LaGrange, GA - The fight against global warming just got a little easier for those who specify modular carpet products for commercial interiors.
InterfaceFLOR® Commercial today announced that 100 percent of its products are third-party certified as carbon neutral, which means that InterfaceFLOR Commercial has invested in high quality projects that zero out the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the entire life-cycle of the company's carpet tile products. Dubbed Cool Carpet™, the program applies to all commercial carpet tile products manufactured and shipped from the company's North American mills, and brings life to the company's Mission Zero™ promise to reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts by 2020.
"Cool Carpet puts the power where it belongs, in the hands of the customer," says Tracy Cook, vice president of marketing for InterfaceFLOR Commercial. "Studies show that consumers are aware of global warming but don't know what they can do about it. By choosing to specify a carbon neutral carpet, customers let the marketplace know that they value environmentally friendly products."
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the primary contributor to global warming, is a key effort for Interface Inc. Since 1996, Interface has reduced total greenhouse gas emissions in operations worldwide by 56 percent, through improved energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biomass power; however, 90 percent of the emissions associated with the company's products occur outside the Interface manufacturing process.
Because InterfaceFLOR Commercial has conducted life-cycle analysis on all of its products, the company is able to identify the metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions associated with every carpet purchase. To offset those emissions, InterfaceFLOR Commercial invests in projects that not only zero out emissions, but also broaden the market for alternative energy, including:
- Partnering with NativeEnergy to invest in wind energy projects on Native American lands in the Midwest, and to invest in methane-reduction projects at family-owned dairy farms in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
- Purchasing certified carbon offsets from the Te Apiti Wind Farm in New Zealand.
- Investing in a J.B. Hunt transport efficiency initiative that reduces pollution by moving freight via rail, a less polluting alternative to over-the-road transport.
- Purchasing carbon offset credits through Blue Source, LLC., where waste carbon dioxide from oil and natural gas treatment plants is sequestered via injection into depleted crude oil reserves.
All of InterfaceFLOR Commercial's offset projects are certified by the Climate Neutral Network, a third-party alliance of companies and organizations committed to developing products, services and enterprises that have a net-zero impact on global warming.
InterfaceFLOR LLC, is a division of Interface Inc., and is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial modular carpet. For 33 years, the company has consistently led the industry through innovation and environmental sustainability. InterfaceFLOR is setting the pace for development of modular carpet using materials and processes that take less from the environment, and is well along the path to "Mission Zero™," the company's promise to eliminate any negative impact it has on the environment by the year 2020.
Interface's worldwide carpet manufacturing facilities maintain third-party registration to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System; and the company has been recognized globally for its commitment to build environmental considerations into its business decisions.
More information can be found at www.interfaceflor.com.
