A Shared Journey: Interface Partners in Sustainability

Interface is not forging its journey to sustainability alone. Ours is a journey made better, more effective and richer with the perspectives, ideas and innovations of people outside our company. Our interior designers and architect customers and their professional associations provide invaluable marketplace insights. We are committed partners to organizations dedicated to helping businesses embrace sustainability, social responsibility and organizational learning. Government agency and Non-Government Organization (NGO) partnerships give us the opportunity to collaborate and learn from innovative programs around the world. And finally, we continually learn from the communities we serve and support — they inspire us to remain committed to our journey.

These partners challenge us, broaden our view, educate and enrich us. They hold us accountable and monitor our progress. They give us opportunities to influence policies and marketplace standards. They tell our story to educate other businesses, organizations, communities and individuals.

We also rely upon the regular input of the environmental thinkers, engineers and architects who comprise our Eco Dream Team. When Interface began its sustainability journey in 1994, sustainability was not as commonly understood as it is today. As a first step, we needed to define and understand sustainability and what it meant to us. We explored the principles underpinning sustainability, seeking to gain perspective and, above all else, to learn. This early leg of our journey brought us to authors, activists, scientists, entrepreneurs and other thought leaders whose progressive thinking would help us map our journey.

Those whose thinking, innovation and inspiration we sought eventually came to be our “Eco Dream Team.” We count many distinguished thinkers and friends among the alumni of our Eco Dream Team, including David Brower and Bernadette Cozart. Today, the team comprises 12 visionaries of a sustainable future who support us as valued advisors on our journey to sustainability.

Select a partner bio to the right for more information.

Janine Benyus

Janine Benyus is a life sciences writer and author of six books, including her latest, “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature,” in which she names an emerging science that seeks sustainable solutions by mimicking nature’s designs and processes. Benyus’s other titles include an animal behavior guide, “Beastly Behaviors,” and three ecosystem-first field guides, “The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Western U.S.,” “The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern U.S.,” and “Northwoods Wildlife: A Watcher’s Guide to Habitats.” Benyus is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Jersey, with degrees in Natural Resource Management and English Literature. She has worked as a backcountry guide as well as a "translator" of science-speak at several research labs. She now writes popular books in the life sciences, consults with sustainable business leaders and talks about the genius that surrounds us while living in her natural habitat — the northern Rockies. For more information, see web site: www.biomimicry.net.

William D. Browning

William D. Browning received a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado specializing in energy-conscious architecture and resource management. He has a Masters of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the MIT Center for Real Estate’s 1991 Public-Sector Fellowship, and, in 1995, the Charles H. Spaulding Award. He has been involved in the design of a number of projects, including advanced multi-story solar greenhouses using Buckminster Fuller’s last structural system, and an American Institute of Architects sponsored joint Soviet/American team for an award-winning youth exchange camp in the Republic of Georgia.

In 1991, Browning founded Rocky Mountain Institute’s Green Development Services, a program that researches and provides consulting on environmentally responsive real estate development. His consulting projects include new towns, resorts, building renovations, a bug zoo, Wal-Mart’s Eco-mart, the White House, the Grand Canyon National Park, Lucasfilm’s Letterman Digital Center, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. He has worked on a number of U.S. Department of Defense facilities, including the Pentagon Renovation, the Navy Yard, the Air Force Academy, and the Pacific Air Force Headquarters. Browning has given numerous lectures and workshops for such organizations as the American Institute of Architects, CERES, the Councilors of Real Estate, the Urban Land Institute, the International Facilities Managers Association, MIT, Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Peking University, and Yestermorrow Design Build School.

In 2006, Browning partnered with Bob Fox and Rick Cook to found Terrapin, a firm dedicated to creating high-performance sustainability strategies for governments, corporations, and large-scale developments.

Robert Fox

In 2003, Robert Fox joined with Richard Cook to form “Cook+Fox Architects,” a firm devoted to creating environmentally responsible high performance buildings. Winner of the prestigious Urban Visionary Award from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (2002), Fox’s work has been featured in exhibitions and publications internationally. He has been a guest lecturer at the National Building Museum, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, the American Institute of Architects, and the United Nations Health and the Environment Conference, and has taught at both Cornell University and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He received an Official Citation from the State of Connecticut “in recognition of his exemplary efforts to promote clean energy.”

Fox has guided Fox & Fowle to a prominent position of national leadership in the design of sustainable high-rise buildings and urban design. Under his direction, the firm has completed more than 30 major projects in New York City, including the influential 4 Times Square — Conde Nast Headquarters, which set new standards for energy efficient high-rise buildings, received the coveted National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, and has been featured in hundreds of publications worldwide.

