Beyond the Standards: Specifying Hospitality Furniture for Real-World Performance with Hayley Pernsteiner

What does “commercial grade” really mean when a piece of furniture lands in a hotel lobby, guest room, or restaurant?

In this episode of I Hear Design, host Robert Nieminen talks with Hayley Pernsteiner, Director of Hospitality at Empire & Co., about the gap between product specifications and real-world performance. Drawing on her experience across design and procurement, Pernsteiner explains what ANSI/BIFMA standards can—and can’t—tell designers about durability, why hospitality environments create unique performance challenges, and how brand standards can sometimes complicate the equation.

The conversation also explores why procurement partners should be involved earlier in the specification process, how the convergence of workplace and hospitality is expanding product choices, and why lifecycle may be one of the most meaningful ways to think about sustainability in hospitality FF&E.

For designers and specification writers, the takeaway is simple but important: ask more questions, choose partners carefully, and look beyond the specification sheet to understand how a product is actually going to perform.