Actiu furniture: broad portfolio, thin EPD coverage
Actiu is a Spanish stalwart in contract furniture with a modern, design‑led aesthetic. Their range spans task chairs to acoustic booths, which makes them a frequent name on office, education, and healthcare fit‑outs. Yet when specifiers ask for product‑specific EPDs, public evidence is scarce. Here is what that means competitively, where rivals already show up with declarations in hand, and how fast teams can close the gap without slowing sales.
Who Actiu is and what they sell
Actiu designs and manufactures professional furniture from Castalla, Alicante. Their portfolio covers task and multipurpose seating, soft seating and lounge, worktables and benching, executive desks, meeting and training tables, storage, partitions, auditorium and waiting benches, and privacy booths. It is not a pure play in one product type. They equip whole spaces.
Scale of the offering
Browsing their site reveals many collections across multiple application areas. It is reasonable to say they compete in several product categories with hundreds of SKUs across finishes and configurations. Exact counts fluctuate, and the public site does not publish a definitive master list.
What we could verify on credentials today
Actiu highlights a sustainability posture focused on facilities and product stewardship, including LEED v4.1 O+M Platinum for its technology park, a corporate sustainability page with energy and materials claims, and product certifications like LEVEL 2 for portions of the range. They are a certified B Corporation as of March 2025, which can help enterprise buyers align vendor screens with policy goals (B Lab, 2025). For teams selling into large owners, those badges support brand trust, yet buyers still ask for product‑specific EPDs at the line‑item level.
EPD coverage snapshot
As of January 18, 2026, we did not find Actiu product‑specific EPDs published in the major public registries most specifiers consult. If any exist behind project firewalls or regional portals, they are not easy to locate for day‑to‑day specification decisions. That discoverability gap functions like a speed bump in bids where EPDs are requested.
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Why this matters in real bids
Many owners and design teams prefer to document embodied carbon with third‑party verified, product‑specific EPDs. Without one, they often fall back to conservative defaults, which can add a penalty in the carbon tally. The practical result is simple. When two similar chairs fit the program and one has an EPD while the other does not, the EPD‑backed option usually moves forward without pricing pressure. No drama, just frictionless compliance.
A likely bestseller without an EPD and who beats it today
Task chairs are a signature category for Actiu. If a project shortlist includes a premium Actiu task chair, specifiers can find close substitutes that do carry EPDs. Examples include Steelcase Leap with current EPDs in both EMEA and AMER scopes, valid into 2029 and 2030 depending on region (NSF, 2024), Herman Miller Verus with an EPD published November 2025 and valid to November 2030 (EPD International, 2025), and Teknion Aarea with an EPD valid to 2030 (NSF, 2025). That is the playing field.
Competitive set to expect on projects
For like‑kind seating, tables, and systems, the names that recur are Steelcase, Herman Miller and MillerKnoll brands, Haworth, Teknion, Vitra, Kinnarps, Andreu World, Bene, Narbutas, and mid‑market specialists such as Orangebox. In Spain, Ofita pops up often. Many of these competitors already publish EPDs for key lines, which makes them specification‑ready in LEED‑targeted workplaces and corporate programs.
Where Actiu’s sustainability story still helps
Actiu’s facility credentials, energy investments, and material choices can strengthen narrative and ESG fit. Their public sustainability hub is easy to share with owners who value whole‑company progress, and it provides context while product declarations are in progress (Actiu sustainability page). We recommend referencing these assets in RFIs alongside clear EPD timelines, so buyers dont guess.
What a fast EPD plan looks like
Pick one or two hero SKUs per category, usually a high‑volume task chair and a flagship table system. Confirm the common PCRs competitors used so results land apples to apples. Lock a recent reference year of factory data, then publish with a program operator your markets recognize. Keep the scope tight, publish, then scale across options and families using parametric rules so updates are painless.
Bottom line for specability
Actiu brings breadth, design, and credible corporate certifications. The missing piece is product‑specific EPDs on the obvious sellers, starting with task chairs and core tables. Closing that gap tends to unlock more shortlists and fewer clarifications, which is exactly what busy sales teams need to move faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Actiu publish product-specific EPDs for its chairs, tables, or booths?
As of January 18, 2026, we could not locate public, program‑operator EPDs for Actiu products in the major registries specifiers use. If any exist, they are not easily discoverable for routine bid documentation.
Which competitors already provide EPDs for task chairs?
Steelcase, Herman Miller, and Teknion each list current task‑chair EPDs with validity into 2029 or 2030, which keeps them spec‑ready in North America and EMEA (NSF, 2024, EPD International, 2025).
What is the quickest path to initial EPD coverage for an office furniture maker?
Start with the highest volume SKU in each major category, align PCRs with market peers, collect one clean reference year of plant data, and publish. Expand to variants using parametric rules for finishes and options so maintenance stays manageable.
About the Author
John brings a clear, research-driven perspective on the EPD, LCA and HPD space and keeps a close pulse on environmental trends and standards in North America, helping clients understand where the industry is heading and how to get there.
