Work Culture Festival 2026: Level certification for sustainable office furniture in the US and in Europe: US market, common goals, individual approaches, long-term perspectives, Photos: © Steve Kooy, Carsten Lerp
Oct 27 15:45 Hall 6, Board Stage Radical Impact

Level certification for sustainable office furniture in the US and in Europe: US market, common goals, individual approaches, long-term perspectives

Sustainability certifications are getting more important even though legislation is catching up with the societal and economic demand for transparency. Notably the ANSI/BIFMA e3 standard with iits Level certification in the US was an early step to create an umbrella for the diverse requirements. Since 2017 the European FEMB Level certification offers a similar approach in combination with specific European demands.

This session will compare how BIFMA LEVEL and FEMB LEVEL actually support sustainable office furniture in the U.S. and Europe. It will highlight shared goals, regional differences, further evolving market expectations, and the regulatory pressures shaping both compliance and sustainability decisions on both sides of the Atlantic.

Photos: © Steve Kooy / Carsten Lerp

Presentation language: English

Participants

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Four days. Lots of highlights. And that’s just the start.

The programme is constantly expanding with new talks, panel discussions, workshops and interactive spaces.

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Tuesday Oct 27 Wednesday Oct 28 Thursday Oct 29 Friday Oct 30
Hall 6
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00

Board Stage

Future Perspectives: Welcome to the Work Culture Festival 2026
Co-Founder of Leading Minds & New Work Pioneer EVP Content Strategy at Material Bank
What AI Can’t Take Off Our Hands: Why Leadership Is Becoming About Relationships in the Age of AI
Professor of Communication Management
The Return of Proximity: Why Innovation Still Needs Place
Director MIT Senseable City Lab & Founder of Carlo Ratti Associati
The Social Office: Rethinking Time, Productivity and Connection at Work
Founder & CEO WORKATHON
Home Field Advantage: Designing Workplaces that Bring People Together
Co-Founder & Principal of Studio O+A Senior Vice President Workplaces at adidas
Architonic Design Minds at Work: Patrik Schumacher
Principal at ZHA Architects
Values as a Compass: What an Economy That Takes the Future Seriously Looks Like
Professor at Leuphana University, Co-Founder of Scientists4Future & Founder of Mission Wertvoll
Level certification for sustainable office furniture in the US and in Europe: US market, common goals, individual approaches, long-term perspectives
Sustainability Expert & Head of European Level Director of Health and Sustainability at BIFMA

Next Stage

Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To
Senior Expert at Drees & Sommer Head of Business Innovation macom and Senior Experte at Drees & Sommer
Returning to the Office, but How? How Workspace Design Can Determine the Success of Return-to-Office Strategies
HR Researcher
Built Different: How People, Space and Tech Are Reinventing the Bildungscampus in Heilbronn
Managing Director of macom and Associate Partner at Drees & Sommer Team Lead Vision & Strategy at Schwarz Campus Service Member of the Management Board at Schwarz Campus Service
The Office as a Control Center: From Administration to Decision-Making. What Can We Learn from the Control Center?
Trend expert and futurologist Senior Director Digital Operations Optimization at Lufthansa
Spaces of Possibility: Creating Places Where Culture Becomes Visible
Architect at Ippolito Fleitz Group
The Future of Knowledge Work: How Haufe Is Shaping Change
CEO Business Group Haufe

Academy

Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To (Workshop)
Head of Business Innovation macom and Senior Experte at Drees & Sommer Senior Expert at Drees & Sommer
What Is Holding Your Product at the Border? Product Journey: On the Path to Global Approval (Workshop)
Global Head of Technical Expertise in Furniture at TÜV Rheinland Head of Furniture Business at TÜV Rheinland
Workspace Intelligence: How Can Data Drive Concrete Decisions? (Workshop)
Head of Business Innovation macom and Senior Experte at Drees & Sommer

Specials

Guided themed tour for HR (personalmagazin)
Guided themed tour for HR (personalmagazin)
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00

Wolfram Sauer, Robert Thiemann

Future Perspectives: Welcome to the Work Culture Festival 2026

Prof Dr Miriam Meckel

What AI Can’t Take Off Our Hands: Why Leadership Is Becoming About Relationships in the Age of AI

Carlo Ratti

The Return of Proximity: Why Innovation Still Needs Place

Julia Hobsbawm

The Social Office: Rethinking Time, Productivity and Connection at Work

Primo Orpilla & Christian Dzieia

Home Field Advantage: Designing Workplaces that Bring People Together

Patrik Schumacher

Architonic Design Minds at Work: Patrik Schumacher

Prof Dr Maja Göpel

Values as a Compass: What an Economy That Takes the Future Seriously Looks Like

Steve Kooy & Volker Weßels

Level certification for sustainable office furniture in the US and in Europe: US market, common goals, individual approaches, long-term perspectives

Christian Schweizer & Malte Kopmann

Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To

Dr Katharina Radermacher

Returning to the Office, but How? How Workspace Design Can Determine the Success of Return-to-Office Strategies

Oliver Mack, Carmen Herbig, Florian Ufer & Robert Rathke

Built Different: How People, Space and Tech Are Reinventing the Bildungscampus in Heilbronn

Birgit Gebhardt & Christian Most

The Office as a Control Center: From Administration to Decision-Making. What Can We Learn from the Control Center?

