Comosum Sustainability Meter: How We Score Every Brand

The Comosum Sustainability Meter scores every brand we carry in six categories: Material, Transportation, Manufacturing, Labor, Energy and Durability. Each category is scored from 1 to 5, using evidence the brand or a third party has published. The six scores add up to a total out of 30, and the brand’s grade is their average, out of 5. The grade sits at the top of every product page. This page sets out the full method (rubric v2.2, September 2026), so you can check any score yourself.

We built the Meter because most “sustainable furniture” claims can’t be checked. Certifications such as FSC, B Corp and ISO 14001 each measure something real, and each measures something different. None of them adds up to a single signal you can read on a product page. The Meter brings them together. We publish the rules so you can audit our scoring, and so we can’t quietly relax a rule once it is in writing.

How to read the Meter

• The badge. At the top of every product page is the brand’s grade, out of 5. Tap “Reviewed for sustainability” to see the six category scores and the fact behind each one.
• The full Meter. Further down the page, each category score sits next to the fact that earned it, with the total out of 30. A scale runs from red (1) to green (5) and fills to the grade.
• What a score means. A 5 means the fact is proven: by a certificate, a figure the brand publishes, or a juried award. A 4 usually means the brand publishes a specific practice but no certificate or figure. Lower scores mean less is published, or the product is made by an energy-intensive process or shipped a longer way. The exact rules for each category are below.
• The date. Every Meter shows the month the brand was last reviewed.

What gets scored: the brand, not the single product

Scores are brand-level: every product from a brand shows that brand’s scores. Most of the evidence we can verify is published per brand, not per product. That includes certificates, factory locations, energy data and warranties. An honest brand score is worth more than a product score we couldn’t check. Where a verified fact about one product changes a category, that product gets its own record.

What counts as evidence

• Proof can earn a 5. Proof means one of the following:
  • a certificate or registry entry we can look up: the B Lab directory, an FSC or PEFC licence, GRS, ISO 14001 or EMAS, SA8000, or Cradle to Cradle;
  • a verified EPD or life-cycle assessment;
  • a specific figure the brand publishes, such as a recycled-content percentage, kilowatts of solar, warranty terms or a named factory;
  • a juried award.
• A brand statement can earn up to 4. This is a specific practice the brand publishes, without a figure or a certificate behind it.
• Adjectives earn nothing. “Sustainable”, “responsible”, “eco-friendly” and carbon offsets score no points.

Two more rules keep the scores honest:

• Partial claims. A claim that covers only part of a range caps at 4, unless it covers most of what we sell from that brand.
• Parent companies. A parent company’s certification counts only when the certifier’s listing names the brand. For example, Rosendahl Design Group’s B Corp listing names Holmegaard, Kähler and Lyngby Porcelæn, so each of those brands gets the credit.

Awards

A sustainability award adds one point to the category it recognises, up to a maximum of 5. Only one award counts per category. The award must meet all of these conditions:

• it was decided by a jury or an editorial panel;
• its title or citation is about sustainability;
• it was a win, not a shortlist place;
• it dates from 2016 or later;
• it went to the brand, or to a product we sell;
• it appears on the organiser’s own website.

The six categories

Material

What we look at. What most of the brand’s range is made of, and whether that material is certified, recycled or rapidly renewable.

• 5: most of the range meets one of these:
  • certified (FSC, PEFC or GRS);
  • at least 50% published recycled content;
  • a rapidly renewable natural material, such as bamboo, cork, rattan or seagrass.
• 4: any one of these:
  • certified or recycled content in part of the range;
  • solid wood or another natural material from a named origin;
  • a bio-based plastic.
• 3: durable, recyclable or natural materials, without a certificate or a recycled figure.
• 2: composites that are hard to separate, or materials not disclosed.
• 1: materials of concern.

From the catalog.

• Isimar scores 5: its outdoor furniture is made from 100% recycled steel and aluminium.
• Resol scores 4: it uses recycled polypropylene in several lines, including Toledo Aire, Brisa and the Bini tables, but not yet across most of its range.

Transportation

What we look at. Where the piece is made, and how it travels to the US.

• 5: made in North America and shipped overland.
• 4: made in Europe and shipped by sea.
• 3: made in Asia or Oceania and shipped by sea.
• 2: origin not disclosed.
• 1: air freight.

From the catalog.

• Scores 5:
  • Humanscale, which makes its products in its own plants in the US and Mexico;
  • Heller, which makes most of its furniture in the USA.
• Fermob scores 4: it makes its products in its own factories in France.
• Cane-line scores 3: it makes its products in its own facilities in Indonesia.

Manufacturing

What we look at. How the brand runs production, and whether it can show it.

