How do you manage student wellness in your residence halls? There are a lot of dimensions to wellness. Students these days are under a lot of pressure to perform and compete even before they reach college. Whereas straight A’s and top test scores once guaranteed a spot at the best schools, that’s no longer the case. And once students do start college, they’re expected to rise to higher academic standards …
NYC Sues Oil Industry for Climate Change Damage and Divests Pension Funds
Something amazing happened for the climate last week. The headlines read “NYC Sues Oil Industry!” We’re a climate-friendly company with strong sustainability commitments aimed at reducing our carbon output, so we sat up and took note. The Earth is Heating Up Maybe it even made our heart flutter for a moment. So we’ll jump into that good news in just a moment. But first, let’s just set the scene for …
Case Study: Duke University
Summary: Meeting a detailed design specification, providing local manufacturing, service, and warehousing, and demonstrating a commitment to sustainability leadership were all important factors that went into selecting a company to furnish Duke University dorms. Project Name: Trinity House Location: Durham, North Carolina Size: 270 sets Building Type: Duke University Dorms, Multi-use Residence Hall Team: Duke & DCI Product List: Full Size Bed, Study Desk, Wardrobe, 520 Two-drawer Underbed Storage Units Duke University Duke was founded in 1838 and is consistently …
How Our UV Finish Improves Your Indoor Air Quality
Have you ever wondered about that funny smell coming from your new wood floor or your new wood furniture? Or maybe, like me, you felt a little light-headed after being in a building where you encountered that same smell. It turns out that subtle suspicion you were harboring in the back of your mind—It can’t be good for me to be breathing this in!—was accurate. Volatile Organic Compounds Are Dangerous You …
Why We Power Our Operation with Renewable Biomass Fuel
Sustainability is one of our key priorities here at DCI. Part of our mission as a company is to make sure that our operation has net neutral impact on the biosphere. One key way that we reduce our ecological footprint is by using biomass fuel to power our manufacturing facility. This is what allows us to have a Zero Waste manufacturing plant. But first, what is biomass and why is it sustainable? What …
Looking for Climate Leadership? Look No Further.
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 …
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. …
Want to Empower Your Students? Include Them In Your Purchasing Process
Students are a passionate lot. They’re idealistic too. So it can be a valuable and edifying exercise to include them in your decision-making process as you choose your residence hall furniture. That’s exciting to me. Why? Because at DCI, we’re also passionate and idealistic. We believe it’s possible to craft world-class furniture that’s completely sustainable at the same time. And these days, more schools are using their purchasing power to set an …
Video: Making Sustainable Hardwood Furniture in the White Mountains
We’re lucky. Want to know why? Because we get to make sustainable hardwood furniture in one of the most beautiful regions on earth: the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Green Mountains of Vermont. The DCI factory is located in Lisbon New Hampshire, and our sawmill is less than an hour down the road in South Royalton, Vermont. This is the place where I grew up. I was raised in the house …
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 …