The designers at Steelcase, a global leader in workplace innovation, understand office chairs.

They understand the ways in which they can enhance the various spaces in which work happens. And they understand their capacity to improve the performance (and wellbeing) of those who use them.

Beyond this, they are also aware of another key consideration. They acknowledge that in 2024, beyond function, ergonomics, materiality and so on, sustainability is a critical consideration.

CarbonNeutral® certified seating portfolio

With this in mind, Steelcase introduces the CarbonNeutral® certified seating portfolio. Now available across Australia, these chairs are designed with not just workplace performance and ergonomics but also environmental wellbeing in mind.

The portfolio includes a choice of six products, namely Steelcase Series™ 2, Leap™, Think®, Personality™ Plus, Gesture™ and Steelcase Series™ 1.

Contemporary pieces, which showcase their dedication to helping people do their best work, these chairs are all certified according to the CarbonNeutral protocol.

The CarbonNeutral Protocol is an initiative of Climate Impact Partners, a leader in the development and delivery high-quality, high-impact carbon market solutions intended to minimise the threat of climate change.

Involving a five-step program, the Protocol provides businesses with a rigorous and transparent framework that aims to achieve carbon neutrality for themselves, their products, and/or their activities.

In practice, achieving certification involves the organisation in question first addressing issues within its product lifecycles to minimise embodied carbon, then working with Climate Impact Partners to identify high impact, verified, environmentally sustainable carbon offset projects.

In the case of Steelcase, these projects have included rail system electrification in India, grassland restoration in China, global renewable energy development, and more.

The products

The first Steelcase product to be certified as CarbonNeutral was ‘Steelcase Series 1’. A high-performance chair, its certification (in 2022) represented a milestone, not just for the manufacturer but for office furniture in general.

Since then, several more products – including ‘Gesture’, a product that features 360-degree arms, and patented LiveBack^®  technology; and ‘Leap’, an intuitive ergonomic office chair that allows users to dial in a precise fit – have also achieved certification.

The portfolio also includes ‘Think chair’, with an advanced weight-activated synchro tilt mechanism, lux quilted upholstery back options and the capacity to lend a soft, approachable expression to a workspace; and ‘Series 2’, a product that features geometric, lumbar-focused back design (in standard or quilted upholstery).

The whole portfolio can be specified in a choice of colours, fabrics and finish include stealthy greys and blacks, lux metallic hues to contemporary textures and earthy tones. They have the capacity to essentially adapt to the movements of those who use them as well as the space around them.

A track record of environmental action

Regardless of product choice, architects who specify from Steelcase’s CarbonNeutral® certified Seating portfolio can do so in the knowledge that they are playing their part in addressing is the key issue or our time, climate change.

And they can do so in the knowledge that they are dealing with an organisation with a demonstrated track record of product stewardship and environmental action.

For Steelcase, beyond CarbonNeutral, this has included a commitment to reduce carbon emissions, throughout its entire value chain, by over 90% by 2050; being awarded a Gold rating from EcoVadis for four consecutive years; and more.

Discover the range of office chairs from Steelcase here.