GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) is pleased to announce the certification of the first Japanese manufactured furniture products by Okamura Corporation. This marks an exciting step for GREENGUARD towards broadening its global reach as an international ecolabel. Okamura joins a growing list of international manufacturers with GREENGUARD Certified products, including BASF (Germany), Cosentino, S.A. (Spain), Freudenberg (Germany), Knauf Insulation (Germany), and Saint-Gobain (France).

"We applaud Okamura for being the first Japanese company to attain GREENGUARD Certification for their furniture products," says Carl E. Smith, CEO with GEI. "As a recognized world leader and one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the world, Okamura's participation in the GREENGUARD Certification Program demonstrates true environmental leadership in their market." In addition to the Contessa Task Chair, which was certified in 2003, Okamura added three seating series (Baron/Okamura CP, Grata, Visconte) to its GREENGUARD Certified product range, which were introduced at the Eco Products Fair in Japan in December 2007.

"Okamura chose GREENGUARD because of its stringent testing level and superior certification method, which we believe will be accepted world-wide." In addition to the GREENGUARD Certification, Okamura products feature high recycled content and recyclability, and are developed, manufactured and distributed in accordance with its ISO14001 certified environmental management system.

About GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) is an industry independent, non-profit organization that oversees the GREENGUARD Certification Program. GEI's mission is to improve human health and quality of life through programs that improve indoor air that people breathe. As an ANSI (Accredited Standards Developer), GEI establishes acceptable standards for building materials, interior products, electronic equipment, environments and buildings. Products that are GREENGUARD Certified must meet stringent, third-party standards for low chemical emissions based on established health standards and undergo rigorous testing and verification processes on a regular basis.