FedEx has announced that it aims to secure LEED certification for all its new FedEx Express facilities in the U.S.
FedEx Express said it was adopting the standard on the heels of its Las Vegas facility gaining the Gold rating from LEED accreditation body the U.S. Green Building Council. Recently FedEx’s world headquarters in Memphis were also awarded the LEED Gold standard under USGBC’s LEED for Existing Buildings rating system.
The Las Vegas building reduces indoor water use by 49 percent through low-flow plumbing fixtures, FedEx said. Design elements such as skylights and evaporative cooling help the building reduce energy use by 42 percent compared to a building without those features. More than three-quarters of its regularly occupied rooms are sunlit to reduce the need for electric lights, FedEx said.
While the Las Vegas facility was being built, 86 percent of all construction waste was recycled or re-used, the company added.
“LEED Gold certification is a significant accomplishment for our Las Vegas facility, which includes a package-sorting warehouse, vehicle maintenance bay and an office building. That’s a lot of variables to work through," said Stephen Mangin, project architect with FedEx Express.
"In addition to the water, energy and waste reduction benefits, the natural lighting throughout is a huge workplace environment bonus," Mangin said.
FedEx said it reviewed the LEED certification to ensure it met the company’s own environmental goals, set through its EarthSmart Solutions program. That initiative encourages employees to find ways to take the company’s environmental performance beyond industry standards.
“This certification is third-party verification that FedEx is being a good steward of the planet,” said Don Colvin, FedEx Express’s vice president of properties and facilities.
Last April FedEx unveiled the largest solar rooftop installation in the country, a 2.42 MW array at its FedEx Ground distribution hub in Woodbridge, N.J.
It followed this in October with its second solar-powered hub for FedEx Express, this time at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany.
