This is a great chance to get a top deal on a wide range of high quality ergonomic office chairs

How long do they last?
Each manufacturer’s sale has slightly different dates.

Herman Miller starts their sale today finishing on Monday 12 December 2011
Steelcase starts Thursday 24 November and runs for 1 week until Wednesday 30 November 2011.
Humanscale’s sale starts on Friday 25 November and ends on Monday 12 December 2011

Where can I find the details?
You can find a quick summary of the key points about some of the best chairs on offer using the links below:

Herman Miller Chairs
Aeron chair
Embody chair
Sayl chair
Mirra chair

Steelcase Chairs
Think chair
Amia chair
Leap chair

Humanscale Chairs
Freedom chair
Liberty Chair
Freedom Saddle Seat

So, if you are ready for a new chair this is an excellent opportunity to lock in a great price. Don’t leave it too long because the special pricing will soon be finished.

How long does the offer last?
Steelcase and Knoll are running their offers until Sunday 2 October 2011, leaving you 10 days days to take advantage of these special prices. Humanscale’s sale runs a day longer finishing on Monday 3 October 2011.

Where can I find the details?
You can find a quick summary of the key points about the chairs on offer together with where to buy them using the links below:

Steelcase Chairs
Think chair
Amia chair
Leap chair

Knoll Seating
Generation chair
Life chair
Barcelona classic seating

Humanscale Chairs
Freedom chair
Liberty Chair
Freedom Saddle Seat

So, if you looking for a new office chair this is an excellent opportunity to lock in a great price. Don’t wait too long though because there’s only 10 days left.

Here unscrupulous organizations paid local people a pittance to extract valuable metals from the old equipment at great personal risk to themselves. Not only that the toxic waste it all created was frightening as the carcasses of the stripped computers were burnt and hugely harmful chemical clouds got discharged into the atmosphere.

Fortunately, big steps have been taken in recent years to help combat this sort of thing happening with office chairs.

What is an eco-friendly office chair?
An eco-friendly chair is made using materials and components specifically designed to minimize damage to the world’s infrastructure. Typically, you will find these products are made with a high percentage of recycled materials. Not only that, they are also made in such a way that over 90% of the chair will be recyclable at the end of its life.

Fortunately many of the key players in the office seating market are taking the protection of our environment very seriously. These manufacturers go to great lengths to produce chairs that have little or no harmful materials in them.

Consequently when you choose an eco-friendly chair you have the peace of mind that you aren’t creating an environmental problem at sometime in the future. How do chair components cause problems to the environment?

Which common office chair components aren’t eco-friendly?
Office chairs that are manufactured irresponsibly actually contain a surprising number of harmful components. The foam used in a lot of chairs is particularly nasty especially when it’s combined with hazardous glues that many suppliers still use.

PVC is a very common chair component that has a harmful effect on our surroundings. Another is chrome where the actual plating process creates some pretty noxious by products.

Unfortunately, it’s usually the case that the most harmful materials are also the cheapest to produce. And so the incentive to be more responsible is often hampered by the desire to remain competitive.

This is particularly true of cheap chairs, which are invariably made to meet a price point and so it becomes a case of anything goes. Regrettably, the only thing that goes is any chance of using safe planet enhancing components. Fortunately the more responsible firms rise above this and are prepared to take a stand and eliminate the harmful stuff wherever possible. In doing so will the performance of their chairs suffer as a result?

Will eco-friendly components affect my sitting comfort?
The good news about using eco-friendly components is they don’t in any way compromise on user comfort. In fact, it’s fair to say they actually enhance the user experience and performance of their chairs.

The reason this is possible is because many manufacturers have taken the trouble to develop entirely new ways of making components. As a result instead of just churning out the same old stuff, they have looked at how to do things differently.

And by eliminating traditionally harmful parts they have made it possible to not only be more user friendly but also enhancing the way you work at the same time.

As a result of this drive to produce safer products new materials are now being used in a new and innovative way. In fact many of them didn’t even exist a decade ago. This is all very well, but how do I know the claims made by manufacturers are genuine?

How will I know it’s eco-friendly?
Fortunately there are strict rules for claiming that a product is environmentally friendly requiring certification for qualifying products.

Greenguard is an independent organization and certificates products for the effect they have on indoor air quality.

It all sounds a bit bizarre how can an office chair possibly affect the indoor working environment? Well, we all spend a huge amount of time sitting in offices and air becomes stale as a result. The danger arises when harmful chemicals are released into the air as products made from known problem materials are used.

Unfortunately, it’s a hidden danger and so many don’t take it seriously as they can’t see or feel any adverse effects. It’s the long-term cumulative effect that matters.