• 5: either of these:
  • ISO 14001 or EMAS, plus a published and verified figure;
  • a score of 4, plus a juried sustainability award.
• 4: any one of these:
  • ISO 14001 or EMAS for most of the range;
  • a certified B Corp;
  • own production with published figures or practices;
  • verified EPDs for most of the range.
• 3: production countries published, with no certification.
• 2: production countries not disclosed.
• 1: documented violations.

From the catalog.

• Scores 5:
  • Humanscale, for its TRUE Zero Waste plants plus a 2022 SEAL award;
  • Greenington, for its ISO 14001 factory plus a 2019 Global Goodness award.
• A brand that names the countries where its products are made, but holds no environmental certification, scores 3.

Labor

What we look at. Who makes the product, and what protects them.

• 5: a certified B Corp listed in the B Lab directory, SA8000, or Fair Trade.
• 4: any one of these:
  • own or named factories in a country with strong labour law (the EU, UK, US, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland or Australia);
  • a disclosed BSCI or SMETA audit;
  • a published supplier code that covers production in those countries.
• 3: either of these:
  • production in a strong-law country, with the factory not named;
  • production elsewhere under a published supplier code.
• 2: production elsewhere with no code or audit, or origin not disclosed.
• 1: documented violations.

From the catalog.

• Tala, Tiptoe and Anglepoise are certified B Corps and score 5.
• Cane-line scores 4: its own production is SMETA-audited.
• A brand that makes its products in the EU but doesn’t name its factories scores 3.

Energy

What we look at. The energy used where the product is made, or, for lighting, the energy the lamp uses in your home. Energy at head offices and warehouses doesn’t count.

For a brand whose Comosum range is mostly lamps:

• 5: LED with a replaceable light source and published efficiency.
• 4: LED with one of those two.
• 3: integrated LED with no data, or the bulb sold separately.
• 2: not LED.

For everything else:

• 5: either of these:
  • mostly renewable production energy that we can verify;
  • verified EPDs or life-cycle assessments for most of the range.
• 4: any one of these:
  • a published renewable share below 50%;
  • EPDs for part of the range;
  • a published renewable or waste-energy practice at the brand’s own production.
• 3: no data, with a standard process.
• 2: an energy-intensive process, such as glass melting, ceramic firing or casting, with no data.

From the catalog.

• Isimar scores 5 for 730 kW of on-site solar.
• Fermob scores 4: its rooftop solar supplies 15–42% of site power.
• Tala scores 5 on the lighting scale, for replaceable LED bulbs at 90 lm/W.
• Glass and porcelain score 2 when the maker publishes no energy data, because melting and kiln-firing use a lot of energy.

Durability

What we look at. We count four signals:

• a published warranty of five years or more, or lifetime;
• a spare-parts, repair or buy-back service;
• a named test standard (EN, BIFMA or ANSI), or contract rating;
• a signature design in continuous production for 20 years or more.

How the signals score:

• 5: three or four signals.
• 4: two signals.
• 3: one signal, or a warranty of two to four years. A two-year warranty is not a penalty.
• 2: no signals, and a warranty of one year or none.
• 1: disposable.

From the catalog.

• Anglepoise scores 5: it offers a lifetime guarantee that covers the US, and sells more than 60 spare parts.
• Fermob scores 5: its furniture is EN 581 tested, it sells spare parts, and its Bistro chair has been in production since 1889.
• Case scores 4: its furniture is contract-rated, and its Cross table has been in production since 2006.

What it takes for us to carry a brand

We carry a brand only when all three of these hold:

1. No category scores 1.
2. Its grade is at least 3.0, which means a total of 18 out of 30 or more.
3. No more than two of its six categories score below 3.

The same rules apply to every brand. If a brand falls short, we look again for evidence we may have missed. We never adjust one brand’s score by hand. Every brand on Comosum today clears all three rules, with grades from 3.0 to 5.0.

Three brands, scored in full

Humanscale: 5.0 (30 of 30).

• Material 5: up to 38% recycled content, plus a 2022 Planet Positive award.
• Transportation 5: made in its own plants in the US and Mexico, and shipped overland.
• Manufacturing 5: TRUE Zero Waste plants, plus a 2022 SEAL award.
• Labor 5: a certified B Corp since 2024.
• Energy 5: verified life-cycle assessments, and 47% renewable power.
• Durability 5: a 15-year warranty, spare parts, and BIFMA testing.

Fermob: 4.0 (24 of 30).

• Material 3: steel and aluminium, with no recycled percentage published.
• Transportation 4: made in its own French factories, and shipped by sea.
• Manufacturing 4: its own plants, with published CO2 and water data.
• Labor 4: its own factories in France, with about 550 staff.
• Energy 4: rooftop solar supplies 15–42% of site power.
• Durability 5: EN 581 tested, spare parts, and the Bistro chair in production since 1889.

