge product line and Greenguard is charging $3000 per product certification application, $1000 per category tested, and another $500 to have it tested every year after–it really begs the question, who is benefitting from these certs? When the goal is to preserve the environment, it shouldn’t boil down to a game of money.
That’s why we’ve created Sustainability Check, a platform aimed at providing a comprehensive, holistic overview of our brands’ sustainable practices. Our hope is that by being as transparent as possible about our brands’ production processes, it creates a new standard for the level of transparency consumers can have, in turn requiring greater accountability from multi-line agencies and brands to do the same.
At the end of the day, we want to shape the industry in the best interest of our consumers and of our planet.
What Do We Check?
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✓ Materials
Where they’re from, what they’re made of, and their properties!
✓ Manufacturing + Production
How’s it made? Where’s it made?
✓ Carbon Footprint
Some of our brands have tracked their carbon emissions. See in-depth data and graphs.
✓ Production Waste
What happens to the waste produced during manufacturing and production?
✓ Warranty, Repairability,
End of Life
Is there a warranty? Can the product be repaired? Is it recyclable? Biodegradable?
✓ Packaging
Is packaging recyclable? Biodegradable?
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Our Brands
Click on a brand to learn more about their sustainability initiatives.
LEED Standards ✸
While furniture can’t be LEED certified, many of our brands can contribute to LEED credits. We’ve selected 9 LEED credits that our brands’ products may contribute in your next project. Learn more about LEED (BD+C: New Construction) and our brands qualifications below.
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*Only check marks in ORANGE are verified LEED credits. To verify accreditation of all other LEED credits, you will need to hire a LEED-certified associate. This is our best conjecture based upon information we’ve been provided by our brands.
Materials and Resources
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To encourage the use of products and materials for which life-cycle information is available and that have environmentally, economically, and socially preferable life-cycle impacts. Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Environmental Product Declarations.
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Use responsibly sourced raw materials that meet one or more of the following criteria:
Extended producer responsibility: Products purchased from a manufacturer (producer) that participates in an extended producer responsibility program or is directly responsible for extended producer responsibility.
Bio-based materials: Bio-based products and materials other than wood must be tested to specific standards. Excludes hide.
Wood products: Wood products must be FSC or USGBC-approved equivalent.
Materials reuse: Reuse includes salvaged, refurbished, or reused products.
Recycled content: Products must meet recycled content criteria.
Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Sourcing of Raw Materials.
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To reward project teams for selecting products for which the chemical ingredients in the product are inventoried using an accepted methodology and for selecting products verified to minimize the use and generation of harmful substances. To reward raw material manufacturers who produce products verified to have improved life-cycle impacts.
Cradle to Cradle
Declare
Facts
Global Green TAG
Health Product Declaration
Manufacturer Inventory
Product Lens Certification
Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Material Ingredients.
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Develop and implement a construction and demolition waste management plan and achieve points through waste prevention and/or diversion. To reduce construction and demolition waste disposed of in landfills and incineration facilities through waste prevention and by reusing, recovering, and recycling materials, and conserving resources for future generations. To delay the need for new landfill facilities that are often located in frontline communities and create green jobs and materials markets for building construction services. Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Construction and Demolition Waste Management.
Indoor Environmental Quality
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To reduce concentrations of chemical contaminants that can damage air quality and the environment, and to protect the health, productivity, and comfort of installers and building occupants. Use materials on the building interior that meet the low VOC levels in the following categories:
Paints and coatings
Adhesives and sealants
Flooring
Wall panels
Ceilings
Insulation
Furniture
Composite Wood
Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Low-Emitting Materials.
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To establish better quality indoor air in the building after construction and during occupancy to protect human health, productivity, and wellbeing. All interior finishes, such as millwork, doors, paint, carpet, acoustic tiles, and movable furnishings (e.g., workstations, partitions), must be installed, and major VOC punch list items must be finished. Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Indoor Air Quality Assessment.
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To provide workspaces and classrooms that promote occupants’ well-being, productivity, and communications through effective acoustic design. For all occupied spaces, meet two of the following: HVAC background noise, Sound Transmission, and/or Reverberation time. Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Acoustic Performance.
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To promote occupants’ productivity, comfort, and well-being by providing quality thermal comfort. Meet the requirements for both thermal comfort design and thermal comfort control. Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Thermal Comfort.
Energy and Atmosphere
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To achieve increasing levels of energy performance beyond the prerequisite standard to reduce environmental and economic harms associated with excessive energy use and greenhouse gas emissions that disproportionately impact frontline communities. Learn more about the criteria for LEED credit Optimize Energy Performance.
Our DE Community: Brand Initiatives ⁘
The brands we work with are more than just our partners–we believe in the mission they have to uplift and support their local communities and environments, which are part of our larger community. They’re here to make an impact. Scroll to read more below.
BAUX: Climate Neutral Now Pledge
In 2021, BAUX joined the Climate Neutral Now Pledge to reduce their carbon footprint. This means they must follow a specific guideline and report on their actions and achievements annually. They also have a plan to offset their carbon emissions, with several projects all over the world including a Hydroelectric Project in Chile and a Solar Power Project India, just to name a few. Learn more about BAUX’s carbon offset initiatives here.
Ege: Rewilding Nature, Climate Compensation
Ege has several initiatives, With a goal to return the future landscape to be as natural as possible, Ege has begun a “rewilding project” in collaboration with the Danish Nature Fund in 2021 to transform one million square meters to permanent wild nature. Additionally, they have climate-compensated carpets, in which you can contribute to planting mangrove trees, which reduce up to five times more CO2 emissions than other trees in the rainforests, while also protecting coastal areas from extreme weather conditions. Learn more about Ege’s various initiatives here.
Nomadory: Community First Bhadohi, India
When founder Akta and Vrnda founded Nomadory, they knew it was a priority to give back to the community that has given them so much. That’s why they chose to have their production in India, where many suppliers are small, women-owned, family business. This has given jobs to the entire community in Bhadohi, India, where skilled artisans create our beautiful rugs by hand. Learn more about Nomadory’s mission to support local here.
rohi: Premium Selvages to Custom Rugs for 13RUGS
The production processes for rohi’s woollen fabrics generate a lot of surplus scraps, so in 2015, Tina Wendler and fashion and textile designer Lara Wernert launched carpet manufacturer 13RUGS under rohi’s carpet group. What was once discarded now creates beautiful intricately crafted custom rugs. Learn more about rohi’s 13RUGS here.