Raymour & Flanigan Furniture's Eco-Friendly Practices Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Furniture World Magazine

Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, 3rd fastest growing and 10th largest U.S. Furniture Retailer, is implementing voluntary recycling and energy conservation initiatives reducing the company's environmental impact for greenhouse gas emissions that impact climate change. Since 2007, they have recycled 32 million pounds of paper, Styrofoam(R), cardboard and plastic packaging materials diverted from landfills and executed energy management programs, significantly decreasing CO2 emissions and 8.5 millions kilowatt hours consumed. Raymour & Flanigan joined the EPA Green Power Partnership by purchasing green wind power for 5% of its electric power use. The retailer has also earned ENERGY STAR ratings for two new-construction showrooms in Phillipsburg, New Jersey and Garden City, New York that feature energy management systems with automated occupancy sensors, climate control systems and HVAC reclaim systems. The company's cumulative efforts since 2007 are the equivalent of removing 9,200 cars from the road, saving 5.7 million gallons of gas, replanting over 130,000 trees and preserving 11.4 thousand acres of forest. - Motion operated, energy efficient hand dryers in showroom restrooms replace over 99,000 pounds (50 tons) of paper towels - Reduced energy consumption by installing 26,000 compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) in showroom lamps -Installed carpeting made of post-consumer recycled content (from plastic soda and water bottles) for newly constructed showrooms and facilities - Low-e glass, increased insulation and TPO reflective roofs in several showrooms preserve energy through heat loss and gain - Showrooms and customer service centers transitioned overhead lighting from over 5,600 high wattage fixtures to fluorescent fixtures. - 2500 energy efficient flat-panel LCD monitors replaced conventional CRT computer monitors - The company virtualized their data center, reducing physical servers by 500% (from 30 to 6) and CO2 output by 22 tons. "Employing green practices supports our customers' concerns to be environmentally friendly," says CEO and President Neil Goldberg. Recycling is important because very little waste discarded in landfills -- including Styrofoam -- biodegrades. We don't want to add to this growing problem. Raymour & Flanigan is proud to serve our communities with all of our eco-friendly programs implemented to date," Goldberg states. Raymour & Flanigan has 87 furniture stores and 4,000 associates in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. For more information go to http://www.raymourflanigan.com