FedEx to Green Facilities

FedEx (Memphis, Tenn.) announced it will aim to secure LEED certification for all its new FedEx Express facilities in the U.S. The company’s Las Vegas facility gained a LEED gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council and its world headquarters in Memphis were also awarded the LEED Gold standard under USGBC’s LEED for Existing Buildings rating system.

Design elements at the Las Vegas building including low-flow plumbing fixtures, which reduce indoor water use by 49 percent, skylights and evaporative cooling, which 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 says.

FedEx also runs a EarthSmart Solutions program, which 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,” says Don Colvin, FedEx Express’s vp of properties and facilities.