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Solutions for intelligent, interactive and connected office furniture

Great opportunities in terms of technological innovation enter the modern office furniture and community sector, thanks to the new io.T applications developed by Tecno in the workplace that becomes a communication tool reflecting the customer’s image.

Tecno was the first company in its sector to tackle the Internet of things, creating a system of furnishings interconnected with the environment which, thanks to a series of incorporated sensors, activate functions designed for the user and send information in real-time to allow resource optimisation.
Therefore, Tecno continues its technological path in the office world by combining concrete and “analog” excellence with the virtual and “digital” experience.

Tommaso Mosconi, General Manager io.T Solutions, explains Tecno’s path and its developments:
“We started from the most difficult thing, from the idea that a person can build his ideal environment through his workstation, a desk with incorporated sensors to know all his preferences. At the end of the project we understood that a sensor needs to be part of a system otherwise it doesn’t allow the collected data to be integrated and processed. After this experience, the research continued until the development of a software integrated with a smart building that makes the environment adaptable to the user’s needs (room reservations, meetings, lighting, air conditioning, etc.) and able to communicate with communication protocols for energy and access control, but above all a software that has the ability to integrate in an open way with all the other systems of the building.”

The new io.T project is linked to a new business model and space optimization that goes beyond software and hardware. It is a product that is the first to make a concrete transition from analog to digital.
The interactive features of io.T furniture can be updated thanks to the digital equipment that connects the activities of objects and people and thus allows you to establish performance and needs by bringing together different structural and personal factors. The advantages of an interactive furniture also allow to define the user’s tastes based on the use of the furniture: the movements of the desks, the height you select for the desktops, how they are used, etc. Furthermore, thanks to the data collection, it is possible to improve the product according to the user’s personal needs and even warn him if something is about to damage even before it breaks definitively; this naturally increases customer satisfaction and retention.

Io.T creates new opportunities and new responsibilities as well. The connected world, therefore, facilitates internal and external communication, activates remote control and allows the reduction of costs.

Carbios, a French start-up will make self-destructing plastic, a bonanza for office furniture?

executive desk

executive desk

Plastic office furniture will be less expensive thanks to a new recycling technology

Of the 25 million tons of plastic waste generated each year in Europe, only 25% are recycled, according to the European Commission. To put an end to this mess, the French start-up of green chemistry Carbios confirms having already identified the first biological catalysts that have the potential to degrade the ten most used plastics in the world, such as polyethylene terephthalate polymers (PET) for bottles. “This toolkit we enrich is the foundation of our future developments and provides the basis for the development of our industrial bioprocesses,” says Jean-Claude Lumaret, Carbios CEO. “We proved that we can make plastics that autodestruct and we can be confident, because the green revolution we promised in this sector is on.”

“This major breakthrough will allow us to enter into pre- industrial phase to improve the recycling of plastic waste, biodegradable polymers to create demand and develop competitive biopolymers, Jean-Claude Lumaret plans. We will have two years to go to industrial pilot.” For now, Carbios enjoys a global exclusive patent held by Valagro and CNRS , two of his partners in this project , which protects the results confirming its ability to integrate enzymes in plastic and control their degradation speed.

What are the consequences of this technological advance in plastic recycling for office furniture? There is a safe bet that the plastic will become cheaper, because it will be easier to recycle. Therefore, designers of office furniture can benefit in a growing extent from such a flexible and malleable material, ideal for their creativity.

Save energy and money with LED lighting

The spectacular savings achieved by LED bulbs

LED bulbs

LED bulbs

Suppose that, in a room, you have a lamp post with four traditional bulbs of 60 watt / h each, for a consumption of 240 watt per hour. If you turn it on an average of eight hours a day, 300 days a year, at an estimated cost of $ 0.19 per kwh = 240 x 8 x 300 x 0.19 = $109 a year just for lighting this room. However, LED bulbs consume at least 10 times less than a traditional bulb. Four LED bulbs at 6w/h each, would consume 24 x 8 x 300 x 0.19 = $10,9 a year, with savings of more than € 100; moreover, they would better light the room and  last about 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs.

Some figures on the cost of an LED bulb: the purchase price is about 4 $ for a bulb with an equivalent light as a 70 watt traditional bulb, with a better light. The same LED bulb consumes about 7 watts per hour, so you can illuminate your living room with four bulbs with a consumption of less than 30 watts per hour.

$ 675 million savings in the U.S. in energy costs in 2012 thanks to the LED lighting

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), made a study of the amount of electricity that was consumed last year for the use of LEDs in new types of applications (. different types of interior lights, street lights, etc.) The figures are astounding: “In 2012, about 49 million lamps and LED luminaires were installed in the new LED applications in these markets. These lights have saved about 71 trillion British thermal units (TBtu), which equates to an annual saving of energy costs of about $ 675 million. ” That could have been $ 37 billion saved if every bulb had been replaced by a LED!

 

Good reasons to buy Italian office furniture online

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