The era of the green office was supposed to bring us more eco-friendly business processes, recycled office furnishings, and smaller footprints overall. But we’ve yet to find a way to integrate junk mail into the era of the green workplace.

Junk mail is a paradox – more than 40% of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but without junk mail, we’d never be able to afford postal service. Take it from the Postmaster General of the US Postal Service, John Potter –

“Somehow, they think a sale offer coming through the mail — as opposed to a newspaper, a magazine, TV, radio or the Internet — is a bad thing. Ads pay for the Internet, as well as broadcast TV and radio programs,” [Potter] said during a speech at the National Press Club. “So, too, ad mail helps pay for universal mail service in America.”

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Forget about ghosts and goblins this Halloween. You know what’s really scary? Lumbar pains, especially when they strike the executive workforce.

If you’re the guy who made the decision to buy the chairs in the office, the suits will blame you for their lowered productivity and increased suffering. Luckily, there’s a way to correct the situation.

For the month of October, Cubicles.com is offering Offices to Go’s Leather Executive Seating solution for the special price of $199! (Originally $239). read more

The ergonomic thingamajig that Apple submitted for patent is turning out to be the last thing Apple fan-boys would ever guess it to be: a multitouch mouse cum keyboard gadget. Just what your office cubicle needed – another expensive way to get carpal tunnel, from your friends at Apple!

Seriously, the patent (long believed by Apple true believers to be a new tablet computer) is just another way of getting data into existing Apple computers; not as sexy, but just as useful.

Turns out that input with a stylus, keyboard, or mouse can be duplicated with the right kind of touch-sensitive technology – an insight that Apple seems to have glommed onto with its new patent.

The patent application, filed by Morrison and Foerster LLP, describes a hand-based system that permits “unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device,” reports the AppleInsider blog. read more

Since 2003, October has been celebrated as National Ergonomics Month (NEM), since being designated by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). NEM is intended to promote ergonomics issues to executives, students, and the general public, by spreading information and services to the community.

This year’s slogan for NEM is “A Time for Teaching, Learning, Networking, Service, and Fun!” Because we all know that ergonomics is a barrel of laughs. Seriously, I’m surprised nobody’s discovered the comedy potential of carpal tunnel syndrome, I’m smiling just thinking about it.

October really serves as a kick-off month for National Ergonomics Month’s outreach activities. Ergonomics boosters use NEM to make presentations at schools and offices.

The list of upcoming events can be viewed at the HFES website. For example, Georgia Tech is sponsoring a Bad Design contest that highlights bad design on campus, and proposes fixes to each bad design. Ditto with the University of Illinois, which has a Bad Design contest of its own.  (read more)

Herman Miller walks the talk where the green office is concerned.

By 2020, the company plans to minimize solid, air, and water emissions; establish a LEED silver certification for its buildings; use 100% green energy; and sell 100% DfE-approved products.

This builds on a proud Herman Miller company tradition of sustainable design and construction – its headquarters was recognized as one of the first “green” office and manufacturing complexes in the U.S., with corresponding high numbers in employee productivity.

So we’re only following in the revered Herman Miller way when we at Cubicles.com offer remanufactured Herman Miller cubicles in our product lineup.

Our remanufactured cubicles look brand-new, but have been painstakingly reconstructed from pre-used Herman Miller cubes; they’re engineered to look, feel, and work like the brand-new product!

Just look at the extremes we reach to ensure that our cubicles are made with as little impact to the environment as possible:

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Image of cubicles © Arjun Kartha.

Office cubicles just work for many companies. They’re compact, efficient working spaces. They rationalize the use of office space. Finally, office cubicles offer an egalitarian solution that many highly-stratified companies turn to when communication breaks down between layers in the corporate hierarchy.

But has the time come to reconsider cubicles?

Consider this: layoffs are decimating the workforce – gaps in the cubicle village are starting to show. The space-saving cubicle is becoming obsolete in offices with office space to spare.

At the same time, a growing chunk of the remaining workforce has a different view of cubicle hierarchy: the enclosed walls clash with a millennial generation that values face time.

“Office design is going from an ‘I’ to ‘we’ concept,” says designer Collin Burry of Gensler, the global architectural and design firm. “Millennials would be miserable sitting in a closed office all day long.”

Companies now face the challenge of integrating the differing workspace demands of multiple generations within the same office. Case in point, healthcare concern McKesson and their redesigned office space:

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Office chairs have been around for as long as there’ve been offices. Is there anything new under the green fluorescent office glow?

Knoll’s new Generation office chair could be it: the ideal synthesis of materials and design, coming together to bring near-complete freedom of movement to the worker lucky enough to rest his bottom on one.

The Generation’s top 10 inches flex with your back to a near-extreme 90-degree recline. The seat pad can slide forward to reach just the right point behind the knee.

Elastomer upholstery (an open-weave backrest made from a rubber/plastic mix) and a close application of holistic ergonomics has created a chair with enough flexibility to adapt to a wide range of seating postures.

Lean back to watch the fluorescent lights throb, and the chair will bend to your will. Sit straight up, and the chair offers ideal lumbar support.

Knoll partnered with Formway Design to produce the Generation chair. The seat retails for $995 (the armless version) to $1,860 for higher-end models in assorted finishes.

Fastcompany.com reviewed three office chairs – including the Generation chair, which more than held its own against two other office seating stalwarts. Watch the video below, and when you’re done, find out more about the Generation chair by Knoll by reading this article: Generation Chair.

How in the world do you furnish New York’s slimmest townhouse?

This $2.7 million property in the heart of Greenwich Village is centrally located and has been home to some of New York’s foremost personalities, among them Cary Grant and John Barrymore.

The size limitations are quite daunting – 9.5 feet by 42 feet. Sorry, baby grand. Goodbye, king-size bed. And I guess your dreams of having a penthouse-level ballroom will have to go.

But the owner, Stephen Balsamo, seems to have made the most out of the townhouse’s slim margin of space. The New York Post reports –

In the kitchen, a custom stove has all four burners in a single row, rather than the usual two-by-two arrangement. The three floors are all open, but the balconies overlooking the garden were extended, adding depth to make up for lack of width. [..]

Visitors to the home expect to find it dark and claustrophobic, but as a result of the sweeping windows in the back, “every floor has amazing light,” Nicholas said.

But who’s got furniture that can fit in these tight situations? Enter Swedish manufacturer (and furnisher of divorced men’s apartments) IKEA – whoever snaps up this Greenwich Village steal will also score free design advice and $10,000 in IKEA furniture.

Janice Simonsen, IKEA design expert and spokesperson, says “We’re so in love with small spaces that we’re putting an offer on the table… albeit a skinny table.”

The President of the United States is serious when he says the environment is a top priority of his administration. This week, the President’s walking-the-talk on green issues comes through General Motors, and interestingly enough, the White House.

At a GM plant in Ohio, President Obama hailed the new fuel economy standards that would decrease greenhouse gases and provide clear directions for auto designers.

“For too long,” the president told the autoworkers, “our auto companies faced uncertain and conflicting fuel economy standards. That made it difficult for you to plan down the road. That’s why, today, we are launching—for the first time in history—a new national standard aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks sold in America. This action will give our auto companies some long-overdue clarity, stability, and predictability.”

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Jurgen Bey believes that the cubicle concept shouldn’t be limited to the four walls of one’s office. Set the cubicle free!

Bey’s “Slow Car” concept takes an ordinary office cubicle and puts it on wheels. The concept gives a new twist to the phrase “cubicle jockeys”; one can sit down to work on the road, unfettered by the office, claiming the highway for your company! read more