Telos Furniture LLC

Telos Furniture has been at the forefront of the Green Furniture movement through the residential distribution of our partnership. Although, it has only become popular of late, we have been producing furniture to "Green Standards" for close to five years.  We have  looked at other industries in order to gauge what the standards might look like when they are finally implemented for Hospitality and have moved to create the ability to produce goods utilizing those standards.

Today, there are three basic areas we have chose to focus on: Materials, Finishing and Packaging.

1. Materials. The primary wood species for our green manufacturing is Rubber wood. This wood has been certified as a renewable resource by several monitoring agencies throughout the world. Rubber wood is a plantation grown timber whose main purpose is the production of latex. This tree is fast growing and can only produce latex over a very short life span, so when it has completed this cycle it is cut and harvested into cut timber. Because wooden manufacturing is the secondary purpose, Rubber wood is viewed as a recycled wood. In addition, we have purchased FSC (forest stewardship counsel) certified timber from the United States when Rubber wood was not a suitable option. As with any certified wood, or wood product there is a "chain of custody" from the supplier to the manufacturer and finally to the buyer and we are very familiar with this technical exchange. For our none solid materials, such as mdf (medium density fiber board), particle-boards and veneers we have relationships with certified suppliers of varying agencies who can provide boards anywhere from E2 to E0. Currently we have worked with E2, E1 and E0 standards and are very comfortable purchasing these materials from certified suppliers throughout Asia. European regulations come into play for the glues and bonding agents that we use in our factory. The formaldehyde "off gas" issue is one that continues to gain momentum and based on new regulations from the state of California, we feel strongly that this will become a major target area for "Green compliancy" and we are already ahead of that curve producing CARB compliant furniture.

2. Finishing. The basic green finish is a water based system. This varies dramatically from the Polyurethane systems that are industry standard for contract/hospitality furniture. The water based system emits very little volatile organic compounds (voc's), and volatile organic emissions (voe's), which makes for a healthier living environment. An additional benefit of the water based finishing system is the safety of the workers in the factory. This system is not flammable or dangerous to breath. The residual material from the finishing process can be disposed of into normal sewage systems with no potential damage to the environment or water table. We have done testing and have found the water based system to be more expensive then, but, competes well with the hardness of polyurethane finishes.

3. Packaging. The packaging side of green is one of the most difficult to work with. As with all of the other categories, there is currently no standard in existence for what constitutes green packaging. Robust packaging is important as we are shipping furniture in containers and the merchandise is handled multiple times. We have concentrated our efforts on the obvious eliminating use of poly-based foam, pre-sheets and corner blocks. We have worked to develop suitable replacements using more “bio-degradable” materials made from vegetable oils. Additionally, we are using more recycled brown paper and corrugated cardboard as filler on the inside of our boxes.

This is only a quick overview of some of what we are doing. Telos is dedicated to the preservation of our environment in Asia as well as the final destination.

Telos is ready to build your rooms with the exciting recycled materials available today or plantation based wood solids and E0 boards. We have available a water based finishing system and packaging that is as environmentally friendly as possible. We have experience in working with the various standards agencies and can be helpful through that process. While there is still a premium for many green materials, most are well within reach and we are happy to quote to achieve as Green a project as any customer would want.. As there are various levels of green it is better to go project by project.