Problem: How to switch to a waterborne finish and not sacrifice durability or appearance
Company Name: Steelcase Inc.
Annual Sales: $3.4 billion
Manufacturing Plants: 49
Headquarters: Grand Rapids, MI
Total Square Footage: 20,000,000
Total Employees: 21,000
Product Offering: Its product portfolio includes seating, storage, furniture systems, interior architectural products, technology products, lighting and related products and services. |
Steelcase has pledged to lower its Volatile Organic Chemical (VOC) emissions by over 70 percent in its new facility at Gaines Township, Mich., and in the process, develop a waterborne finishing line that actually outperforms solvent-based finishes in appearance and durability. With the aid of its chemical supplier, Akzo Nobel, and its finishing equipment supplier, Giardina USA, Steelcase has developed and begun installation of a finishing line that will reduce emissions by over 380 tons per year.
“There are many steps in the wood finishing process from the wood prep, to the staining, to the layers of clear finishes,” says Dave Rinard, director of corporate environment, health and safety for Steelcase. “What we are doing in order to use as much water-based technology as we can is to use water-based chemistry for several of those stages, and the other stages where the durability and the appearance are not yet up to standard, continue to use traditional technology. We are not actually blending the materials, we are blending the technologies to get a significantly increased water-based finishing system.”
The Gaines Township plant is locked into an agreement that reduces emissions by 70 percent. “When trying to get a permit for the facility, we had to lock in all of the details up front. We are going from a facility that is right around 480 tons and that will be dropped to around 100 tons annually,” says Rinard.
The breakthrough, for Steelcase, has come in the development of water-based stains. “Water-based top coats are already available, but hardly anyone uses water-based stains,” says Max Blake, plant manager for Steelcase’s Gaines Township location. “We already have developed enough of the water-based stain to reduce our VOC’s by 80 percent when we begin operation in our new facility.” Blake expects to switch over up to 90 percent of the company’s volume to waterborne. “The few specialty colors that will not be waterborne, we plan on switching over in less than two years.”
Blake suggests that any company wanting to make the commitment to waterborne finishes must be willing to invest in the system and provide the production space needed for the drying process. “The waterborne process takes up to 1,400 feet of line space,” he says. “The problem is that waterborne does not evaporate from the wood as fast as solvent-based. So, the waterborne needs a lot more time to flash. We use a system of heating and cooling tunnels, which will heat and cool the wood during the waterborne process.”
The investment is worth it, says Blake, not only because of the help to the environment, but also the quality of finish has actually improved. “We spent 12 months working on appearance and have been able to improve and enhance the quality of the stain from the solvent-based material tenfold. We have 1,000 times more clarity, better consistency and less blotching. We have found that our solvent-based topcoats will mar at 170 to 180 grams worth of weight, and our waterborne will not mar until 230 grams.”
