My retail project is having cafe tables made by the owners millwork company that would have metal legs and a wood top. If the wood met the requirements of the composite wood VOC (CARB ACTM - ULEF or NAF) as well as the coatings and sealants met the VOC thresholds required, would it still have to be tested for the BIFMA furniture test method? Would these tables be classified as 'case goods' or Furniture?
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Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Expert
844 thumbs up
February 16, 2018 - 3:32 pm
Sorry for the slow response here. I was kind of stumped so I check with others, and came away still unresolved. It seems an unreasonable expectation for custom furniture to get emissions testing and pursue BIFMA.
If the materials comply with other requirements as described, it should be acceptable.
Having said that, the reference guide says that “All furniture” must comply. GBCI has been more rigid with interpretations as of late and so it's hard to say how they would rule on this. It seems that you may need to check in with GBCI to get a ruling. If you do, let us know what they say!
Cindy Davis
Manager, Sustainable DevelopmentUnico Properties LLC
February 16, 2018 - 5:52 pm
Thanks Nadav,
Unfortunately the definition USGBC uses for 'furniture' remains to be focused on an 'office' environment. It does not consider the unique differences for a retail or grocery scenario where the 'casework' (they use the term 'case goods') is custom made, not bought. Our team is taking the component approach where all wood meets CARB ACTM - NAF; and all wet-applied products meet both the low-voc thresholds per the SCAQMD Rules AND the General Emissions Testing (CDPH v1.1-2010) for all wet-applied products. Some of the tables will be powder-coated steel. All casework is being fabricated off-site. Not at the store premises. It would be helpful to have a real definition of 'casework' compared to 'furnture'. It is unlikely any retail client could afford the cost of the BIFMA emission testing for every piece of casework at $1200 or more and the time involved to coordinate such testing.