Cane-line: 3.3 (20 of 30).

• Material 3: polyethylene weave, aluminium and SVLK-verified teak.
• Transportation 3: made in its own facilities in Indonesia, and shipped by sea.
• Manufacturing 4: ISO 14001 since 2009. The brand states this but hasn’t published the certificate, and a brand statement caps at 4.
• Labor 4: SMETA-audited own production.
• Energy 3: no energy data published.
• Durability 3: a two-year warranty, plus one year if you register the product.

What the Meter doesn’t measure

A rubric is only credible if it is honest about its gaps. The Meter does not measure:

• Differences between one product and another. Scores are brand-level, as explained above.
• Full life-cycle carbon. A complete life-cycle assessment needs audited data from raw material to end of life. Most brands don’t publish one. Where a brand does, as Humanscale does, it counts under Energy.
• Design quality. We curate for design separately. The sustainability page explains that filter.
• What happens after delivery. We score the product as you receive it. We can’t score how long it is kept or how it is disposed of.
• Carbon offsets. The Meter scores what a brand reduces, not what it offsets. Offsets earn nothing.

How other certifications feed the Meter

• FSC, PEFC and GRS count under Material.
• Cradle to Cradle counts as proof under Material.
• B Corp counts under two categories:
  • Labor, where it scores 5 when the B Lab listing names the brand;
  • Manufacturing, where it scores 4.
• ISO 14001 and EMAS count under Manufacturing.
• SA8000, Fair Trade, BSCI and SMETA count under Labor.
• EPDs and life-cycle assessments count under Energy and Manufacturing.
• GREENGUARD Gold and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 test the emissions or chemistry of a single product. We name them on product pages where a brand holds them, but they don’t measure any of the six categories, so they don’t change a Meter score.

Why we publish the rubric

• So you can check us. Every note on a product page names the fact behind the score, and this page gives the rule that turns that fact into a number.
• So others can use it. Other retailers can adopt the framework, fork it or argue with it. That conversation is good for the category.
• So we stay honest. A private rubric can be quietly relaxed when a tempting brand falls short. A public one can’t.

Related guides

• Best European Sustainable Furniture Brands You Can Buy in the US
• Sustainable Outdoor Furniture from French, Danish, and Spanish Brands
• Scandinavian Sustainable Design: A US Buyer’s Guide
• Mid-Century Reissues, Done Sustainably
• Sustainable Furniture Certification Glossary

Frequently asked questions

What is the Comosum Sustainability Meter?
It is how Comosum scores every brand it carries. There are six categories: Material, Transportation, Manufacturing, Labor, Energy and Durability. Each is scored from 1 to 5 using published evidence. The total is out of 30, and the grade is the average, out of 5.

Is the score for the product or for the brand?
For the brand. Every product from a brand shows that brand’s scores, because most verifiable evidence (certificates, factories, energy data, warranties) is published at brand level. When a verified fact about one product changes a category, that product gets its own record.

What does a brand need to be carried?
No category can score 1. The grade must be at least 3.0, which means 18 of 30 or more. No more than two of the six categories can score below 3.

What counts as evidence?
Proof can earn a 5. Proof means a certificate or registry entry, a verified EPD or life-cycle assessment, a specific figure the brand publishes, or a juried award. A specific practice the brand publishes, with no figure or certificate behind it, can earn up to 4. Adjectives and carbon offsets earn nothing.

Do awards count?
Yes: a juried sustainability award adds one point to the category it recognises, up to 5. The award must be a win, not a shortlist place. It must date from 2016 or later, and we must be able to verify it on the organiser’s own website.

Why doesn’t a certified B Corp score 5 everywhere?
B Corp measures how a company is run, so it counts under Labor and Manufacturing. Material, Transportation, Energy and Durability need their own evidence. For example, a certified B Corp scores 5 on Labor. If it publishes no recycled-content figure, it still scores 3 on Material.

How often are scores reviewed?
Every brand was reviewed against rubric v2.2 in September 2026. We re-score a brand when its evidence changes, such as a new certificate, a new factory or a changed warranty. We aim to review every brand once a year. The review date appears under every score.

Why not a single carbon number?
A true carbon figure needs an audited life-cycle assessment, and most brands don’t publish one. We would rather show six checkable facts than one number with a wide margin of error. Where a brand does publish a verified assessment, it counts.

Where do I see a brand’s score?
At the top of every product page. Tap “Reviewed for sustainability” to see the six scores and the fact behind each one. The full Meter sits further down the page. The same scores are in each product page’s structured data, so search engines and AI assistants read the same numbers you do.

Can other retailers use the framework?
Yes. We ask that it be credited to Comosum, and that any changed version says what it changed.

---

Browse the full Comosum catalog. Every brand in it has been scored against this rubric.