Carbon footprint of Pli’s 2009 furniture range

Carbon Footprint. It’s all a bit of a mess really. The overall concept of what a carbon footprint is–and how to calculate it–is very undefined. The fact of the matter is that everyone seems to measure carbon footprints in different ways, and with different calculators: they take into consideration different points from where to begin and where to stop. There is no uniform method yet. So, in realising this, until everyone is using the same method, I have little faith in stern figures and final results in print for every product and company to compare with each other. Although I do have a lot of faith that carbon footprinting within a company like Pli is invaluable in setting a starting point and making it clear where to make improvements.

So what is a ‘carbon footprint’ anyway? Well, it is a measure of just one environmental impact, the amount of climate-changing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This means it is not a measure of any other ecological impacts, not that the others aren’t important, far from it: a good designer should take into consideration many impacts of their work to the surroundings. The reason that carbon is the first port of call is: it is a massive concern within society at the moment; the thought of global climate change and the effects of this are devastating. Yet a measure of total environmental impact, taking into consideration all contributions, would involve a very complex process. Let’s deal with one problem at a time shall we?

Sarah Semple hard at work

For the past month I have gathered all the information I can about Pli’s pieces of furniture, hoping to come up with conclusions about their carbon impact, and also about the company as a whole.

It takes limits to calculate carbon footprints; it is vital to have boundaries. I followed one limit of ‘cradle to gate’, which means to start at the very source, yet stop at the point the product is ready to sell. That means, for example, I went right back to the source of were the iron ore is extracted from the ground, yet stopped when steel sheets were assembled as part of a table and ready to be delivered.

I came across many good surprises in the results, and little not so good ones, all to be improved upon, here are just a few:

• In analysing the first and second versions of Pli’s Reee chair, the carbon footprint has reduced by 14% for the second version, which is great news.
• I found that the amount of cardboard packaging used (which is of course 100% recycled) may contribute over 2 tonnes of CO2 per year, if Pli make the sales of products they expect! Therefore the company are now considering changes in this area.
• Regarding the Whitechapel collection, these pieces have the lowest carbon footprint of all Pli’s furniture. Before I calculated this, we were concerned about the shipping of bamboo, but in fact shipping is extremely efficient and has little effect in comparison to transportation of materials by van or truck! If the bamboo was replaced with oak, which is transported through the UK by land, this is found to make only a 9% difference to the footprint. The small improvement in footprint may be counteracted environmentally by the timber choice itself, as it does not take into consideration the fact that bamboo is so fast growing; yet this is altogether another issue in terms of sustainable design.

The fact of the matter is that Pli are creating furniture that is honest, extremely considered and, what’s more, they are ready to get ahead of the game and consider options that may not of been so clear before. Pli are definitely well on their way with the ambition to lower their already astonishingly low carbon footprints! All to reduce the impact of one massively pressing environmental problem.

(Sarah Semple is studying design at the University of Northumbria. Sarah spent four weeks with Pli as an intern during May and June 2009. Sarah’s intern project was to implement the FIRA Footprinter application. Sarah’s comments and conclusions are entirely her own, but we at Pli have learned an enormous amount from Sarah’s project and we are actively implementing her recommendations. Christopher Pett)