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Sustainability > Our Progress > Energy

 

Energy

As part of our Mission Zero® commitment, Interface has set a goal to source 100% of our energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 (FRONT #3). To achieve this, we have a simple strategy – improve our energy efficiency and increase our use of renewable energy. We have taken an aggressive approach to reach this goal, installing renewable energy systems at our factories, and purchasing renewable energy for our facilities around the world.

energy
 

Energy Efficiency

Maximizing energy efficiency is the first step in reducing our energy use. Interface has implemented several unique energy saving measures in our factories. Building energy management systems help us understand and reduce our use of energy. For example, the energy monitoring system used in our Scherpenzeel factory, the Energy Mirror, tracks real-time energy use and prominently displays the results allowing employees at all levels to identify ways to reduce use. We have also replaced and upgraded equipment with more efficient alternatives, including HVAC units and lighting systems, and we’ve installed skylights and solar tubes to allow daylight in and reduce the need for electricity. All of the efficiencies, improvements and, most importantly, kilowatts not used add up to significant progress since we began in 1994.

Total energy use at our global factories is down 43% per unit of product since 1996.

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Renewable Energy

Interface has a goal to be powered by 100% renewable energy. As of 2010, eight of nine factories operated with 100% renewable electricity, and 30% of our total energy use was from renewable sources.

On-site Renewable Energy:

 

  • 1999 – Installed a 128 kW photovoltaic array at our Bentley Prince Street factory in City of Industry, California, originally one of the nation’s largest privately funded solar arrays.
  • 2003 – Partnered with the City of LaGrange, Georgia to use methane gas from a local landfill as a renewable fuel source for our InterfaceFLOR factory in LaGrange.
  • In 2005, InterfaceFLOR won “Energy Partner of the Year” award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) for this project.
  • 2000 – Installed a 5 kW photovoltaic array at our InterfaceFLOR factory in Scherpenzeel, The Netherlands.
  • 2000 – Installed a 17kW photovoltaic array at our InterfaceFLOR factory in LaGrange, Georgia.

 

Interface also purchases renewable energy to supply our energy needs at factories, offices and showrooms. We purchase renewable energy from wind, solar and biomass projects directly from our utilities where it’s available. Interface also purchases Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from Green-e certified renewable energy projects to support the development of green power markets.

InterfaceFLOR U.S. and Bentley Prince Street are members of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership (GPP), a voluntary initiative aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy. Both companies have been included in the Green Power Leadership Club – a recognition reserved for partners who exceed their renewable energy commitment by a significant margin.

30 percent of our energy use at our global factories comes from renewable resources – 28% from green electricity and 2% from landfill gas.