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Green Buildings at Herman Miller
A Brief History
Herman Miller's commitment to building facilities that celebrate
the surrounding environment can be traced back to our company
founder, D.J. DePree. Among his many visionary environmental
(and humanistic) directives, he stated that all employees
should be able to look out from a window from no more than
75 feet. Today, more than 50 years later, this is known as
harvesting natural daylight to cut energy bills and eliminate
the pollution caused by the production of the electricity.
Mr. DePree also declared that any new properties the company
developed would dedicate 50 percent or more to green space
to promote a healthy environment. Both of these mandates are
still followed by the company today.
 
Herman Miller and the U.S. Green Building Council
In 1993, Herman Miller helped fund the start-up of the United
States Green Building Council (USGBC). This non-profit organization
is dedicated to understanding and promoting sound environmental
building practices. We supported this new organization because
during a time of incredible growth and construction, we knew
we wanted to continue the legacy of our founder with current
and future building projects. We determined that this new
organization would enable Herman Miller's Facilities Group
to learn from experts in the field.
At the same time the USGBC was launching, Herman Miller hired
renowned environmental architect William McDonough to design
our next manufacturing facility, to be located next to an
existing HMI warehouse on more than 45 acres of rolling prairie.
In 1995, the USGBC selected the building, which we named the
"Greenhouse," as a pilot for the development of
its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
process.
The USGBC cited the Greenhouse as a model of what was possible,
and awarded it "Pioneer" status. The building today
stands as proof that using green design not only can be aesthetically
pleasing but also environmentally sound and financially beneficial
to a company. Further confirmation came from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, which funded a study that validated the
Greenhouse's financial and environmental performance. In addition,
the Greenhouse has received numerous awards for its attractive
appearance.
Today, Herman Miller is committed to building or renovating
its facilities to achieve at least a "Silver" LEED
rating. This commitment has extended even to lease properties;
the MarketPlace, a new building we are leasing in Zeeland,
Michigan, was designed with our input and incorporates many
of our "green" principles. The MarketPlace earned
Gold LEED certification, as did Building C1, located at our
Mainsite headquarters in Zeeland, Michigan, in the category
of renovation of interiors.
As an environmentally progressive company for more than half
a century now, Herman Miller is pledged to continue exploring
new and innovative approaches to creating green buildings.
ISO 14001
All of Herman Miller's West Michigan manufacturing sites
(Greenhouse, 171st Street, Main Site, VanWagoner, and Hickory)
are ISO 14001 certified.
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