Peter Ippolito

Spaces of Possibility: Creating Places Where Culture Becomes Visible

Iris Bode

The Future of Knowledge Work: How Haufe Is Shaping Change

Christian Schweizer & Malte Kopmann

Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To (Workshop)

Kai-Uwe Schlegel, Alina Selbach, Corinna Regel & Surprise Guest

What Is Holding Your Product at the Border? Product Journey: On the Path to Global Approval (Workshop)

Christian Schweizer & Artur Wiederkehr

Workspace Intelligence: How Can Data Drive Concrete Decisions? (Workshop)

Guided themed tour

Guided themed tour for HR (personalmagazin)

Future Perspectives: Welcome to the Work Culture Festival 2026

Wolfram Sauer, Robert Thiemann

Work Culture Festival 2026: Welcome, Photo: © IBA
Oct 27 11:00

Guided themed tour for HR (personalmagazin)

Guided themed tour

Oct 27 10:45

What AI Can’t Take Off Our Hands: Why Leadership Is Becoming About Relationships in the Age of AI

Prof Dr Miriam Meckel

Work Culture Festival 2026: What AI Can’t Take Off Our Hands: Why Leadership Is Becoming About Relationships in the Age of AI, Photo: © Henning Ross
Oct 27 11:15

Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To

Christian Schweizer & Malte Kopmann

Work Culture Festival 2026: Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To, Foto: © Drees & Sommer
Oct 27 11:30

The Return of Proximity: Why Innovation Still Needs Place

Carlo Ratti

Work Culture Festival 2026: Human After All: Designing Workplaces in the Age of AI, Photo: © Mattias Nutt
Oct 27 12:00

Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To (Workshop)

Christian Schweizer & Malte Kopmann

Work Culture Festival 2026: Imagine Office: Workplaces Worth Commuting To (Workshop), Photo: © Drees & Sommer
Oct 27 12:30

The Social Office: Rethinking Time, Productivity and Connection at Work

Julia Hobsbawm

Julia Hobsbawm, speaker at the Wherever Whenever – Work Culture Festival 2026. Photo: © Henrietta Photography
Oct 27 12:45

Returning to the Office, but How? How Workspace Design Can Determine the Success of Return-to-Office Strategies

Dr Katharina Radermacher

Work Culture Festival 2026: Rückkehr ins Büro – aber wie? Wie Workspace Design über den Erfolg von Return-to-Office-Strategien entscheiden kann, Foto: © Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Soest
Oct 27 13:00

Home Field Advantage: Designing Workplaces that Bring People Together

Primo Orpilla & Christian Dzieia

Work Culture Festival 2026: Home Field Advantage: Designing Workplaces that Bring People Together, Photo: © Christian Dzieia / Primo Orpilla
Oct 27 13:30

Built Different: How People, Space and Tech Are Reinventing the Bildungscampus in Heilbronn

Oliver Mack, Carmen Herbig, Florian Ufer & Robert Rathke

Work Culture Festival 2026: Built Different: How People, Space and Tech Are Reinventing the Bildungscampus in Heilbronn, Photo: © Drees & Sommer
Oct 27 13:45

Architonic Design Minds at Work: Patrik Schumacher

Patrik Schumacher

Work Culture Festival 2026: Work Culture & Leadership: Architonic talks series, Photo: © Patrik Schumacher
Oct 27 14:15

The Office as a Control Center: From Administration to Decision-Making. What Can We Learn from the Control Center?

Birgit Gebhardt & Christian Most

Work Culture Festival: CONTROL – The Office as a Control Center, Photo: © Birgit Gebhardt
Oct 27 15:15

Spaces of Possibility: Creating Places Where Culture Becomes Visible

Peter Ippolito

Work Culture Festival 2026: Spaces of Possibility, Photo: © Peter Ippolito
Oct 27 16:00

The Future of Knowledge Work: How Haufe Is Shaping Change

Iris Bode

Work Culture Festival 2026: The Future of Knowledge Work: How Haufe Is Shaping Change, Foto: © Iris Bode
Oct 27 12:15

Values as a Compass: What an Economy That Takes the Future Seriously Looks Like

Prof Dr Maja Göpel

Work Culture Festival 2026: Values as a Compass: What an Economy That Takes the Future Seriously Looks Like, Photo: © Linda Schäffler
Oct 27 15:00

Level certification for sustainable office furniture in the US and in Europe: US market, common goals, individual approaches, long-term perspectives

Steve Kooy & Volker Weßels

Work Culture Festival 2026: Level certification for sustainable office furniture in the US and in Europe: US market, common goals, individual approaches, long-term perspectives, Photos: © Steve Kooy, Carsten Lerp
Oct 27 15:45

What Is Holding Your Product at the Border? Product Journey: On the Path to Global Approval (Workshop)

Kai-Uwe Schlegel, Alina Selbach, Corinna Regel & Surprise Guest

Work Culture Festival 2026 - TÜV Rheinland, Photo: © Perplexity 
Oct 27 11:15

Workspace Intelligence: How Can Data Drive Concrete Decisions? (Workshop)

Christian Schweizer & Artur Wiederkehr

Work Culture Festival 2026: Workspace Intelligence: How Can Data Drive Concrete Decisions? (Workshop), Photo: © Drees & Sommer
Oct 27 15:00
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