Good As Gold: Boeing Everett Delivery Center Earns LEED Silver Environmental Award

This year, an unprecedented number of commercial airplanes will be delivered to airline customers around the world from the delivery center in Everett, Wash., located next to where the majority of Boeing’s widebody airplanes are built. In April 2014, as the Center celebrated its one-year anniversary, it also had something else to celebrate -- receiving the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

LEED certification, administered by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, symbolizes best-in-class building design, construction and operations, with an emphasis on sustainable materials and energy and water use reduction. The council has four levels of certification: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The Everett Delivery Center is one of more than 13 Boeing buildings worldwide designated as LEED certified.

“From design concepts and construction to day-to-day operations, Boeing built this facility with environmental considerations in mind,” said Tom Maxwell, vice president of Everett Delivery Center Operations, Paint and 747/767/777 Deliveries. “To be recognized at the highest levels of environmental certification is a tremendously rewarding accomplishment.”

Designing the new facility involved close collaboration between the center's management and facilities teams, Boeing’s Site Services organizational as well as Seattle-based design firm DLR Group and Skanska, the building contractor. Working together, the team was able to achieve LEED Gold certification for the 180,000-square-foot (16,700-square-meter) building. Characteristics that contribute to LEED Gold certification include lower energy and water use, natural lighting and the use of recyclable and locally-sourced materials, along with the reuse of packing materials.

Boeing is increasingly seeking opportunities to incorporate energy conservation technologies and sustainable materials into new building designs. The company also is committed to improving the environmental performance of its products and operations, including establishing new five-year targets that include zero growth for its greenhouse gas emissions, water intake, solid waste to landfill and hazardous waste generation, even during a time of significant business growth and expansion.