Green Design Furniture: A Big Idea Starts Small
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Douglas Green
267 Commercial Street
Portland, Maine 04101
800.853.4234
greendesigns.com
A Big Idea Starts Small
Portland, Maine – While Green Design Furniture is more widely known for creating exquisite, handcrafted furniture, for the last fifteen years it has quietly been at the forefront of pioneering innovative processes for manufacturing environmentally-friendly furniture. Since 1993, Douglas Green, the company’s founder, with his small artisan workshop in Portland, Maine, has created a niche where no mid- to high-end furniture manufacturer has dared to tread.
The company became radically “green” when Doug Green, invented and patented an exclusive manufacturing process that sets a new standard for sustainable furniture design. This furniture assembles
with precision-engineered sliding dovetails, similar to a Japanese puzzle box. Each component slides and locks into place, forming structures that refuses to weaken over time--no screws, bolts, glue, or
tools are needed. This assembly process enables the firm to produce high-quality, fastener-free furniture that is made, packed, and shipped efficiently in flat components, generating substantial savings in the energy and materials normally consumed in conventional furniture construction. Naturally, Green Design Furniture includes a choice of sustainably harvested regional hardwoods, with environmentally-
friendly, non-toxic cushions, fabrics and finishes. Clients of Green Design Furniture reside in 48 states and a number of foreign countries. This following can be attributed to the appeal of Doug Green’s original and innovative designs, rendered in solid wood with masterful artisan craftsmanship. Added benefits include the high performance ergonomic comfort and life-long durability found in each piece.
Doug Green recalls, “Seventeen years ago, I was trying to imagine the ideal experience a person could have in purchasing, installing, and living with a piece of furniture. I came up with a simpler and far more efficient way to make furniture that predated the current trend to re-evaluate how we can produce better products that consume less energy and generate less waste. After years of challenging the fundamental assumptions of how furniture is manufactured, we are encouraged that something we anticpated and believed in for so long may finally be embraced by the mainstream.”
While most furniture manufacturers already own the high-performance computer-assisted machinery required to meet these exacting tolerances, so far none have sought to license the technology from Green, who says, “From the very beginning, I knew in my bones that this was a very big idea, but also a huge paradigm shift. I have spent the last seventeen years demonstrating, albeit on a small scale, that it is a viable business model for larger manufacturers.” Green thinks, “Perhaps the time is finally ripe for them to see the opportunity to adopt a new approach to designing and producing furniture that would be good for the environment and their bottom lines.”
Even though the idea may be big, Green has resisted the temptation to expand his own company. “It took me years to figure out how to make us sustainable with seven employees, an online catalog and one retail showroom in Portland, Maine.” He remains passionate about preserving his time in the woodworking shop, improving his designs and creating new ones. “For me, success is to maintain an uncompromising level of quality in each piece and to provide the personal attention that each client deserves. We go to great lengths to fulfill the individual needs of our clients. I enjoy working closely with them on custom orders and requests.”
Recently, Green Design Furniture was commissioned by the town of Portola Valley, California to craft seating, tables and several site specific designs for their new public library, which is targeted for LEED® Platinum status. The library was designed in a collaborative effort between Siegel & Strain Architects and Goring & Straja Architects, both of Emeryville, California. James Goring, a principal architect for the library, said, “It has been terrific to work with Green Design Furniture. It is a rarity that you find a supplier who shares your enthusiasm for a project, and who makes (and keeps!) personal commitments to the work. Doug Green’s furnishings became a focal point for the interior design right off the bat, and Doug’s energy, creativity and shared enthusiasm really gave us all a boost.”
Douglas Green, designer and founder of Green Design Furniture, will be in residence at West Coast Green in Silicon Valley, California, September 25-27 at Booth 237.
Inventor and Industrial Designer Douglas Green established Green Design Furniture in 1993 to explore pioneering approaches to modern furniture design and production. His long-term vision is founded on
his concept of the ‘honorable design’, one that possesses an intelligent premise, superior craftsmanship and leaves a minimal footprint. Green’s furniture is handcrafted of sustainably harvested, solid wood
by master woodworkers in his Portland, Maine workshop. As confirmation that each piece meets his exacting standards, woodworkers sign their pieces, and the first 100 of each new design edition are inspected, signed and numbered by Doug himself. Green Design Furniture continues to faithfully produce and market the unique products Doug first envisioned; authentic contemporary furniture pieces that are as much fine art as collectible heirlooms.
