A Climate Sensitive Residence Hall Summary: New College House UPenn is a climate sensitive residence hall project and DCI’s singular commitment to creating the highest quality green furniture yielded an innovative design partnership. Project Name: New College House Upenn Location: Philadelphia, PA Size: 354 sets Building Type: Multi-use Residence Hall Project Team: Penn, BCJ, DCI Product List: Adjustable height bed, Stackable 2-drawer under-bed storage, Two-door wardrobe, Desk with data port, Built-in horizontal and vertical shelving, and Dining …
Is Your Furniture Toxic? Everything You Need To Know About Flame Retardant Chemicals
[Updated January 7, 2021] Maybe you’ve heard? In residence halls across the country, there’s a debate over the furniture fire safety standards which are designed to protect human health. In a strange and unsettling twist, for the last several decades furniture manufacturers have used highly toxic flame retardant chemicals to meet the same fire standards that are meant to protect us. According to a 2012 study examining the effects of these flame retardant …
Harvard Study: Green Buildings (And Furniture) Improve Student Cognition
New studies show that indoor air quality and student performance are closely linked. College students spend a lot of time indoors. Much of that time is in their residence hall studying, sleeping, and recreating. So providing students with the highest standard of indoor air quality is essential. Indoor Air Quality and Student Performance This issue has taken on greater urgency in light of a 2015 study from Harvard’s School for Public Health which measured the impact of …
How To Earn LEED Credits With DCI Furniture
Do you want to ensure that your residence hall meets the highest environmental and human health standards?Perhaps you are working to earn LEED credits for your green building? Students spend a majority of their college years in their dorms studying, learning, and investing in their future. So it’s important that we invest in building and furnishing residence halls that support student health and well being. One of the best ways …
Global Warming, Climate Accords, And Sustainable Furniture
Late last year we got excited about an historic event that affected the whole planet. Can you guess what it was? It’s near and dear to our hearts here at DCI. I’ll give you a hint. We’re passionate about sustainability. As a company we’re always looking for ways to improve as a provider of green furniture. That’s a small way that we can have a big impact and spread the values …
7 Sustainability Questions You Need To Ask Before You Buy Your Residence Hall Furniture
Do you buy ethical furniture for your residence hall? It’s an important question, because building residence hall furniture consumes a lot of resources and it leaves a big footprint. What kind of footprint? Creating Ethical Furniture Your furniture is built from lots of different materials. Those materials need to be sourced and then shipped to a manufacturing plant. Then the furniture is constructed and eventually shipped to you. At every …
How To Build Sustainable Residence Hall Furniture
Why is DCI one of the few residence-hall furniture manufacturers whose solid hardwood products are FSC C-o-C Certified? It’s the same reason why we consistently win contracts with the most ecologically-minded universities like UC Berkeley, UCLA, Dartmouth, and UPenn. We have the greenest manufacturing process in the residence hall furniture industry. And there’s more to that assertion than a mere boast. Environmental sustainability is the vital blood that runs through the heart of our …
How To Repurpose Furniture From Your Residence Hall
What should you do with your old furniture? That’s a question you can’t avoid when you’re planning for a new furniture installation in your residence hall. But, for a lot of reasons, it’s hard to find an answer. First, you’ve just gone through an entire process to select a furniture manufacturer. Then you have to make countless decisions to arrive at the best design, establish your budget, get buy-in, and evaluate …
Here’s How Wood Laminate Poisons People And The Biosphere
Is it true, as some assert, that wood laminate (also called plastic laminate) poisons people? Which is to say, is it toxic? Because some reputable schools—UCLA & UC Irvine among them—no longer accept laminated furniture on their campus based on environmental, human health, and quality issues. When you’re looking for residence hall furniture, you’ve got a few things in mind. First, what’s the most affordable option? And then, what human …
Case Study: University Of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire: A Paradigm of Sustainability Summary: Through a unique buy-back and upcycling program, DCI and the University of New Hampshire forged a creative sustainability partnership. We re-manufactured wood components for use in UNH’s new furniture from solid wood furniture that we installed there 25 year ago. Name: University of New Hampshire Location: Durham, NH Size: Ongoing (Hundreds of Bedroom Sets) Building Type: University Residence Halls Project Team: UNH & DCI Backstory The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public research university …