Hightower® announces the first of its product Declare labels
Founded in 2003, today Hightower has announced a first: Declare labels for a collection of its popular Kona Tables, marking a significant milestone in the company’s sustainability efforts.
What is a Declare label? Declare is a product transparency disclosure that identifies where a product comes from, what it’s made of, and where it goes at the end of its life. Similar to a nutrition label for building products Declare labels disclose all intentionally-added ingredients and residuals at or above 100ppm (0.01%) present in the final product by weight, helping specifiers quickly identify products that meet project requirements.
Hightower co-founder and CEO, Natalie Hartkopf expressed what the company’s new Declare labels mean to the work she’s been dedicated to for the last three years: “Our new Declare labels show the intentionality of our ongoing commitment to material health.”
Since stepping into her role as CEO of Hightower in 2017, Ms. Harkopf has made sustainability a primary company focus. “We brought in an experienced expert, a standout in her field, to manage our sustainability initiatives, including an ongoing effort to close the loop between manufacturers and the A+D community. Michaela Shaw leads our CEUs and is involved in industry events representing Hightower around the US. Working closely with our Sales and Product Design teams, Michaela helps us communicate the importance of specifying healthy products.”
Hightower’s Sustainability Manager, Michaela Shaw shared her thoughts on pursuing Declare labels saying, “As complex as the process was, working with dozens of our suppliers in order to learn every detail of their most closely guarded product formulations, it was 100% worth it! Since the 2016 adoption of Declare into the LEED v4 credit, there’s been an overall industry shift to material ingredient disclosure and toxic chemical avoidance, accelerating the transformation of the way materials are made. Declare labels will help Hightower products contribute to LEED certifications and this progress is so important in our efforts to create healthier environments.”
Ms. Hartkopf amplified her team’s excitement about Hightower’s sustainability initiatives’ progress saying, “ I’m more committed than ever to our efforts in material health and transparency; we’ll continue to push industry norms so we can offer our clients healthy products and continue to provide the healthiest workspaces for our team members working with these products. It is also important to mention that our incredible European partners are often ahead of the curve in this area. For years they’ve been assessing the impacts of greenhouse gas and the carbon footprint of their products. A dedication to making healthier spaces for all is one of the things I love most about working closely with our partners, as well as our suppliers.”
Hightower products by the numbers:
-Within 2 years, Hightower has gone from zero to 52 products with documented recycled content
-66 Indoor Advantage Gold products were counted in early 2022 (nearly double 2019 numbers) and 47 Red List Free products (more than 3 times 2019 numbers)
About Hightower:
Since 2003, the family-founded, female-owned, and operated company has developed a proprietary collection of domestically produced products, Hightower Studio, while also working with a wide network of global design partners including +Halle, Four Design, Ondarreta, and Swedese. Shared co-founder and CEO Natalie Hartkopf, “Our collections are simple yet thoughtful and, to me, that is Hightower.” Learn more at www.hightoweraccess.com. Hightower inspiration via Instagram or Pinterest @hightowergroup. Career opportunities and company news can be found on LinkedIn @hightower-group. Hightower is a certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise.
