BIFMA is proud to announce that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved the revised ANSI/BIFMA e3-2024 Furniture Sustainability Standard. This landmark revision, which received unanimous support from the final ANSI ballot on April 21, 2025, marks a major advancement in sustainability for the furniture industry.
Over the past three years, the BIFMA e3 Subcommitteeācomprising a diverse group of BIFMA members, government agencies, architects, designers, and other industry stakeholdersācollaboratively reimagined the standard. The rigorous revision process began with a pilot review and continued through two cycles of association ballots followed by two ANSI ballots. Each phase generated invaluable feedback that helped shape a more transparent, accessible, and performance-driven standard.
Key guiding principles during the revision included:
-Simplification of the Standard: Streamlining requirements for clarity and ease of implementation.
-Establishment of Minimum Requirements per Tier: Transitioning from a credit-based system to clearly defined minimum standards for each performance level.
-Alignment with Key Partners: Maintaining strong consistency with foundational sustainability frameworks such as LEEDĀ®, WELL™, and ILFI
As a result, the updated standard introduces several significant enhancements:
-LEVEL 4 Achievement: Establishing a new milestone for industry excellence and innovation.
-Climate Positive Criteria: Pushing the envelope of sustainability by advancing beyond neutrality.
-Chemical Optimization: Implementing a class-based approach that sets stringent criteria for chemical management.
The revised framework builds successively from foundational policies and inventories (Level 1) through assessments and, ultimately, optimization, culminating in the industry-leading benchmarks set by Level 4. āThis revision represents a bold step forward for sustainable furniture design and manufacturing,ā said Mendy Claridge, e3 Subcommittee Chair and Director Program Management and Transformation at Kimball International. āBy streamlining the requirements and integrating progressive criteria, this allows the industry to meet market sustainability demands while aligning with complementary standards globally.ā
BIFMA extends its sincere thanks to every individual and organization that contributed insights throughout this review process. Their collaboration ensured the development of a standard that not only meets current environmental challenges but also sets a visionary roadmap for the future of sustainable furniture design.
For information on accessing BIFMA standards please visit BIFMA’s website.
About BIFMA
BIFMA is the leading non-profit furniture trade association in North America with members from around the world. Founded from the call to define uniform product standards for the industry, BIFMA has served as the voice of the commercial furniture industry since 1973 and is now the recognized source for managing and developing furniture standards that embody safety, ergonomics, health, sustainability, and performance that support buyer and specifier communities in making informed furniture selection decisions.
BIFMA further supports the industry providing market data, thought leadership, and industry outreach celebrating design and innovation in recognition of the significance furnishings play in the places we learn, work, heal, and live through product registries, sustainability certification, statistics reporting, government relations, industry promotion, education, networking, and trade development programs.