Sustainable business leader Herman Miller (Nasdaq: MLHR) is diversifying beyond furnishings into high-tech wiring systems.
The company’s subsidiary Convia, Inc. has developed flexible-use wiring systems that aim to reduce real estate and building operating costs while improving worker productivity.
Fortune magazine described it thus:
"Normally, if an office manager wants to split, say, a conference room into two offices, he has to rip out the walls and hire an electrician to put in new wiring so that each office can control its own lighting. With Convia, the wires running through walls or cubicles are ‘smart,’ so no electrician is necessary, just install a switch and point a wand at every lighting fixture you want the switch to control. In a flash the room is divided into two separate circuits."
Herman Miller recently announced a strategic partnership with Legrand North America, a manufacturer of electrical and network infrastructure solutions, to broaden the reach of Convia systems.
Under the agreement, Convia technology will be embedded into Wiremold wire and cable management systems from Legrand. These include modular power and lighting distribution systems, floor boxes, poke-thru devices and architectural columns, which provide flexible, accessible power distribution to building owners and managers.
Convia technology integrates a facility’s power delivery and other infrastructure and technology applications, including lighting, HVAC, and occupancy and daylight harvesting sensors into an energy efficient, easy-to manage platform.
"Convia-enabled" building infrastructure products will be marketed and sold by Legrand to building specifiers and owners through its network of over 2,000 electrical distributors. In addition, the two companies will continue to advance energy management strategies through the ongoing development of innovations that leverage the Convia technology for the built environment.
"Buildings are rigid, yet change is constant," said Brian Walker, CEO, Herman Miller. "While technology continues to change our lives and how we work, building infrastructures have remained static, relatively inflexible, and largely unable to keep up with the evolving needs of the people and organizations who occupy them. Our partnership with Legrand supports the adoption of energy management strategies across organizations with technologies that work together seamlessly, and can be easily programmed and adjusted as needs change."
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