Environmental sustainability assessment of wooden furniture produced in Pakistan

Life cycle assessment was carried out for a conventional wooden furniture set produced in Mardan division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan during 2018-19. Primary data regarding inputs and outputs were collected through questionnaire surveys from 100 conventional wooden furniture set manufacturers, 50 in district Mardan and 50 in district Swabi. In the present study, cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment approach was applied for a functional unit of one conventional wooden furniture set. Production weighted average data were modelled in the environmental impacts modelling software i.e., SimaPro v.8.5. The results showed that textile used in sofa set, wood preservative for polishing and preventing insects attack and petrol used in generator had the highest contribution to all the environmental impact categories evaluated. Total cumulative energy demand for wooden furniture set manufactured was 30,005 MJ with most of the energy acquired from non-renewable fossil fuel resources.

Raw Material Consumption Controls on Environment Impacts of Sofa Production: A Case Study Based on Ecological Footprint

Wooden furniture production consumes a lot of forest resource and other resources, so it is important to estimate its environmental effect. In this research, we collected data in a sofa factory of China and appraised its environment impacts by the ecological footprint (EF) methodology. The results showed that the total EF of the sofa factory was 2 316.25 gha/year (gha: global hectare). The average EF of a sofa was 0.18 gha/year. For the total EF of the sofa factory, main contribution came from wooden materials (55%), followed by non-wooden materials (41.26%), and these two categories contributed above 96% of the total EF. Human labor accounted for 2.21% of the total footprint. The built land and water contributed a little to the total EF. For the total EF of the wooden materials, main contribution came from wood beams (57.6%), followed by plywood (41.08%); and for the total EF of the non-wooden materials, main contribution came from sponge (95.37%). In the end, we concluded that the incorporate of recycled wooden material and reused sponge in the sofa production could be viewed as an important strategy to achieve more sustainable manufacturing.

Estimation of Indonesia Wooden Furniture Export Demand Function

The export value of Indonesia’s wooden furniture was sharply decreased by about 31.9% over the period in 2007-2018. On the other hand, global wooden furniture export was increased by 5.8% during the same period. Understanding the behavior of the demand side of Indonesia’s wooden furniture exports that is reflected by its relative price and income elasticities is needed for the policy development of Indonesia’s wooden furniture industry in the future. The objective of this study was to estimate the export demand function of Indonesia wooden furniture using a panel data regression model. Three types of panel data models, such as pooled ordinary least squares model, fixed-effects model, and random effects model, were investigated. The results showed that the export demand function of Indonesia wooden furniture could be well estimated using the fixed effects model. Relative price elasticity and income elasticity were -0.45 and 0.8, respectively. The adjusted R2 value obtained was 0.99. Keywords: export demand function, panel data regression, wooden furniture

Ergonomic Design of Classroom Furnitures: Evaluation of Comfortability and Musculoskeletal Disorders

Background: Anthropometric studies are essential in furniture design to ensure comfortability and improved productivity of the users. Methods: Anthropometry of 407 from a population of 5601 students, and classroom furniture at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology were evaluated. Student’s comfortability and reported musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in using the furniture were assessed with two questionnaires. Participants who volunteered for the study were randomly selected and had no previous history of MSDs. Descriptive statistics of the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The participant's aged ranged from 17 to 28 years, and mostly were female (61%). The fitness between student’s anthropometry and classroom furniture included underneath table height for the imported plastic furniture and chair seat depth and width, as well as underneath table height for the locally manufactured wooden furniture. We observed high incidence of MSDs, including upper back (71.40%), lower back (58.30%), neck (51.90%), joint (39.10%), shoulder (32%), knee (25.20%), and wrist (22.60%) pain. The prevalence of MSDs were higher in women than men. The majority of the students were uncomfortable with using the furnitures, and only 6.6% reported comfortable experience. Conclusion: Recommended dimensions for ergonomically designed furniture have been proposed to reduce MSDs in the students. It would improves student’s health, and promote comfortability.

Recycling and value-added design of discarded wooden furniture

In the process of the “green revolution”, individuals have realized the importance of recycling waste materials. However, with ongoing individual changes in lifestyle, the huge resource of discarded wooden furniture is still considerably underutilized. This paper aims to provide new ideas for the recycling of discarded wooden furniture and to create added value to used furniture. Based on the summarization of existing recycling technology and methods, the diversified innovation and reuse of discarded wooden furniture integrating the current aesthetic and demand of people from multiple aspects are analyzed for the purpose of revealing the hidden value of waste materials. Waste recycling is of great importance to the country and enterprises in line with the concept of circular economy. For the sake of further excavating the hidden value of discarded wooden furniture products, the additional in-depth research in optimizing and upgrading green production and manufacturing in furniture industry is called for in the paper.