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Sustainability Spotlight

Carpet combats climate change:

The Applied English Center recently played a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions simply by purchasing new carpet. Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, will discuss the importance of such actions at the 2008 William S. Sutton Lecture at 7:30 p.m. March 26 at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. The Sutton lecture is sponsored by the International Center for Ethics in Business and the School of Business, It is free and open to the public.

Cool Carpet™ installed at the center is a "carbon neutral" product manufactured by Interface, a leader in sustainable business practices. The installation required no additional adhesives, reducing the amount of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, released to the indoor environment.

Global warming impacts of Cool Carpet™ — including emissions released when obtaining raw materials, manufacturing, transporting and using the product — are calculated by Interface and neutralized through the purchase of emission reduction credits, or ERCs.

ERCs are generated from projects that reduce fossil fuel use, such as using solar or wind energy or making changes in operations that reduce overall emissions. They are then traded to companies like Interface to offset an equal amount of emissions, ensuring that there will be no net increase in greenhouse gases released.

By purchasing 484 square yards of Cool Carpet™, nine tons of certified carbon dioxide credits have been retired, representing the life-cycle impact of the product.

Beyond producing Cool Carpet™, Interface works to limit its impact on the environment by reducing waste, energy consumption and water use in their operations while increasing the use of renewable energy and recycled and bio-based raw materials in its products. Interface also manufactures carpet tiles that can be replaced individually if areas of the carpet are stained or damaged, reducing waste associated with replacement, and recycles carpet at the end of its life.

TOPONYMS:

Fred Kurata, a distinguished professor and pioneer in thermodynamics research (1947-78), set up the precursor to Kurata Thermodynamics Laboratories in the old Broadcasting Hall east of the Art and Design Building. After two lab explosions in 1959, the lab was moved to a west campus building later razed to make way for the Lied Center. The present Kurata Thermodynamics Laboratories, on Crowell Drive, opened in 1990. For more, visit KU Buildings.