Sustainable Design

Interform is committed to reducing the environmental impact for both ourselves and our clients. We continually assess our operations, policies, products and services. The tools we use are:

• Lifecycle Assessment: A recent survey showed that 95% of shoppers would buy green if they had the right information about a product. We help companies make important decisions about which products we use in their buildings by balancing cost with environmental impact.

• Compliance: An important part of our job is keeping our clients informed on the status of environmental laws. The California Green Building Standards Code, or CALGreen, establishes minimum green building standards for the majority of commercial new construction projects across California. CALGreen addresses site, water, energy, materials and the indoor environment. To comply with site standards, we address things like providing for bicycle storage and preferred parking for carpools. We work with our clients to help them create safe environments for their employees, selecting low-emitting materials, installing air filters, and carbon dioxide monitoring devices.

  There is some overlap with LEED certification, which is more stringent, but CALGreen is important because it lays the groundwork for green building practices throughout the state by requiring all projects to meet minimum measures. The most important thing to keep in mind is that while LEED standards are optional, CALGreen is not. We think it’s an important step in raising the consciousness level and protecting our environment.

• Risk Assessment: Risk Assessment is an important part of every project. In the current economy, people are dealing with reduced budgets and are having to make difficult choices about how they spend their dollars. Choosing cheaper products may represent a false economy because they are not as durable as those of higher quality. More importantly, they can represent risks and liabilities. There is what we call the ripple and trip factor. Inexpensive carpet can ripple and buckle. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture someone rushing down the hall in high heels and tripping and falling on carpeting that is frayed, loose and rippled. We understand the current economics, and we help our clients strike a balance between durability and liability.

We take into consideration community and environmental impacts and work to provide long-term value for our clients--we want our work to be timeless and to endure.

We practice sustainability:

1. We are a certified Green Business in Contra Costa County.
2. We work with manufacturers, partners and service providers that offer products and services that are environmentally sensitive and meet the highest standards available.
3. We offer products and services that produce the least amount of waste possible.
4. We are sensitive to the resources required to transport our products and services. Consequently, we strive to offer local solutions that minimize resources and support the local economy.
5. We strive to close the loop by assisting our customers with appropriate solutions for their unwanted furniture and related items and facilitating the return of goods to the manufacturer for recycling.
6. We advise our customers on strategies to meet their building and corporate goals. Our LEED-Accredited Professionals assist on LEED projects. These standards include:

• Green Guard
• Forest Stewardship Certification (FSC)
• Environmentally Preferred Products (EPP)
• Climate Neutral
• Cradle to Cradle (C2C)
• California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard
• Care of Unwanted Items

We help our clients find the optimal solution for unwanted furniture, E-waste, carpet and other interior finishes. We can initiate the process for our clients and reduce the amount of time required to handle these unwanted items. We work with several partners to find the best options. In terms of the environment, the best solution is to reuse products; we work to find them another home wherever possible. If that is not feasible, we try to recycle them so they can be reproduced in another format. The least desirable option is landfills.

We understand the need to be sensitive to the environment and to protecting our resources. We also understand the liability and risk to which businesses are subjected by ever-changing regulations.

We assist our customers with:

• Government Regulations: We help our clients adhere to government regulations like ADA and CALGreen. We bring an environmental sensibility to all of our projects. As much as possible, we recommend products that are sustainable and we work with partners who share our ethic. Economics are an important part of every project, and we are always looking for ways to recycle, reuse and repair. Our goal is timeless design with quality products that will endure. The projects on this page are representative of our portfolio. Click on these projects for a description of the Interform solution.

• Disposal Options: With nearly every project, we deal with clients who have furniture, cabinets and carpeting that they need to dispose of, and finding another use for them can be a challenge. It costs money to take old, used items to a landfill, so we try to find other solutions. In some cases, we’re able to repair and refinish desks and reupholster chairs so they look like new. In other cases, we’ve been able to donate furniture and other materials to nonprofits and even other clients. When Interform designed our new facility, we made sure that all of the furniture from our old office found a home in our new facility. We want our Interform office to be a showcase for the right way to design an office, so it was imperative that we make use of existing resources. Throwing something into a landfill is never the best solution.

• Building Requirements/Codes: We work with our clients to design and build more efficiently by making improvements to building systems and infrastructure. The benefit is cost savings and reduction of emissions. We focus on things like ongoing management of energy and water consumption, upgrading inefficient building systems and improving workspace utilization.

• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): CSR is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business mode. Interform worked on a project with Safeway’s Corporate Offices at Canyon Way, and they made their corporate offices a model of CSR. The client’s green building strategies included material reuse and modular cabinets and wall systems. Typical components of CSR are use of glass around the periphery of buildings to cut down on electrical consumption. Low-emitting materials are a priority as is working with vendors and contractors who also place a priority on sustainability. We strive to be a resource for our clients and partners by being alert to new information that may affect their businesses and livelihoods. We share this information and recommend solutions for our clients and partners. In this dynamic environment, knowledge is essential.