Second life furniture mark

OFRA administers a free-to-use mark to enable commercial interiors projects to show the percentage of second life furniture used. Because furniture represents a significant proportion of a commercial building’s lifetime carbon emissions, this demonstrates the commitment of the project to addressing climate change.

You can access a blank mark here.

How the percentage of second life furniture is calculated:

• • The percentage figure is calculated as the sum of furniture Items that are either reused, refurbished or remanufactured divided by the total number of Items of furniture installed in the project. Loose furniture only is counted, with built-in furniture excluded as it is considered joinery and therefore part of the construction works.
  • A furniture Item is defined as one functional unit. For example: A desk, including frame, feet, top, screen, cable basket (if applicable), screen (if applicable), power unit (if applicable) and monitor arm (if applicable) all count as 1 Item. For bench desks, each position counts as 1 Item. A corner sofa with all of its segments, cushions, power units, etc counts as 1 Item.
  • An Item can be counted as second life if its frame is second life. That is, a desk may have a new top, screen, monitor arm, etc. but will be counted as second life if it has a frame that has been previously used as a desk/table, even if it has been recoloured. Similarly, a chair/sofa will be counted as second life if its mechanism/frame is reused. This is because the majority of the carbon emissions in a table, chair, sofa or cabinet are in the frame.

The OFRA Second Life Furniture mark is free for all organisations to use, with the following conditions:

• • The above conventions must be applied in calculating the second life percentage.
  • The mark must not be altered in appearance, other than the percentage figure. That is, it must always have same colour (hex 006600), font (Calibri, 26 pixels high), wording and reference to ofrauk.org.
  • The minimum size for the mark is 40mm high (150 pixels) by 25mm wide (96 pixels).
  • Data proving the percentage of second life furniture must be made publicly available by those using the mark e.g. on a website.
  • OFRA reserves the right to audit all claims and ban an organisation from using the kitemark if found to be misusing it.
  • Before using the mark, users must send to OFRA at contact@OFRAUK.org the name, floor number and address of the commercial space for which the mark is being used, the percentage second life furniture achieved, and a link to the publicly accessible calculations of how the percentage was calculated.
  • The mark user agrees that OFRA and SeeNetZero are free to publish the name and address of the project, as well as the percent second life furniture on its website and in other materials. OFRA and SeeNetZero are a repository of good practice in Circular Economy furniture.