Interface carpet tiles and nora rubber flooring
Interface is a global carpet tile manufacturer whose environmental position is the product argument rather than a footnote to it. Specifiers reach for Interface when a floor has to carry evidence: BREEAM credits to claim, an embodied carbon figure to stay under, a corporate net zero commitment that somebody will eventually audit. Nobody chooses Interface because it is the cheapest tile on the schedule. Surface Specialists works across every major manufacturer and is tied to none of them. Where an Interface system is the right answer, it is specified and installed by an experienced specialist contractor from our network. Listing Interface here does not imply a partnership, approval or accreditation.
Why specifiers reach for Interface
Because the paperwork exists. Interface publishes Environmental Product Declarations and Health Product Declarations, holds Cradle to Cradle Certified v3.1 Silver and carries FloorScore, Indoor Air Comfort GOLD and PEFC certification. Its LVT holds GREENGUARD Gold. European carpet production is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001; European rubber production to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001. Products are listed on NBS and carry a CE Declaration of Performance. On a project chasing credits, that documentation is the reason the brand gets written into the specification in the first place.
Behind it is a company of some scale. Interface was founded in 1973 by Ray Anderson, has more than 50 years of flooring behind it, employs around 3,600 people, sells in over 100 countries, runs 6 manufacturing sites across 4 continents and turns over roughly $1.3 billion. Interface does not publish the towns its European factories sit in. Its UK and Ireland presence covers Birmingham, London, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and the EMEA Design Centre at Dean Clough in Halifax, which is where most British specifiers meet the range in person.
Why the tile format exists at all
Interface exists because Ray Anderson saw a European carpet tile concept and took it to America in 1973. The logic has not changed since. Wear on a commercial floor is not spread evenly; it concentrates in doorways, walkways and the few square metres around desks and lifts. Broadloom forces you to replace an entire floor to deal with the part of it that failed. Tiles let the failed part be lifted out and swapped, which is a cost argument and a waste argument at the same time.
The waste argument extends to the day of installation. Interface offers a range of laying patterns and its own installation-method filter lists Ashlar, Brick, Herringbone, Monolithic, Quarter Turn and Non Directional. The last of those is the one that matters commercially. Because a non-directional tile has no grain to align, it can be laid in any orientation, offcuts stay usable and Interface states that installation waste drops to just 1-2 per cent. It also means individual tiles can be selectively replaced years later without a visible patch, which is the whole point of specifying carpet tiles over sheet in a building that has to keep trading.
The Interface carpet tile range
Interface organises its offer as collections rather than tiers. The current carpet tile catalogue runs to 146 products, of which 3 are filtered as carbon negative and over 500 colours are held for QuickShip delivery from stock. That stock position matters on a fit-out running to a deadline.
The current collections are Barricade, Composure, Connected Ethos, Crafted Connections, Dressed Lines, Embodied Beauty, Employ, Etched & Threaded, Human Connections, Human Nature, Look Both Ways, Net Effect, NY+LON Streets, On Line & Off Line, Open Air, Past Forward, Polichrome, Surface Matters, Touch & Tones II, Upon Common Ground, Urban Retreat, Works, World Woven, Woven Gradience and Yuton. Interface also produces 17 LVT products in 4.5mm planks and squares across the Earthen Forms, Lasting Impressions, Level Set and Look Both Ways collections, which allows a single manufacturer to cover both the soft flooring and the hard flooring on a floor plate. For a wider view of the format, see our guide to commercial carpet.
The backing is where the carbon story lives
A buyer studying the pile is looking at the wrong half of the tile. Interface’s carbon position sits in the backing, which is also where the acoustic performance comes from. CQuest Bio is now the standard backing across every Interface carpet tile, so the baseline product already carries it.
| Backing or system | What it does |
|---|---|
| CQuest Bio | The standard backing on all Interface carpet tiles. Contains recycled and bio-based materials which, measured on a standalone basis, are net carbon negative |
| CQuest BioX | The same make-up at a higher concentration of carbon negative materials. Standard on all carbon negative products |
| CQuest Bio SONE | Integrated acoustic backing. Impact sound reduction up to 29dB, sound absorption up to alpha-w 0.30 |
| CQuest Bio SONE+ | The higher acoustic step. Impact sound reduction up to 33dB, absorption 0.30 to 0.40 |
| Interlay CQuestBio SONE | Loose-lay resilient underfloor system in 50 x 50 cm panels, laid beneath the carpet tiles. Not compatible with Interface LVT |
| Sound Choice+ | The standard acoustic backing for Interface LVT. Impact sound insulation up to 19dB |
| TacTiles | Glue-free adhesive-dot installation that creates a floating floor. 90 per cent lower carbon footprint than traditional adhesive |
TacTiles is worth a second look on a refurbishment. A floating installation removes wet adhesive from an occupied building, which shortens the handover and simplifies the eventual lift. Where a subfloor is not sound enough to take any system cleanly, the contractor deals with that first; see subfloor preparation.
nora rubber flooring from Interface
nora is still marketed as a distinct brand, but explicitly as nora rubber flooring from Interface. It holds its own top-level position in the range. Beneath it sit noraplan, norament and noravant, plus matching stairtreads.
