Dartmouth College manages approximately 27,000 acres of forestland in the Second College Grant in northern New Hampshire. Kevin Evans is the director of woodland operations for the Woodlands Office. In this video, he talks about making hard maple furniture from some of the timber harvested from Second College Grant in partnership with DCI Sustainable Furniture. He also discusses managing the land with carbon sequestration and sustainability in mind.
Dartmouth College’s “Forest to Dorm” Project
This article was originally published by The Northeastern Loggers’ Association in the December 2023 issue of Northern Logger Magazine. Reposted with permission. Story and Photos By Ross Caron. At the start of this fall semester, students who moved into Dartmouth College’s Andres Hall were greeted with beautiful brand-new wooden furniture made from trees harvested on Dartmouth’s own land. Each student in the dorm was issued a bed, desk, dresser, and …
Case Study – University of Pennsylvania Stouffer Hall
Overview DCI partnered with Atkin Olshin Schade Architects and Advanced Office Environments to furnish Stouffer Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. Features The furniture was composed of solid oak construction. The custom and ADA compliant wardrobes featured plywood sides. We assembled the wardrobes in the bedrooms bolting together two cabinets. The beds have a high-low configuration allowing students to hang their legs off the end of the bed. The University …
Case Study – Dartmouth and DCI’s Model of Circular Design
Over the last quarter century, a fascinating model of cradle to cradle product design has been unfolding in the New Hampshire North Country. In partnership with DCI—one of New England’s largest and oldest contract furniture manufacturers—Dartmouth College harvests trees from its own forest through its sustainable forestry program and DCI turns those logs into lumber and then long-lasting hardwood furniture. We then install this solid maple furniture, fashioned from Dartmouth’s …
How DCI Is Responding To Plywood Supply Chain Disruption
Like many contract furniture manufacturers, DCI is feeling the impact of lumber shortages because of global supply chain disruption. For contract furniture manufacturers like us, plywood is a key issue. Baltic birch plywood from Russia, a mainstay for case goods, is no longer available because of the war in Ukraine. But even before the war, tariffs on Chinese imports put huge demand on local plywood supplies. When that demand intersected …
Case Study: University of Tampa
Summary: In 2010, DCI started working with the University of Tampa. Over the last 11 years, we’ve upgraded the design standard across the UT campus upgrading 10 residence halls and 4,430 beds, including Vaughn Hall next year. Furniture: Bunkable Bed, Adjustable Height Bed, Tall Bed End, Mattress, Wardrobe, Pedestal Desk, Three Drawer Chest. Wood: Solid Maple, Natural Finish University of Tampa The University of Tampa is a medium-sized private university …
How Finger Joint Boards Make Campus Furniture More Sustainable
When you think about sustainability and dorm furniture, you probably don’t visualize the wood joint that holds it all together. But that would be a mistake. Joints matter. A lot. And not just for durability and strength. In particular, I want to highlight the positive impact that finger joint boards can have on the overall resource footprint of your campus furniture. In fact, finger joints conserve more wood than any …
The Circular Economy: DCI End Of Life Furniture Program
What should you do when your furniture reaches the end of its useful life? That’s a question that we get a lot. And at DCI, we have a program to help you manage your retiring furniture. In short, our goal is to help you keep it out of the landfill. And to be honest, that’s easier than ever before. If you have solid wood furniture, you have lots of options …
Edge Banding – Everything You Need To Know
When you’re choosing your residence hall furniture and deciding on the specs, you’ll inevitably choose what materials you want. Should it be totally solid wood, including the top? Or should you get solid wood or plywood substrates with laminate tops, or all laminate? Whatever the selection, your furniture is probably going to include edge banding. Why? Because it’s an important part of the construction. And depending on where we use …
Case Study: Sustainable Purchasing at Southwestern University
Summary Southwestern University hired a Sustainability Coordinator and embraced a commitment to zero waste on campus. They reached out to DCI to provide them with sustainable zero waste furniture to furnish two of their residence halls. The Oldest University in Texas Southwestern University (SU) is a private liberal arts school in Georgetown, Texas, just north of Austin. Situated on a 780-acre suburban campus with 1,430 undergrads, the school was founded …