Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I have reached out to you many times over the years since the inception of Benhar Office Interiors to share projects, news, new hires and otherwise. We are undergoing some substantial changes here and thought it was time to share with everyone. 

It is with great sadness that Bob Maurer, my business partner and longtime friend, has chosen to leave our firm. This was a very difficult decision for Bob, and in the end was a quality of life choice. His daily 4-5 hour commute was becoming increasingly difficult and he decided on a solution that has him working much closer to his home and family. Our entire team will miss him, but we all wish him well on his new endeavor.

With Bob’s departure and an internal realignment, we have a number of additional announcements, new faces and amazing promotions to share.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome Michele Manna as our new Director of Operations. Michele has over 20 years of experience in the contract furniture business, working at Herman Miller and Steelcase dealerships, and brings her wealth of experience to our team. Her management style and years in the field will allow for a seamless transition. We are truly excited about her joining our team and look forward to her contributions to our continued growth.

We also welcome Dave Cohn as our new controller. Bringing over 25 years of experience in the accounting and contract furniture business, Dave will be our pillar of fiscal responsibility.

Additionally we are extremely excited and proud to welcome our very own Liz Hair to the Executive Management Committee. Over her years at Benhar Office Interiors, she has become a key decision maker and her contributions to our firm have not gone unnoticed. Her understanding of our company and our industry will continue to be a great asset as she further gets involved in all key decision making, strategies, and the continued success and growth of all of our team members.

Other notable additions and promotions include our two additional Account Executives, Lisa Tartaglia and Ed Baust, as well as the promotion of Fran Mazzaglia to Junior Project Manager, responsible for running the support teams for Lisa & Ed.

As all of these changes take place, I would like to personally assure you that we will continue to service you with pride and excellence, and look forward to celebrating all of your continued successes in years to come. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or comments.  The lines of communication are always open and we look forward to speaking with you soon.

Best regards,

Mark Benhar

When asked to sponsor the S.A.S. Studio Nights, Mark Benhar of Benhar Office Interiors jumped at the chance to participate. Tempting the industry's inner Picasso, the Secret Art Society Studio Nights put together a studio series of S.A.S 'Dress for a Mess Events'. With all proceeds benefiting the Give Your Art Foundation, attendees were asked to participate in their favorite art mediums and have their work judged by a panel of renowned designers.

Mediums ranged from live model figure drawing, painting, collage, assemblage, and sculpting with clay, wire and wood, all taking place at Novo Art's studio in Chelsea. The panel, made up of Cindy Allen of Interior Design, Stephen Apking of S.O.M, Joan Blumenfeld of Perkins + Will, Bill Bouchey of Mancini Duffy, Rick Focke of H.O.K., Dale Alan Greenwald of Cannon Design, Tom Krizmanic of Studios Architecture and E.J. Lee of Gensler, have selected 20 exceptional artists from the attendees. The selected artists' work will be exhibited and auctioned at the final June S.A.S Salon, with all proceeds going to the Give Your Art Foundation.

The Give Your Art Foundation is dedicated to providing art for charitable institutions that have little or no funding to procure art for their facilities. Funds raised from S.A.S. events will go directly to providing art for local shelters, AIDS facilities, hospices and non-profit hospitals.

Benhar Office Interiors is pleased to announce that Lisa Tartaglia has joined our company! Lisa is responsible for new business development and has 7 years of contract furniture experience. We welcome her and hope you all get to meet her in the coming months!

In 1931, the world's most iconic building opened it's doors. Standing over a quarter of a mile high in the heart of New York City's midtown skyline, the Empire State Building has long been a symbol of progress, triumph and American ingenuity. With recent aesthetic restorations completed in the lobby, hallways and other common areas, this world renowned New York resident has had another recent transformation of sorts. In an effort to bring 21st century sustainability practices to this eighty year old edifice, a collaboration of players - the Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI), Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), and Rocky Mountain Institute - converged to create millions of square feet of earth-friendly office spaces.

With over 2.8 million square feet of leasable office space in the Empire State Building, the task of 'greening' it was no easy feat. From over sixty vetted energy-saving ideas, eight were finally chosen. The results were astounding: over 38% energy savings for the building as a whole with annual cost reduction in the neighborhood of $4.4 million. As part of that energy savings package, the Empire State Building has developed the first LEED Platinum pre-built space in the city to serve as a model for all office spaces in the towering structure.

To make that pre-built space happen, the Empire State Building team turned to Herman Miller and its local dealer partner Benhar Office Interiors. Using a mix of the most sustainable products and services on the market, the final solution included:

• Convia, a Herman Miller company that acts as an electrical infrastructure used to monitor, measure and control HVAC, lighting and plug loads in any space
• Energy Manager, a Herman Miller product that can offer energy control and monitoring at the workstation level
• Herman Miller Greenguard certified products such as Ethospace, Intent and Geiger

The Convia technology has played a critical role in the energy management of the Empire State Building's pre-built tenant space. The building owners are looking for tenant participation to reduce energy consumption by 17 percent. Together, HVAC (30% - 35%), lighting (30% - 40%) and plug loads/office equipment (12% - 18%) account for nearly 93% of the total energy use within a building. Convia addresses all three of these areas with a simple and intelligent control and management platform. Within the prototype space, the Convia technology offers a whole building level of control, providing sustainable solutions for everything from the building infrastructure to the individual workstation, including new advancements in plug load control through Herman Miller's Energy Manager device.

