Steelcase made quite a splash with its introduction of mushroom and cotton seed hull packaging; but it’s far from the only office furniture company that is going green with organic products. Albany Office Furniture in the UK is making use of locally occurring natural resources for a different purpose. The company is using nettle stems and wool (two materials that are found in abundance on the chilly isles of Britain) to create textiles for office chairs.

Nettles are most famous for their sting. Fortunately, the chemicals that cause skin irritation are easily neutralized by cooking or soaking in water. Users of the nettle textile won’t have to worry about sitting on a pin cushion. The method by which the fiber is extracted from the stems and processed into fabric should take the sting out of these hardy plants. Albany Office Furniture is showcasing this new textile at the Green 4 Go exhibition where many small businesses will be meeting to discuss sustainable strategies.

Last week, we talked about the highly competitive sport of chair hockey. But if you want some real brutality, you should check out this video advertisement from Mad Man Mund’s in Florida. There are no holds barred when it comes to extreme chair racing. In fact, this event will remind you of the “Chairiot” race from Ben Hur. All you need to participate is an office chair, a paved hill, a suit and tie, and a lust for victory at all costs!

Knoll’s Generation office chairs have garnered quite a bit of notice this year in the business and technology sector. The seating was featured in both Wired Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Unlike many office chairs that hold a user in a fairly fixed position, Generation is designed to support workers effortlessly as they bend, twist, and stretch. Formway Design, the firm that developed this chair for Knoll, reputedly spent a huge amount of time watching video of white collar workers to discover how they tend to move and shift around when seated. The result is a chair that moves with the sitter.

The back is made of a flex material wrapped on a figure 8 frame. The seat back can flex from side to side in response to a worker’s twisting shoulders. If you want to sit sideways on the chair and prop an arm along the back – that works too. The top edge of the seat back actually curls down under pressure to form an impromptu armrest. The regular armrests move automatically with you to accommodate a side sitting posture without getting in the way. The seat itself features Dynamic Suspension to counterbalance the sitter’s body weight when leaning backward or forward.

This isn’t the last you’ll be hearing about Knoll’s seating. At NeoCon, they introduced ReGeneration – the latest update on their original design.

Kimball Office joins the ranks of office furniture manufacturers who have debuted new office chair designs in the last 12 months. The Itsa is chock full of opportunities to let businesses pick just the right features for their workforce. For example, the chair height can be specified for small-to-average or average-to-tall users. This is about more than the column height. The front contour of the seat is square for tall users and rounded for shorter users to accommodate their shorter leg length.

Both seat styles come with a cushy waterfall edge do reduce pressure on the thighs. They also have a depression in the center of the upholstery to cradle the sitter. Height adjustable arms and knee tilt control are standard while the seat slider and synchro-tilt control are optional. Kimball Office is offering 5 basic fabric colors as part of their quick ship program (chairs ship within 5 days of order placement). Specialty textiles and leather can be provided with a longer lead time.

What type of office chair occupies that space between the lowly worker and the exalted executive? The folks at Maxon have decided that middle management deserves its own line of office seating. Hey, managers take a lot of flack – even if they’re actually good at their jobs. If you’ve been the undeserving butt of pretty much every Dilbert joke ever told, you might want to pamper yourself a little. Being the first one in the office to get a flat screen monitor is just the start. As a manager or supervisor, you should also be able to pull some strings and get a nice, comfy chair.

The Northport from Maxon is billed as a “managerial” chair. It’s got a tubular steel frame for durability and a mesh back for breathability. The seat has 3D mesh fabric covering the foam cushion too. Of course, lumbar height adjustment is built in for added comfort. All around, this looks like it might be the kind of office chair that provides you with the kind of support you don’t always get from your direct reports.

Last week, we took a look at a Wired magazine article featuring an impassioned and detailed review of several ergonomic office chairs. But there’s an even better place to turn if you need to find out absolutely everything about pretty much any chair on the market. This shout out goes to Duncan MacIntyre at officechairadvice.com. His blog represents the most complete compendium of office chair knowledge you’re likely to find anywhere on the web.

For example, do you know how self adjusting office chairs actually work – and whether they work for everyone? Now, you can find out. Whether you are buying a single chair for home use or a full suite of chairs to outfit an office, this is definitely a resource you’ll want to peruse. Pair the information you find there with a personal, free office furniture consultation from our experts at San Diego Cubicles Office Environments to help you make purchasing decisions that will keep your employees happy over the long term.

Last week, we took a look at some of the up and coming workstation designs entered for the Best of NeoCon award. Now, let’s peruse recently developed task chairs that might be paired with these state-of-the-art casegoods.

Scope Out the Scope Chair

There’s quite a global flavor to the entries this year. For example, “viasit” Bürositzmöbel from Germany is showing off the Scope and declaring that it is the future, personified. The open framed mesh back is a new twist on concepts already explored by many other designers. The numerous adjustable features are similar to those you would find in other high-end task chairs such as the Steelcase Leap. What really does set this chair apart is the “pendolo” backrest. According to the product brochure, this backrest can actually rotate slightly to the right or left – like a pendulum following the movement of the sitter’s body.

Turning Japanese

The LUCE is a Japanese design that was developed by Okamura in collaboration with OKI (a firm that specializes in robotic leg technology). The shape of the chair does look kind of like it’s designed to act as an exoskeleton rather than a normal seat. This is certainly a chair that will make you look ready to spring into action whenever your boss enters the room. The Seat Cradle Design is reportedly well suited to jobs where workers must sit, then stand, sit, then stand throughout the day. The cushioned seat mechanism catches you and absorbs the impact of your weight as you sit down. The attractive, gradated back mesh is firmer in the lumbar region for proper ergonomic support.

BioFit for a Tight Fit

The SwingSeat from BioFit Engineered Products is another example of innovation in seating. This is the chair equivalent of a pen holder with a chain (the kind they have at kiosks in a bank). The chair is firmly anchored to a wall so it can swing out for use and be tucked neatly away the rest of the time. Like with the pen-on-a-chain concept, you won’t have to worry about this seating being moved to other areas of your facility when it should be left in place. This type of chair would work well in crowded reception areas, hallways, and other spots where you need permanent seating but don’t necessarily have a lot of space.