Amazon’s zero carbon certified fulfilment centre is a global first

One of Amazon’s same-day site in Sacramento California, SCA5 is set to become the world’s first-ever zero carbon fulfilment centre as certified by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the company website stated.

“This new facility represents a leap forward in sustainable construction for our global operations, which we intend to use as a model for future buildings across Amazon, as we continue working towards meeting our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040,” said Kara Hurst, Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon. “This facility is great for our customers – letting us deliver packages within just a few hours – and also great for the community and our planet because it was built to reduce its environmental impact. To reach Zero Carbon Certification and minimise our impact, the facility was built using more sustainable building materials like lower carbon concrete, fully electrified HVAC system and high-efficiency material handling equipment. It is powered with 100% renewable energy and uses smart irrigation systems that sense moisture and rain to reduce water usage.”

As part of the process of building this new same-day site, Amazon has been able to significantly reduce its environmental impact by making the building all-electric, decreasing the site’s energy consumption; eliminating fossil fuel combustion from normal operations; and decreasing the embodied carbon emitted throughout the building materials supply chain. To preserve energy use, the company added insulation to the roof and walls to help reduce heating and cooling energy use. It also installed a white roof, which reflects sunlight and reduces heat absorption, reducing the amount of energy used in the cooling system. Amazon also used high efficiency motors, low friction belts and low-friction rollers to reduce energy use from material handling equipment. The site will be powered by 100% renewable energy. The building is solar-ready and designed to have a rooftop solar array that can generate as much as 80% of the facility’s annual energy needs, with the balance to be supported by Amazon’s off-site renewable energy projects.