KI achieves Green Masters status through SBC

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 15, 2025

GREEN BAY – Contract Furniture Manufacturer (Krueger International) has achieved Green Masters status through the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council (SBC) – a milestone Robin Kunstmann, sustainability manager with KI, said reflects the company’s long-standing, deeply rooted commitment to responsible manufacturing.

“That’s from how we support our employees to how we manage our facilities and deliver products,” she said. “Being recognized as a Green Masters company reinforces the impact of our ongoing efforts and our dedication to doing what’s right for our people, our customers and the planet.” 

In addition to its Green Masters status, Kunstmann said KI received three new Top Performer awards within the Manufacturing Environment category of the Green Masters Program: 

• Employee Experience
• Employee Health & Safety
• Sustainable Transportation 

Introduced in 2025, Kunstmann said the Top Performer categories highlight a deeper level of assessment on how organizations integrate sustainability into core business operations and employee well-being.

“KI’s recognition reflects the company’s longstanding commitment to building a safer, healthier and more resilient workplace while reducing environmental impact across its manufacturing facilities,” she said.

Kunstmann said KI has been a steady participant in the Green Masters Program, earning the top-level designation multiple times since the program began.

“We promote that we’re sustainable-minded and that we’ve had a history of that,” she said. “Our company was founded on recycled steel, so we’ve had a history of recycled content.”

Green Masters

SBC Executive Director Jessy Servi Ortiz said KI is one of 21 companies statewide to achieve Green Masters status in 2025.

For more than 15 years, she said Green Masters Program recognition has been a hallmark for Wisconsin businesses leading sustainable change.

In its 15-plus-year history, Ortiz said the program has helped nearly 400 companies advance sustainability across their value chains.

“The Green Masters Program is a comprehensive tool that helps businesses define, prioritize, measure and manage their sustainability performance, integrating sustainable practices into their core operations,” she said. “Aligned with internationally recognized standards, it drives continuous improvement and sustainable success.”

Ortiz said the Green Masters Program enables companies of all sizes and sectors to improve their performance in environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact areas that are meaningful to their business and stakeholders.

“The Green Masters Program categorizes participants into four status levels that reflect the degree to which sustainability has been integrated into their business model: Adapting, Advancing, Maturing and Green Masters,” she said. “Green Masters status signifies that the organization has identified and is effectively managing its material sustainability issues and performance related to those issues, takes a comprehensive approach to sustainability and is actively leading the transformation to a more sustainable society.”

More on SBC programs and its services, is available at sustainablebusinesscouncil.org.

KI’s sustainability efforts

Kunstmann said KI reports its sustainability progress through BIFMA LEVEL – the certification program developed by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association.

She said the program is designed to evaluate and communicate the environmental, material health and social responsibility impacts of furniture products built in the environment.

“There are different tiers you can get, and we apply for that every year,” she said. “I use that data for that certification to incorporate into the Green Masters.”

Kunstmann said KI works with each facility to set sustainability goals that align with the company’s overall corporate objectives.

“We measure all our greenhouse gas emissions, which includes energy,” she said. “One of our main things to become more sustainable is reducing our energy outputs.”

Kunstmann said the reduction of energy for the company has come in two phases.

“From 2011-21, we aimed for a 25% reduction in energy and greenhouse gas emissions, which we met,” she said. “We actually reduced by 34%. Our next goal of a 25% reduction began in 2022 and will continue to 2027.”

To reach its goals, Kunstmann said KI takes part in various internal projects.

“We have energy audits to help us reduce and have capital equipment that’s energy-efficient being incorporated,” she said.

Kunstmann said KI also works with its utility company to save energy.

“There are critical times when you get charged a little bit more for energy,” she said. “During those critical times, we’re notified. With lighting or equipment that’s not in use, we turn those down to save energy. Our kilowatt hours reduce when we’re not using [lighting or equipment] during those peak times. Our utility company does a good job of letting us know.”

Part of the effort, Kunstmann said, is educating employees to be mindful of their energy use.

“We do an annual Earth Day awareness in April when our social responsibility report is completed for the prior year,” she said. “Then, six months later, we do another awareness activity. We’ve done different things, like a lighting fair where employees can purchase LED lighting at a reduced cost.”

Kunstmann said KI also monitors its water supply to ensure nothing hazardous enters the water stream.

“We also look at who we purchase from – do they have a sustainability program in place, have a code of conduct, etc.?” she said. “We don’t simply look at what we can do as a company but also what other companies look like that we work with. We want to make sure everything is done correctly and ethically.”

Kunstmann said KI approaches sustainability as “a total evaluation of how we do business.”

“We’re constantly looking at materials and suppliers,” she said. “Now, we’re also measuring our carbon footprint of the product – where we’re getting the materials, how it’s manufactured, how it’s transported and how a supplier uses it. We also change our materials if we find something that’s more sustainable.”

Kunstmann said being a good company also means being a good community partner, giving back wherever possible.

“We do a lot of donations,” she said. “For example, we work with the Boys and Girls Club to donate money and products – we do that nationally. At our facilities in different locations, we work with them on donations and those types of things.”

For more, navigate to ki.com.