Green House Home - Sustainable Slow Fashion at Home and Work

平價家具快時尚興起，造成每年大型家具垃圾產生量不斷攀升，綠屋家居於2023推出訂閱式家具服務，推廣以使用權取代擁有權。

2024.11.26

Furniture-As-A-Service: Sustainable Slow Fashion at Home and Work

訂閱式家具：居家與工作的永續慢時尚 

你相信嗎？一件家具可以有四個人生？總部位在台中的綠屋家居，在2023年推出訂閱式家具，服務對象是零售業、建商、新創企業等商業空間。企業只要付出1-3年的租賃費用，就能擁有全套家具，期滿還能買斷或換新承租。

　　訂閱式家具，這種永續的商業模式，從根本來解決家具浪費問題，打破「不斷製造、不斷棄置」的惡性循環。首創此項服務的是以「情感、永續」為訴求的綠屋家居，二代經營者徐鈺晴表示，年輕世代很能接受「共享」價值觀，以使用權取代擁有權，在今天環境危機迫切的情況下，家具產業更應善用共享的概念。

　　舉例來說，綠屋設計製造的全新家具，出租給追求美感和品質的A企業（例如精品咖啡廳），期滿收回後，加以整新，再以經濟實惠的價格租給B企業（例如補習班或平價早餐店），綠屋估算，一件家具可以創造4次生命周期。換言之，以往4家企業須要製造出4張沙發，現在1張沙發就可以在不同階段滿足4家企業的需求。

    Circular furniture subscription is a sustainable business model that fundamentally solves the problem of furniture waste and breaks the vicious cycle of endless production and disposal. Joanne Hsu, the second-generation owner of Green House Home, a Taiwanese furniture brand, said that the younger generation is very receptive to the value of "sharing" and gladly embraces the concept of "replacing ownership with the right to use". With the environmental challenged we are facing today, the furniture industry can create more share business models.

    For example, a piece of brand-new furniture designed and manufactured by Green House is leased to Company A (such as a boutique coffee shop) that pursues beauty and quality. After the lease term is over, the furniture is refurbished and then rented to Company B (such as tutoring center or little brunch place) at an affordable price. Green House estimates that if maintained well, a piece of furniture can have 4 life cycles and serve at least 4 customers. In other words, in the past, four chairs need to be manufactured for the use of 4 companies. With the subscription in place, only one piece of chair needs to be made to serve four companies at its different life cycles.

The furniture subscription services Green House provides to Zong Tai, a real estate developer in Taiwan.

綠屋家居為總太建設提供的訂閱式家具。

    This service not only reduces the generation of furniture waste, but also eases the financial burden on businesses. Especially for start-up companies with limited budget, furniture expenditure is a burden. By subscribing, they can have a complete set of furniture for operations at one-tenth of the price. Another benefit is that the company's carbon emissions are reduced because the furniture is a lease rather than an asset, and the carbon emissions are calculated on service provider, in this case Green House, rather than the lessee.

   Being sustainable and cost-effective, this Furniture-As-A-Service model has been welcomed by the industry since its launch; potential clients such as social housing and construction developers, are very interested in using the service.

      In fact, furniture leasing is nothing new, but Green House further proposes a subscription system to undertake all the life-cycle work such as maintenance and renovation that is not available in leasing, in order to contribute to environmental sustainability.

    When it was founded 30 years ago, emotion and sustainability were the corporate DNA of Green House Home. The founder, Xu Shutan, graduated from junior high school and worked the night shift in a balloon factory. Every colleague looked sad, but he was the only one with a smile on his face, looking forward to receiving his first salary and remodeling his home.

    In that era when there was no interior design, Xu Shutan first carried out a "major renovation" of his own room, and the effect was surprisingly good. Brothers and sisters wanted to come into the room to chat, and grandparents would also take guests to "visit" it. "Small changes in the home environment actually create strong emotional cohesion," Xu Yuqing said. This original intention: emotion and sustainability inspired her father Xu Shutan to found Green House Home Furnishing in the future.

Brian(right) and Joanne(left) Hsu are shaping a sustainable living culture by providing circular products and services.

綠屋兩代經營者徐樹潭（右）與徐鈺晴（左）父女，聯手打造情感永續的家具品牌。

    Entering the furniture industry in 1995 and establishing its own brand in 2010, Green House are inspired by simplicity and beauty of  Scandinavian style, which insists that less is more, simplicity with warmth, and taking into account both aesthetics and the practical functions. All of these are to create a “home that you want to go home to”. The Swedish concept of “lagom” means “just the right amount, not too much, not too little”. Joanne Hsu said that under the extreme environment of perpetual day and night, Scandinavian people have cultivated a culture of self-discipline and cherished the simplicity and beauty of life, which is manifested in the home environment.

      Joanne Hsu said that Green House wants to create affordable, high-quality furniture so that more users can realize the power of cohesion in love.  To make this happen, Green House team fly to Scandinavia every year and stay for long to work with local designers to come up with ideas and develop prototypes of the products. With years of experiences and network in the global supply chain, Green House sources raw materials from Europe and the U.S. and manufacture furniture in Asia, creating  affordable high-quality products.

    In addition to creating this sustainable business model of furniture subscription, Green House also uses recyclable raw materials wherever possible. For example, chairs made of PP (polypropylene) and ABS resin can be shredded into pellets for recycling after being eliminated, while wooden table legs, chaffing cloth, and iron materials can be disassembled from furniture and start a whole new life.

Green House partner with Feng Chia University in the '100 Little Libraries" project and provide furnitures for rural schools.

綠屋攜手逢甲大學，打造一百座偏鄉小書屋，傳遞簡約永續的生活美學。