Energy Manager, which is embedded in Herman Miller's Intent and Ethospace workstations in the space, is a device that senses occupancy and controls power in the open plan furniture to save energy and lower costs. When a person sits down to work, an occupancy sensor detects their presence and turns on the devices in the cluster plugged into those two circuits, known as 'plug loads' (e.g. task lights, printers, monitors or chargers). When the cluster is unoccupied, the devices automatically shut off. With plug load energy expected to rise by 70% over the next decade, Energy Manager provides an effective solution to control this energy. In addition, Energy Manager can help track real time occupancy data, potentially saving a corporation on real estate costs.

But not to worry fellow New Yorkers. There are no plans yet to shut off those famous, evincive lights adorning the buildings summit just yet!

Smiles. Laughs. Teddy-bear hugs. Those are the best gifts to give and to get, and every year in early December at the We Care event held in Harlem, NY, they are in no short supply thanks to the hundreds of preschool and early school aged children and the 150+ volunteers from across the Architectural+Design community and Herman Miller family who come together to share in some holiday cheer and crafts. Now in its thirteenth year, We Care is part of an annual national program in which design professionals donate their time, expertise and materials, as well as decorations and refreshments, for an event filled with the jubilation that only the Holidays can bring.

Approximately 465 children from The Children's Aid Society's Dunlevy Milbank Center, Dunlevy Milbank Day Care, Drew Hamilton Center, Frederick Douglass Center, East Harlem Center and Taft Day Care in Harlem and East Harlem, who may not otherwise have gifts to give to their families, create an array of handmade crafts, take pictures with Santa, and have their faces adorned with holly, snowmen, reindeers and the like. Aided by top New York City architects, interior design firms, Herman Miller and Benhar Office Interiors, the gym at Dunlevy Milbank Center is instantaneously transformed into Santa's workshop and a winter wonderland.

Benhar Office Interiors has been a part of volunteer 'craft stations' since the company's inception six years ago. This past December, children at the Benhar station customized blank white hats into works of art and holiday expression using stencils, color markers, and mannequin faces. Other stations included making ornaments, bags, jewelry boxes, fabric pouches, candles, reusable totes, decorative gloves, sun catchers, wooden photo cubes and notebooks. As a finishing touch, the children are helped with wrapping their hand made gifts so they are ready to give

In giving their time, the volunteers are paid back triple fold with every smile, every hug, and with the endless sound of laughter from children who truly appreciate the gifts they are not only getting, but also the ones they are giving.

With the recession finally dwindling down a bit, companies within the design and architecture field are hiring again and interviews are beginning to be scheduled. With that, questions such as, “How did you spend your time while you were unemployed?” are being asked.  Fortunately, many members of our field can respond: “LMNOP”.

LMNOP (Leadership, Mentoring, Networking & Opportunity for A&D Professionals), is a professional development and networking society organized by and for the unemployed architecture and design community  to connect, support, and mentor each other.

Inaugurated in February 2009 with a small collection of e-mail addresses of recently laid off professional colleagues who all wanted to stay in touch within the industry, LMNOP has since grown into a professional organization of training, workshops and mentoring opportunities for and involving over 160 professionals.

With a strong commitment to giving back to the industry and helping industry professionals through the recession, LMNOP has reached out to the New York City A&D industry and has partnered with both industry organizations such as International Interior Design Association and companies such as Herman Miller, Humanscale and Carnegie.  Already, the organization has become nationally known and was mentioned in International Interior Design Association’s Summer 2009 issue of Perspective magazine and in Cindy Allen’s Editor’s Letter in the June Issue of Interior Design magazine.

LMNOP Leadership wishes to help as many others as possible. Kristen Mucci, Director of Administration, explains, “I hope that members are able to use LMNOP as a catalyst in developing the tools necessary to achieve their full potential in the design industry and in life.” The support structure that has evolved among LMNOP membership has also produced meaningful experiences and friendships. AIA Liaison Ryan Clarke hopes that “members feel the community of LMNOP: the support, the service, the sharing, the caring,…the respect.”

The organization’s website launched July 15. If you are interested in learning more or know someone else who may benefit from LMNOP’s offerings, please visit the website at www.lmnopnyc.org or contact info@lmnopnyc.org.

Benhar Office Interiors happily announces the anniversary of employee, Fran Mazzaglia! "I  will be celebrating my 3rd Anniversary with BOI Oct 18th," says Fran. "I have had fun leaning a new business and I want to thank Mark for this oppitunity. The office has grown and changed in the 3 Years. It has been fun for me to watch it grow and be part of it."

Fran also says, "It has been a pleasure working with all my teammates. Thanks for making my days enjoyable. You have all become my second family."

Frani ( Queen)