Once a qualifying chair reaches the end of its life instead of it being pitched into a landfill dump, over 90% of the chair gets re-used. And to make sure that everything is above board there is an ISO standard for it. ISO 14025-EPD is a standard that makes sure products comply with a strict set of rules on end of product life.

So, if a chair claims to be environmentally safe, don’t just take the supplier’s word for it. Check out what certification it has to back up its claims.

How you can help to protect yourself and the planet

• Many chair manufacturers are making eco-friendly seats and deserve your support
• Recognize that a lot of cheap chairs are made using harmful chemicals and components
• New materials and ways of making things are continually improving safety and environmental responsibility
• Look for certification as proof that claims about product performance stand up

As more and more people make the effort to buy environmentally friendly seating, hopefully it will reduce the opportunity for irresponsible people to damage the planet like the computer recyclers.

Here’s where you can find more on 3 great chairs from HÅG, Steelcase and Herman Miller that really can make a difference through eco-friendliness. They are also great chairs to work in too.

The Wilkhahn ON Chair

First, Orgatec 2010 in Cologne, Germany runs from 26 – 30 October, it’s held every two years and is Europe’s leading office furniture exhibition. Although it covers all facets of the office furnishings market, chairs for the office will be well represented.

Amongst the exhibitors is Wilkhahn and its funky new ON chair looks intriguing. The chair’s revolutionary support system really does move wherever you move and Das Büro magazine voted it the clear winner in an evaluation of 10 different swivel chairs. The ON and other Wilkhahn products can be seen in Hall 6.1 Stand B88/89.

Meanwhile in the US NeoCon East 2010 runs for 2 days on October 28 and 29. In all there are 250 exhibitors at the Baltimore Convention Center, covering a very wide range of Architectural Products, Floor coverings, Furniture, Lighting, Textiles and Wallcoverings.

Despite the wide variety of products office seating plays a leading role as 10% of the exhibitors are office chair companies, including major players like Haworth, Herman Miller, HON, Humanscale, Knoll and Steelcase.

So, whichever side of the pond you are, each exhibition offers an excellent opportunity to see a wide range of office seating at first hand.

Why is this? A lot of it has to do with the cost of tooling to make new components. It just costs a lot of money to create a new chair from the ground up.

It’s far easier to take what already exists and just tweak its appearance a little, rather like an automobile design where cars get facelifts every couple of years to prolong the life of a model.

Exactly the same thing happens with chairs. The basic guts of the thing, the bits you don’t see, stay the same. However, by reshaping the seat and back and maybe changing the base design, it’s possible to make the old appear new.

Fortunately, some companies are prepared to start with a blank sheet of paper and to do something radically different. Not surprising these tend to be the bigger players in the market who have the necessary resources and have a genuine desire to produce a substantially different and innovative chair.

Typically these manufacturers will do extensive market research into what problems users face and then go about creating a solution.

One of the big trends in recent years has been the launch of much simpler chairs, where the user just adjusts the height and maybe a couple of other things.

The chair has an inbuilt ability to anticipate what the user is doing by sensing their body movements as it self-adjusts and supports the user comfortably during the working day.

This is largely a good thing, as the majority of people don’t want to fiddle with loads of levers and buttons. Examples of these types of chairs include the HÅG Futu, Knoll’s Generation, and HumanScale’s Freedom and Liberty chairs.

Other manufacturers like Herman Miller and Steelcase prefer to create new models based on new technology and yet still let the user have lots of control over the settings.

Modern products like the Embody from Herman Miller, and the Think and Leap from Steelcase allow more user adjustment.

The one big downside with all of these new innovations comes down to cost. All that expensive design and tooling has to be paid for and as a result, chairs like these tend to start around the $500 mark.

This is why old, outdated seat design continues to be commonplace. Most of the components used in old-style seating can simply be bought off the shelf from component manufacturers who are geared up to turn out the various mechanisms and parts cheaply and quickly.

This results in a gulf in prices between old style models and newer ground breaking chairs, and once you try out one of these new breed of chairs and discover how superior they are, you will truly understand why they leave the same-old, same-old in the dust.

It has literally hundreds of different model variants to choose from and so let’s get a bit selective and look at a few of the most popular ones.

As the world’s largest office furniture manufacturer Steelcase does a lot of research when developing new products. Typical of this is the Leap® chair which was 4 years in development and the subject of a study over an extended time period resulting in an increase in productivity of 17.80% in one organization. So you can be sure of getting you work done more efficiently and with greater comfort.

Here are links to check out reviews of some of its most popular models.

• Leap®
• Think®
• Amia™

On Monday I’ll have the other US giant Herman Miller in the frame, so be sure to check back then.