Rubber is a serious specification rather than a niche one. In healthcare and education it earns its place on acoustics, underfoot comfort for staff who stand all day and durability under trolley and chair traffic. Product options include nTx for adhesive-free installation, electrostatic dissipative and electrostatic conductive builds for technical areas and acoustic constructions. Interface has shown an industry-first carbon negative rubber flooring prototype. Prototype is the correct word for it: it is not something a contractor can order today.
What Interface actually commits to on carbon
The current commitment is to become a carbon negative enterprise by 2040, supported by interim science-based targets for 2030 that Interface states it is more than halfway towards. The framework it works to is Avoid, Reduce, Store, Inspire. Interface also states that 85 per cent of its footprint comes from the products it makes, which is why the effort sits in materials rather than in the offices.
Three older claims are still quoted at specifiers and all three are out of date. Mission Zero was the 2020 zero-impact goal and Interface states it beat that goal ahead of schedule. Climate Take Back is written in the past tense on the same history page. Neither is the current mission. Carbon Neutral Floors should be treated the same way: carbon neutral is not a phrase Interface uses on its current GB sustainability pages, because the company has said it is doubling down on direct carbon reductions instead of offsets and repurposing what it previously spent on offsetting. Anyone specifying on the strength of an Interface carbon neutral certificate is working from retired information.
What Interface does claim now is narrower and stronger. It created the first-ever carbon negative carpet tile in 2020. Its CQuest backings enable tiles with a negative carbon footprint cradle to gate and CQuest BioX paired with 100 per cent recycled nylon produces a carbon negative tile. Interface gives access to more than 200 cradle to gate carbon negative products across its range. Its ReEntry take-back programme has run since 1995. Those are the statements that survive scrutiny in a BREEAM submission.
Frequently asked questions
Is Interface carpet tile carbon neutral?
No. Carbon neutral is not a live Interface claim and the phrase does not appear on its current GB sustainability pages. Interface has moved to direct carbon reduction rather than offsetting. The accurate claim is that certain products are carbon negative cradle to gate and that the company is targeting carbon negative enterprise status by 2040.
What is CQuest Bio?
CQuest Bio is the standard backing on every Interface carpet tile. It contains recycled and bio-based materials which, measured on a standalone basis, are net carbon negative. CQuest BioX uses the same make-up at a higher concentration and is standard on the products Interface filters as carbon negative.
How much installation waste does a non-directional carpet tile lay create?
Interface states that installation waste drops to just 1-2 per cent with non-directional installations. Because the tile has no grain to align, offcuts stay usable and any single tile can be selectively replaced later. Non Directional is one of the laying methods Interface lists alongside Ashlar, Brick, Herringbone, Monolithic and Quarter Turn.
Is Mission Zero still Interface’s goal?
No. Mission Zero was the 2020 zero-impact goal and Interface states it beat it ahead of schedule. Climate Take Back is likewise written in the past tense. The current commitment is carbon negative by 2040 under the Avoid, Reduce, Store, Inspire framework.
Should a project specify Interface or Burmatex?
They sit at opposite ends of the same market. Interface is the global option with the deepest environmental documentation, a very wide collection range and stocked QuickShip colours. Burmatex is a British manufacturer headquartered in Ossett with a tight contract-focused range. The right answer depends on whether the project is being judged on sustainability evidence or on contract performance and lead time.
Who provides the quotation for an Interface floor?
The specialist contractor does, after the survey. Surface Specialists arranges the survey and matches you to the right contractor from our network, but the written quotation and the contract for the work sit with the contractor who carries it out. We are tied to no manufacturer, so if another brand suits the building better the contractor will say so.
Key takeaways
- Interface’s current environmental commitment is carbon negative by 2040, backed by interim 2030 science-based targets. Mission Zero, Climate Take Back and Carbon Neutral Floors are all retired.
- The carbon story sits in the backing. CQuest Bio is now standard on every Interface carpet tile and CQuest BioX carries the higher concentration.
- Non-directional laying cuts installation waste to just 1-2 per cent and allows selective tile replacement, which is the original argument for the tile format.
- TacTiles replaces wet adhesive with adhesive dots and carries a 90 per cent lower carbon footprint than traditional adhesive.
- nora rubber flooring from Interface covers noraplan, norament and noravant. It earns its place in healthcare and education on acoustics and underfoot comfort.
- Cradle to Cradle Certified v3.1 Silver, EPDs, HPDs, FloorScore and GREENGUARD Gold on LVT are the credentials that get Interface written into a specification.
Talk to us about an Interface floor
Tell us the building, the traffic it takes and the targets the floor has to hit. We match you with a specialist contractor from our network and we arrange a free site survey. The contractor assesses the substrate, specifies the system and provides a written quotation. Browse the full commercial flooring brands hub or the wider manufacturer index to compare the field first.