11.09.2004 ET

(CSRwire) Interface, Inc. today announced that it has become a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), a voluntary, multi-sector market for reducing and trading greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Interface is the first and only member in the commercial interiors industry to join the CCX. As a member of the CCX, Interface commits to quantify and report emissions from the manufacture of its products in North America. Interface also agrees to further voluntarily reduce its GHG emissions as one of several steps the company is taking towards becoming a climate neutral company.

The CCX requires members to reduce GHG emissions each year for a minimum of four years and CCX members can meet their reduction commitments by making on-site emission reductions or buying credits on the CCX market. Members who reduce emissions beyond stated goals are able to sell their reductions on the Exchange. Interface joins the World Resources Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, Green Mountain Power, Ford Motor Company, International Paper and numerous others in this effort.

"We are proud to be joining the Chicago Climate Exchange," said Michael D. Bertolucci, president, Interface Research Corporation and senior vice president, Interface, Inc. "Doing so is very much in keeping with the path that we have laid out for reaching sustainability on seven key fronts--specifically our goals for eliminating all harmful emissions. We strive to lead others forward through the power of our influence by supporting those voluntary initiatives that are focused on the creation of economically viable, market-based solutions for averting global climate change."

"As we continue to diversify our membership, I am pleased to have Interface join CCX," said Dr. Richard L. Sandor, chairman and CEO of CCX. "They represent a new sector in our Exchange and are an innovator in environmentally responsible products. I applaud Interface for their forward thinking and look forward to their contributions to CCX."

Interface, now celebrating its 10th year on the journey to sustainability, considers global climate change to be a key strategy for reaching its goals for preserving the earth for future generations. The company participates in a number of climate change initiatives at the global, national and local levels, and 2004 has brought many exciting opportunities. Interface won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2004 Climate Protection Award for its climate neutral products and programs. The honor was received primarily for Interface's Cool Carpet™ option which allows Interface customers throughout the world to purchase climate neutral flooring products with a guarantee that all of the GHG emissions for the full life cycle of the products have been offset with certified emission reduction credits (ERCs).

In September, Bentley Prince Street, a California-based subsidiary of Interface, Inc., became the first company of the year to certify its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory with the California Climate Action Registry. In April, Interface Europe joined British Prime Minister Tony Blair and key U.K. business leaders to form The Climate Group, a nonprofit organization that is pooling the experience of business, governments and other organizations responding to the issue of global climate change.

Interface is a member of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change's Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), through which the company has set global targets for emissions reductions and increased usage of renewable energy. Interface is also a charter partner in the U.S. EPA's Climate Leaders program.

The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is the first voluntary North American market for reducing and trading greenhouse gases. The CCX covers emission sources and offset projects in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The CCX was created to provide members from the private and public sector with cost effective methods for reducing their GHG emissions by building and operating a market-based emission reduction and trading program that is flexible, has low transaction costs and rewards strong and innovative environmental projects. It is designed to allow entities from the public and private sectors to use market-based mechanisms to account for GHG emissions reductions. CCX enables participants to receive credit for reductions and to buy and sell credits as a means of finding the most cost-effective way of achieving reductions.

Atlanta-based Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ: IFSIA), is a global leader in the manufacture of environmentally-responsible floorcoverings and other textiles, through business units including Bentley Prince Street, Interface Fabrics, Interface Flooring Systems, InterfaceFLOR, Interface Europe and Interface Asia-Pacific. The company is committed to giving the marketplace a wide range of choices for specifying Earth-friendly and certified environmentally preferable products (EPP). Interface introduced the industry's first climate neutral carpet, Cool Carpet™, as well as the only carpet product to be designed using biomimicry, the i2™ collection from Inter face Flooring Systems. The company introduced a residential carpet product (InterfaceFLOR™) created from the bio-based, plant-derived fiber, Ingeo™. Interface Fabrics offers the Terratex(R) brand of commercial fabrics, the first to be made of 100% post consumer and post industrial recycled polyester and wool; now also available with bio-based Ingeo fibers. For more information on Interface's environmental initiatives, visit these web sites:
www.interfacesustainability.com
www.terratex.com
Ingeo™ is a registered trademark of Cargill Dow LLC.

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