"In addition, the government is researching, advising and recommending initiatives and practices for building and design which facilitate a lesser impact on the environment in general," she says. "Examples include the Ministry for the Environment's Sustainable Office Fitout Guide and Govt3 Procurement Conferences. Under the Environmental Choice New Zealand certification scheme products that earn the Enviro-Choice tick are recommended based on their compliance with its green certification requirements."
Many of the products within The Laminex Group Greenfirst range have already earned the Enviro-Choice tick and more products are being added.
Important aspects covered by the scheme include recyclable attributes, sustainable manufacturing practices, minimising energy consumption in production, manufacturing and end use, and also minimising emissions both in manufacturing processes and when in use in the office environment.
"On this project, sustainable products specified included zero-emission wood fibre boards, sustainable certified timber, Linoleum flooring, recyclable acoustic wall lining panels, recyclable modular carpet tiles and non-PVC screen fabrics in workstations," she says. "The Greenfirst products, supplied by The Laminex Group, were specified for their improved environmental impact over standard or commonly used alternatives."
The pro-active approach taken by the Government is reinforced from the other end of the production process as well. Alan Buckner is CEO of Formway, the company creating DOC head office's workstations.