What Do Ghent’s Green Certifications Mean?

Quality Every Time

At Ghent, we’re proud to provide a wide range of high-quality whiteboards, glassboards, and space dividers for offices, classrooms, healthcare spaces, and manufacturing facilities. Our rigorous production standards mean that we can stand behind our products with long-term warranties. However, we don’t just rely on our in-house quality control practices—we also adhere to several third-party certifications that guarantee our glassboards and whiteboards are manufactured soundly and sustainably.

BIFMA Approved

Our Aria and Harmony lines are the first and only glassboards to reach BIFMA LEVEL 2 ® certification. This thorough process assesses products at every point of manufacture and use, and it’s the preferred standard for the EPA. Reaching a LEVEL 2 ® designation means that Aria and Harmony are made efficiently with safe, sustainable materials, generate minimal waste, and don’t contain chemicals that can impact workplace air quality. This means safety for our manufacturing team and people in your workplace.

Developed by BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture’s Manufacturer's Association), a prominent voice in the commercial furniture industry since 1975,  LEVEL® is a voluntary certification program.  To be certified, a manufacturer must contract a third-party auditor to assess their products and production methods against the ANSI/ BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard. LEVEL® was created to scrutinize the environmental and social impacts of commercial furniture products by accounting for health impacts, energy usage, material selection and ecosystem effects. This rigorous process holds commercial furniture producers to the highest standards. If you want to learn more about BIFMA’s standards, their website explains the criteria for the three tiers of LEVEL® certification.

Sustainable

A LEVEL® certification means that our products are manufactured with environmentally and socially responsible processes. If you want your school, hospital, or office building to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, you’ll need products that are made with sustainability and safety in mind. With our commitment to low-VOC paints and sustainable sourcing and production, you can be sure our whiteboards and glassboards will fit in your LEED-certified building.

As part of Ghent’s commitment to sustainability, we use reclaimed materials for manufacturing where possible. The wood for our whiteboard frames is 80% pre-consumer recycled content. The metals used in production are a minimum of 70% recycled material. All the glass we use has been recycled, and it can be recycled again after its long lifespan as a glassboard. Products built to last also reduce the long-term environmental costs of production, as there’s less energy expended producing replacements.

Socially Responsible

BIFMA’s LEVEL® certification doesn’t just account for energy and material use–it also focuses on safety and equity for the workers who manufacture the products. Ghent is an equal opportunity employer with high standards for workplace safety. We’re proud to make all of our products in the USA, and we focus on community, in and out of the workplace.

Clean Air Certified

Our glassboard lines have been rated Clean Air Gold, the highest standard for products that emit minimal VOCs (volatile organic compounds). This certification also meets the benchmarks of other rigorous sustainability measurements, including the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method. This rigorous testing process involves ten days of use and conditioning, followed by two weeks in a dynamic environmental chamber, where air samples are tested at several intervals for harmful emissions. VOCs encompass a wide range of chemicals that can irritate the respiratory system, such as benzene and formaldehyde. In well-ventilated outdoor spaces, these compounds are rarely a problem. However, in indoor environments, products that off-gas VOCs, such as furniture coated with low-quality paint, can quickly build up a concentration that is irritating or harmful to humans.  By using low VOC paint, Ghent can provide long-lasting glassboards and whiteboards that won’t adversely affect the air quality of your workplace.