A furniture manufacturer has captured the first worldwide environmental building recognition of its kind, and the company did it in one of the fastest-growing markets on the globe.

Holland-based Haworth, a global maker and seller of office furniture, has earned the planet’s first LEED-certified designation under the U.S. Green Building Council’s new version 4 beta program, the latest standard that USGBC unveiled in July.

The company gained the exclusive LEED Gold rating for its showroom in the Parkview Green building in Beijing.

“Achieving the first-ever LEED version 4 certification speaks volumes about Haworth’s commitment to sustainability,” said Steve Kooy, Haworth’s global sustainability manager.


Haworth earned 71 of a possible 110 points from USGBC to capture the honor. To reach that score, the company had to ensure that all the building’s systems, like its water distribution and air quality, were highly efficient and energy cost effective.

For instance, Haworth’s Parkview Green showroom leverages a greywater recycling system and efficient fixtures to reduce usage up to 53 percent, when usage is compared to a standard baseline calculation.

The building has been structured to cut electricity consumption by as much as 59 percent for its HVAC and lighting systems.

The structure’s showroom also features variable air-volume diffusers beneath the floor. When the diffusers are combined with the cold-radiation ceilings, overall energy usage is reduced. The company said the air quality inside the Parkview Building showroom exceeds the Beijing standard by 35 percent.

“Throughout the construction process we reused 60 percent of non-structural interior elements,” said Iolanda Meehan, director of strategic service for Haworth’s Asia Pacific sector.

“Additionally, 93 percent of the furniture in the space is either GREENGUARD certified or has been transferred from an existing showroom,” Meehan added.