Furniture brand Takt will be "net-zero in several years" says founder

Danish furniture brand Takt is using design to eliminate carbon emissions from its products, according to founder Henrik Taudorf Lorensen.

By driving down CO2 emissions produced through the entire lifecycle of its products, the brand believes it could achieve net-zero emissions decades before its former targets.

"We've focused on 2030 but I think we'll be net-zero in 2-3 years," Lorensen told Dezeen. "We're at the point where we simply need to obtain it documented and signed off."

The company has registered to the B Corp Net Zero 2030 pledge and focused on reaching net-zero twenty years ahead of the targets lay out in the Paris Agreement.

"That's the minimum we need to achieve," Lorensen said.

Certifications build trust with customers

Lorensen, a tuned physicist who previously held senior roles at Lego and Bang & Olufsen, founded Takt in 2019.

The company produces modern-day Scandinavian furniture in collaboration with designers including Cecilie Manz, Industrial Facility and PearsonLloyd.

All Takt's products are manufactured from FSC-certified wood in addition to being flat-packed to lessen transport and packaging emissions.

The company claims it's the only design brand to constantly have all of its products certified with the EU Ecolabel and can be accredited as a B Corporation - an international documentation for businesses with a social and environmental conscience.

"I think it proves to your customers that there's possible behind the promises," Lorensen said.

Takt is basing its decarbonisation strategy on The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting.

These set out a business must first reduce its emissions to as near zero as possible before offsetting any residual emissions through projects that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Focus on products over operational carbon footprint

According to Lorensen, Takt got a head start its net-zero goal by concentrating on its products instead of its operations first.

"It isn't that difficult to check out the energy bills for your headquarters and see what the impact of this is but actually mapping out your products is potentially the hardest part," Lorensen said.

A complete assessment of Takt's headquarters in central Copenhagen will be undertaken in the near future but Lorensen believes any emissions discovered along the way will be negligible.

"We realize our headquarter operations operate on renewable resources, so I feel we are quite close [to reaching net-zero]," he said.