They look for the cheapest chair they can lay their hands on, regardless of its quality and fitness for purpose.

Of course price is important we all want to save spending unnecessarily, however looking at the price should be the final part of the process, it’s far more important to get the specification right first, once this has been established then price can be taken into account.

Here are some key questions you need answering before you can decide on the best chair for you.

• How much time do you spend in an office chair daily?
• What sort of work do you do in it?
• Do you suffer any back pain and discomfort presently?
• Do you like a firm or a well padded seat?
• Do you perspire a lot on hot days?
• Are you above or below average height/weight/build?

Your answers to these questions will help you to pinpoint the right sort of chair for you. For instance if you spend 8 – 10 hours a day in a chair you really need to buy a well built chair with a good guarantee period – 5 years minimum. If you don’t you will be regretting your decision very quickly.

Where you do a lot of interactive work like typing, a chair with great support will surely be high on your shortlist of possibilities.

The same can be said if you suffer back pain and discomfort, you have to select a chair with good back support.

If you are the sort of person who prefers a well padded seat, chances are you will find chairs like the Aeron a challenge due to the firm seating position and something like a Steelcase Leap may be better. On the other hand if you are given to sweating a lot in hot weather an Aeron could very well make an excellent choice due to its open mesh upholstery as it allows good air circulation.

Most chairs are made to fit the average person whatever that might mean, those who are below or above average height will need to take more care with their selection. Neutral Posture seating has some excellent solutions tailored for people who are below or above average height and or weight.

A chair designed for a tall person would be disastrous for a small framed person just as a chair intended for a petite person would be completely unsuitable for a large framed user, regardless of how stylish or sexy the chair looks.

So, spend time weighing up the above points and how they may affect you. This article discusses the key components on an office chair you need to assess and will help you to evaluate the important things you need.

There are 5 functions you need to insist on if you are looking to get maximum comfort when selecting the best possible chair for your needs and these are:

• Seat Depth Adjustment giving optimal leg comfort
• Adjustable back height to allow the lower back to be correctly supported
• Arm Height Adjustment for easy movement and to minimize the risk of RSI
• Seat Height Adjustment to suit you body height and weight
• Adjustable Tilt Tension allows personal adjustment for individual body weight

The absence of any of these features can often result in pain and discomfort for different parts of you body. This is discussed in detail in a free pdf report 5 Secret Insights for Solving Office Chair Aches, Pains and Discomfort available for download here.

Also Steelcase has some useful tips for the Home Office with related topics you may not have considered.

And I’m the first to admit I still use an IBM clicky keyboard, date of manufacture 19 May 1993, still looks like new , weighs 2 kgs and it’s built like a tank.

In many respects the same logic is true in office chairs Herman Miller’s Aeron, is if you like the IBM of office seating. It’s probably the best known office chair of all time and with over a 1,000,000 in use worldwide it’s also likely sold more than any other model too.

For all that, good as the Aeron is, it’s not necessarily the best chair ever, but it’s certainly the most successful.

In the quality end of the chair market there is a number of chairs which are its equal and some would argue are better.

Some like Steelcase’s Leap and Think or Humanscale’s Freedom chair are quite well known, others like HÅG’s Capisco and its excellent recently introduced Futu model are less well known.

And while it’s true to say you probably wouldn’t go wrong buying an Aeron, it’s also fair to say there are a lot of very good quality alternatives many will overlook because the makers lack the big budget marketing machines to make them better known.

I would encourage anyone looking to replace their chair to by all means look at the Aeron as well as giving consideration to some of these models as they could even become tomorrow’s stars.

At one end of the spectrum you’ve got the cheap chair where the maker just goes out and buys some off the shelf, mass produced stock components produced for the lowest price by some far eastern component producer. All this creates in reality is just another clone chair – investment research time and cost, pretty much nil.

At the other end of the spectrum is the major manufacturer striving to produce something different, innovative and hopefully ground breaking.

As an example Steelcase spent 4 years developing, researching and testing the Leap® chair making sure the chair was truly different to other products. This involved hundreds of testers and together with all the tooling costs for the new components represented a huge financial outlay.

It’s all too easy to overlook these behind the scenes costs when making a snap value judgement.

Ultimately the proof is in the finished chair and it’s only when you sit in some of the better products you really appreciate just how much better they are and how comfortably they support you.

As I’ve frequently stated in the past when you spend long hours working in an office chair you need to see it as a tool, an investment in your health and productivity, instead of adopting a limited life mentality.

Sometimes it can be tough to see it like this, however once you bite the bullet and invest in a quality office chair you’ll be really glad you did.