Beginning in 1999, Fox directed a team that created Green Residential and Commercial Guidelines for the Battery Park City Authority in New York City. He continues to be the lead Sustainable Design Consultant for the New York City Transit Authority, and is involved in the conceptual planning of major projects and created their Design for the Environment Guidelines. Fox led the Sustainable Design Team for the proposed eight-mile, 16-station, 2nd Avenue Subway. He also created the Master Plan for the Corona Maintenance Project, a 100-acre facility in Queens adjacent to the Hudson River for the maintenance and cleaning of the No. 7 subway trains.

Fox’s keen interest and insight into Green Design are reflected in his active Board memberships and participation in various organizations. He has served on the Advisory Board to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, and is the former Chair of the Van Alen Institute. He is currently a member of The Seminar on the City at Columbia University, and serves on the Advisory Boards for the New York Indoor Environmental Quality Center at Syracuse University, the Indoor Environment Center @ Penn State, the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, and Green Ground Zero. Fox is the founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council/NY Chapter.

In 2006, Fox partnered with William Browning and Rick Cook to found Terrapin, a firm dedicated to creating high-performance sustainability strategies for governments, corporations, and large-scale developments.

Paul Hawken

Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and best-selling author. He is an architect and proponent of corporate reform with respect to ecological practices. He is author and co-author of dozens of articles, op-eds and papers, as well as six books including “The Next Economy,” “Growing a Business,” and “The Ecology of Commerce.” In 1998, “The Ecology of Commerce” was voted the #1 college text on business and the environment by professors in 67 business schools. His latest book, “Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution,” with Amory and Hunter Lovins, is already published in 11 languages and has been read by several heads of state. His books have been published in over 50 countries in 27 languages and have sold more than two million copies. “Growing a Business” became the basis of a 17-part PBS series, which Mr. Hawken hosted and produced. He has founded several companies, including Metacode, Groxis, Smith & Hawken and several of the first natural food companies in the U.S. that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. He has served on a number of environmental boards including Point Foundation, Center for Plant Conservation, Conservation International, Trust for Public Land, Friends of the Earth, and National Audubon Society. Hawken was founder and Chair of The Natural Step in the U.S. as well as The Natural Step International in Stockholm. Among recognition and awards received are the Small Business Administration “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 1990; the Utne 100 in 1995: “One Hundred Visionaries Who Could Change Our Lives;” Western Publications Association “Maggie” award for “Natural Capitalism” as the best Signed Editorial/Essay in 1997; Creative Visionary Award by the International Society of Industrial Design; Design in Business Award for Environmental Responsibility by the American Center for Design, the Golden Peacock Global Award for Ecological Sustainability given by the Dalai Lama on behalf of the World Council for Corporate Governance and many others.

Amory Lovins

Amory Lovins is cofounder and CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org), an independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit applied research center in Old Snowmass, Colorado. RMI fosters the efficient and restorative use of natural and human capital to create a secure, prosperous, and life-sustaining world. Lovins also founded and chairs RMI’s fourth for-profit spin-off, Hypercar, Inc. (www.hypercar.com), and cofounded its third, E source (www.esource.com). A consultant physicist educated at Harvard and Oxford, he has received an Oxford MA, eight honorary doctorates, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Heinz, Lindbergh, World Technology, and Hero for the Planet Awards, the Happold Medal, and the Nissan, Mitchell, "Alternative Nobel," Shingo, and Onassis Prizes; held visiting academic chairs; briefed 16 heads of state; published 28 books and several hundred papers; and consulted for scores of industries and governments worldwide. The Wall Street Journal’s Centennial Issue named him among 39 people in the world most likely to change the course of business in the 1990s, and Car magazine, the 22nd most powerful person in the global automotive industry. His work focuses on transforming the car, real-estate, electricity, water semiconductor, and several other sectors of the economy toward advanced resource productivity. He co-authored “Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution” with Paul Hawken and L. Hunter Lovins, (www.natcap.org), and “Small Is Profitable: The Hidden Economic Benefits of Making Electrical Resources the Right Size.”

