Global headquarters meets high environmental standards
Published 01-10-12
Submitted by UPS
UPS (NYSE:UPS) has become the first major package delivery and logistics company to earn Gold Status certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) along with an Energy Star certification for its corporate headquarters complex.
The Corporate Office is just the first UPS building to be assessed for certification. “Our plan is to assess all new facilities and some existing facilities to see if they qualify for LEED and Energy Star evaluations,” said Scott Wicker, UPS chief sustainability officer. “At UPS, we manage our assets as effectively as possible and continue to find ways to improve in all aspects of our business.”
The corporate offices of UPS (NYSE:UPS) won the LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The Energy Star certification was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for meeting strict energy performance standards.
In May 2011, UPS submitted the corporate office to the USGBC for review to determine its status as an environmentally friendly building. Currently, there are fewer than 9,000 LEED-certified building projects in the world.
UPS engineers evaluated five main elements necessary for LEED certification:
The Energy Star award certifies the UPS headquarters uses less energy, is less expensive to operate and generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than most similar buildings in the United States. To qualify for the Energy Star rating, a building or manufacturing plant must earn a score of 75 or higher on the EPA’s 1-100 energy performance scale, indicating that the facility performs better than at least 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide.
“These certifications are a noteworthy achievement because they show that independent third parties have determined UPS’s main headquarters is a high-performance structure,” Wicker added. “In 1994, when this building was completed, it was built to rigorous environmental standards that were ahead of their time. LEED and Energy Star show we continue to be as energy-efficient behind our desks as we are behind the wheels of our famous brown trucks.”
An interactive graphic of the UPS corporate office can be found at www.blog.ups.com.
UPS’s corporate headquarters reduces environmental impact in a number of ways:
UPS pursues a wide range of socially responsible and sustainable business practices designed to reduce its impact on the environment and improve communities around the world. Learn more about UPS's responsible business practices at www.ups.com/responsibility.
UPS is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves 10.6 million customers daily in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.
For more information, please visit UPS.com or the company’s Sustainability website, ups.com/sustainability. View and subscribe to UPS Horizons, our sustainability newsletter, by visiting ups.com/sustainabilitynewsletter.
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