Team 7: Solidly Green

Exquisite, contemporary solid-wood furniture created with environmentally friendly production processes that completely abandon the use of chemicals, hazardous materials, and wasteful, conventional manufacturing techniques.

Who’s making this wonderful product? It’s Team 7, and they have reason to celebrate: it’s their 50th birthday.

Team 7 was founded in 1959 as a small wood workshop in Ried, Austria, but as early as 1980, this manufacturer of residential and contract solid wood furniture went green. Their vision was to produce a line of extraordinary, award-winning furniture using only natural materials and processes that respected the environment and protected the health and well-being of their employees and customers.

The impressive details:
- All materials are renewable, recycled, or recyclable, non-toxic, low-VOC, free of PVC and urea formaldehyde.
- All hardwood comes from sustainably managed, re-forested European forests in compliance with the International Protection of Species Act.
- Neither endangered woods nor tropical woods from rainforests are used.

The furniture design and manufacturing process strives to minimize the use of water, energy, and materials, and includes a waste-management plan. For example, over 80 percent of the electricity used by Team 7 come from renewable energy sources. The wood waste from the manufacturing process is used for heating the plant in winter.

Team 7 is third-party certified as an environmentally responsible manufacturer with the Austrian Ecological Quality Certification and with the German Eco Certification from the Environmental Institute, Cologne. The criteria for these eco certificates include the entire life cycle of the furniture and its impact on the environment from the raw materials to the manufacturing process, as well as the recycling of the furniture at the end of its life.

There is detailed information on the sustainability section of the Web site including a useful amount of instructive information on the materials used in Team 7’s products.

Good job Team 7—and Happy Birthday!