In the last year, we’ve seen a lot of extreme weather events. Hurricanes, heat waves, hellish Western wildfires, withering droughts and more. If you’re like me, you might be tempted to attribute these weather events to climate change. But are the number and severity of extreme weather events truly increasing? And is climate change responsible? According to a recent article from Scientific American, the answer is yes. Droughts, wildfires, heat waves, intense …
How To Get The Best Quality Furniture For Your Residence Halls
How do you define value when it comes to residence hall furniture? Is it quality? Is it price? Because, in the end, we all want to get the best quality furniture possible. The truth is, not everyone agrees on how to assess value. For some, it’s the latest design. Others emphasize durability, craftsmanship, flexibility, sustainability, or customer service when they’re selecting a partner vendor. Obviously, you have to define your value …
7 Benefits of Vertical Integration When Buying Sustainable Furniture
I am a big fan of vertical integration. It saves time, money, and it’s great for the environment. But first, you might be wondering, what is vertical integration? You see, DCI is a vertically integrated company. That means that we own every single step in our supply chain. From forest to floor, we manage, own, and control every step in the sourcing, production, and delivery of our sustainable hardwood furniture. …
Case Study: Penn State University
Summary: Penn State residence halls use rigorous standards to help them assess the best value when they select their residence furniture. Students play a key role in helping determine the final selection through Penn’s innovative Best Value Process (BVP). Project Name: Penn State Residence Halls Best Value Process Location: State College, Pennsylvania Size: 780 Sets Building Type: Residence Halls Project Team: Penn State, DCI Product List: Adjustable Height Beds; Two and One-Drawer Stackable Under-Bed Storage Units; Study Desks; Two-Door …
The Benefits of Buying Locally Crafted Residence Hall Furniture
Buying local can be hard. In a globalized economy, much of what we buy is made with imported raw materials. And still more of it is manufactured abroad by American companies. Even though quality often suffers, the price is usually lower. And that globalizing trend isn’t going to stop anytime soon. But from a sustainability perspective, and in terms of thriving local economies, the benefits of local sourcing support American businesses more …
Case Study: UC Santa Barbara
Summary: Creative collaboration and a passion for sustainable furniture solutions were the hallmarks of our partnership with UCSB San Joaquin Apartments. Together, we crafted a solution that featured modern design, solid hardwood, and local manufacturing. Name: UCSB San Joaquin Apartments Location: Santa Barbara, CA Size: 57 Apartments, 322 Bedroom Spaces Building Type: Multi-use Residence Hall Project Team: UCSB, DCI Product List: Bed, 3-drawer chest, Desk, Pedestal, Wardrobe, Dining Table, Coffee Table, TV Stand UC Santa Barbara UC Santa …
Furniture Leasing Companies: Should You Buy or Lease?
A lot of colleges and universities buy their residence hall furniture outright. But that’s not necessarily the right choice for everyone. For some schools, working with furniture leasing companies to lease their furniture is the better route. Of course there are pros and cons for both buying and leasing, but let’s take a little time to explore the benefits of leasing your residence hall furniture. Based on this information, you can …
What Is Mission Style Furniture & Why Is It Great For Residence Halls?
What is mission style furniture? Simple, durable, and functional, mission style furniture emerged in the late 19th century and enjoyed a surge in popularity from about 1900-1915. It came back into vogue in the 1980’s and remains popular today thanks to its sturdy elegance. Mission style furniture was pioneered by the architect, publisher, and furniture maker Gustav Stickley. His inspiration came from the furniture he observed in turn of the century California Franciscan …
How To Harvest Wood While Nurturing Forest Health
Is cutting down trees bad for the environment? And can the silvicultural selective cutting method help? As a manufacturer of solid hardwood furniture for residence halls, we get this question a lot. And it’s an important one because there’s some legitimate confusion around it. First, whenever we think about cutting trees for any sort of manufacturing process, we immediately think of the worst case scenarios. We imagine the slash and burn …
Case Study: Whittier College
Summary: DCI and Whittier worked together to generate and design a completely new bedroom set and created a 5-year plan to refurbish their entire campus and fully upgrade their design standard. In the process, we recycled of huge amount of furniture from the Whittier College dorms. Project Name: Whittier College Dorms Location: Whittier, CA Size: 450 Sets Building Type: Multi-use Residence Hall Project Team: Whittier College, DCI Product List: Custom Bed with 6-drawer Underbed Storage, Desk, Mobile Pedestal …