L. Hunter Lovins

L. Hunter Lovins, Esq., helped establish and for six years was Assistant Director of the California Conservation Project (Tree People), an innovative urban forestry and environmental education group. She was one of the original cofounders of Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), which she co-directed from 1982 until 2002, an independent, nonprofit, entrepreneurial applied research center with a $4.8 million annual budget, half of it earned by programmatic enterprise. Areas of interest and expertise include Natural Capitalism, globalization, governance, land management, energy, water, green real-estate development, and community economic development. Lovins has co-authored nine books and dozens of papers, and was featured in the award-winning film, “Lovins On the Soft Path.” Her book, “Natural Capitalism,” co-authored with RMI’s CEO, Amory Lovins, and business author Paul Hawken, was released in September 1999 and is in its fourth printing. She co-authored “The Human Dimensions of Natural Capitalism” with Walter Link. Lovins was a 1982 Henry R. Luce Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College and has taught at several other universities and has shared a 1982 Mitchell Prize for an essay on reallocating utility capital, a 1983 Right Livelihood Award (often called the “alternative Nobel Prize”), a 1993 Nissan Award for an article on Hypercars, and the 1999 Lindbergh Award for Environment and Technology. In 2000, Lovins was named a Hero of the Planet by Time magazine, and received the Loyola University award for Outstanding Community Service. In 2001, she received an honorary doctorate of public service and the Leadership in Business Award and was also named one of four people from North America to serve as a delegate to the United Nations Prep conference for Europe and North America for the Earth Summit conference. She also received the 2001 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing Research, and the LOHAS Leadership in Business award. Lovins serves on the boards of one government, two private corporations, many public interest groups and advises numerous companies and nonprofits, including Green Mountain Energy Company. For more information, visit this web site: www.natcapsolutions.org.

John Picard

John Picard was the first member of the Interface Dream Team. Picard is one of the preeminent Energy, Technology, Telecommunications and Real Estate infrastructure advisors in North America and Asia and the founder of e2. e2 has become a leading voice and catalyst for the integration of these disciplines in establishing successful campaigns for world-class companies and significant real estate developments. Picard began integrating these principles with design and construction of several prominent residential projects in Southern California. In 1991, he designed and built the first of several of his own homes, incorporating renewable power and energy efficient technology with sustainable building design and IP-based monitoring systems. e2 has evolved and initiated breakthrough advances utilizing energy, technology and communications systems to create operational efficiency and superior profitability. As a visionary and futurist, Picard is a regular keynote speaker for Fortune 500 Companies, universities and technology events. He has been extensively published in major trade publications, and is affiliated with the Compaq Black Box Team and the MIT Media Lab.

Jonathon Porritt

Jonathon Porritt is a regular columnist for BBC Wildlife Magazine, NFU Countryside Magazine and the Gloucestershire Echo. Porritt’s numerous appearances on television and radio, countless public lectures and many hard-hitting articles in newspapers and magazines have made him probably the best known "green" in Britain today. His first book published in 1984, “Seeing Green,” remains one of the most important expositions of green politics. Porritt directed Friends of the Earth (FoE) for six years, transforming it into one of the most powerful lobbying and research organizations. Partly, as a result of his approach in directing FoE, Porritt was appointed by the British Prime Minister as Chairman of the new Sustainable Development Commission in July 2000. For the past seven years, Porritt has been an Environmental Advisor to The Prince of Wales’ Business and Environment Programme. Porritt also is a Trustee of WWF UK, vice-president of the Socialist Environment Resources Association (SERA), and chairman of the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust. Porritt continues to campaign actively on behalf of many smaller organizations. In 1996, Porritt established Forum for the Future, together with fellow Programme Directors, Sara Parkin and Paul Ekins. Porritt has written several books and his latest book, “Playing Safe: Science and the Environment,” published in May 2000. For more information, see web site: www.forumforthefuture.org.uk

Daniel Quinn

Daniel Quinn is best known as the author of “Ishmael,” the novel that in 1991 won the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, established to encourage authors to seek “creative and positive solutions to global problems.” Published by Bantam Books in 1992, Ishmael has appeared in 20 languages and is used in hundreds of classrooms all over the world. He subsequently published four more novels and two nonfiction works. His most recent novel is “The Holy.” For more information, see his web site: www.ishmael.org.

Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert

Professor Karl-Henrik Robert, M.D., Ph.D., is one of Sweden’s foremost cancer scientists who, in 1989, initiated an environmental movement called "The Natural Step." In 1984, Robert won the Swedish Hematological Association Research Award. He headed the Division of Clinical Hematology and Oncology at the Department of Medicine at the Huddinge Hospital from 1985 until 1993. Robert has authored numerous scientific publications concerning leukemia, lymphoma, lung cancer and their clinical implications. His research on damaged human cells provided a platform for his interest in environmental questions. Later, with Dr. John Holmberg, he developed first order principles, the "system conditions," for ecological sustainability. Together with a growing network of scientists and decision makers in business and politics, the system conditions have been elaborated into a concrete framework for strategic planning towards sustainability. At the launch of The Natural Step (TNS), Robert edited educational material and distributed it to every household and school in Sweden. Thereafter, he initiated a number of independent professional networks to support the framework of The Natural Step. Business executives from major Swedish companies such as, IKEA, Electrolux, Swedish McDonalds, construction companies, the leading supermarket chains of Sweden, insurance companies, banks and a large number of other business corporations and municipalities have begun to incorporate the TNS framework into their business practices. In 1999 Robert received the Green Cross Millennium Award for International Environmental Leadership and in 2000 he won the Blue Planet Prize for scientifically laying out the systems perspective needed to plan strategically for sustainability and for changing the environmental awareness of business, municipalities and others. Robert has written many books, articles and scientific publications on the environment and sustainability that encourage an understanding of the linkage between ecology and economy. For more information, see web site: www.naturalstep.org.uk.

Walter Stahel

Walter R. Stahel is an alumni of ETH, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Zürich, where he received his diploma in architecture in 1971. He is one of the founder-directors of the Product-Life Institute (since 1983). Since 1987, he is also director in charge of risk management research, and vice-secretary-general, of the Geneva Association (International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics). Before, Stahel worked as an architect in London and as a project-manager at the Battelle Geneva Research Centres, Geneva, Centre for applied economics, in the fields of business strategy and feasibility studies. He left Battelle in 1980 to become personal assistant to the CEO of a holding company with worldwide activities in railway maintenance, shipping and real estate. In 1982, with a paper “The Product-Life Factor”, Stahel was one of the laureates of the Mitchell-Prize Competition on sustainable societies in Houston, TX USA. In 1978, together with Peter Perutz, he won a first prize in the competition of the German Future’s Society on the issue of job creation. Stahel has been a member of the first Environmental Council of the German Railways, Berlin 1996-2000, and of the Umweltrat of the UmweltBank, Nürnberg, since its foundation in 1997 (presently as its chairman). He was member of the Jury of the Sustainable Growth Awards 1996, 1998 and 1999 of DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, DE. Consultant on policies and strategies of a sustainable development to the European Commission in Brussels, he participated at its ‘Futures 2010’ project, as well as ETAN and STRATA projects on research policy, risk management and global climate change, and presently on the issue of sustain-able and competitive production. He is an associate member of ESTO, the European Science and Technology Observatory. He works as a consultant on strategic issues for a number of large industrial companies (including BP, CORUS, Cookson, Kodak) as well as SMEs and national and regional governments. Stahel regularly lectures at universities and conferences in Europe, Japan and the USA on subjects ranging from tools such as eco-design, risk management and loss prevention. His research focuses on strategies and policies for a more sustainable development, and the insurability of risks as the ‘natural’ borderline between State and the market economy. Among Stahel’s regular teaching assignments are the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ecole des Mines à Paris, and Université de technologies de Troyes in France. A list of his reports, publications and clients can be found on www.product-life.org.

John Warner

John Warner is President and Chief Technology Officer for the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry. The Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry is dedicated to the development of non toxic, environmentally benign and sustainable technological solutions for society. The principles of green chemistry are best applied at the molecular level during the process of design and development of a new material. By assuring that the molecules, the fundamental building blocks of a material, are sustainable, society’s needs can be met by processes and materials that demonstrate superior product performance, are cost effective, and are truly non toxic and environmentally benign.
John Warner received his BS (1984) in Chemistry from UMASS Boston and his MS (1986) and PhD (1988) in Organic Chemistry from Princeton University. He worked at the Polaroid Corporation from 1988-1997 in exploratory research and media research. In 1997 he accepted a position at the University of Massachusetts (Chemistry, Boston Campus, 1997-2004 and Plastics Engineering, Lowell Campus, 2004-2007). John is now President and Chief Technology Officer of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and the Beyond Benign Foundation. He has published nearly 150 patents, papers and books and is co-author of Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice. His recent patents in the fields of semiconductor design, biodegradable plastics, personal care products and polymeric photoresists are examples of how green chemistry principles can be immediately incorporated into commercially relevant applications. Warner is editor of Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews and associate editor of the journal Organic Preparations and Procedures International. Warner serves on the Board of Directors of the Green Chemistry Institute in Washington DC. He received The 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring from President Bush, the American Institute of Chemistry‘s Northeast Division‘s Distinguished Chemist of the Year for 2002 and the Council of Science Society President‘s 2008 Leadership award. Warner was named by ICIS as one of the most influential people impacting the global chemical industries in 2008.