Amazon operates sustainable ‘wooden wonder’ delivery station
Amazon has opened a delivery station mostly built from wood and lower-carbon materials in Indiana.
As part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge to operate more sustainably and be net zero carbon across its entire business by 2040, the online giant is running a delivery station known as "DII5" in Elkhart, Ind., which is also referred to as the "wooden wonder." Packages are shipped to Amazon delivery stations from neighboring fulfillment and sortation centers, loaded into delivery vehicles, and delivered to customers.
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Amazon prioritized bio-based materials for the facility’s construction, with wood studs instead of metal ones at interior partitions, wood fiber insulation instead of fiberglass, and an ultra-light, lower-carbon alternative to standard drywall.
The retailer also used lower-carbon, bio-based finishes for the acoustic ceilings and flooring and salvaged wood for 43 desks used by the site operations team.
Heat pumps reduce carbon emissions and don’t require burning fossil fuels on-site, while “air curtains,” which prevent outdoor air from entering the building, are intended to reduce air-conditioning usage and boost employee comfort.
In addition, Amazon says the clerestory windows in the warehouse and the glazed glass in the office block bring in enough daylight to allow for less electrical lighting and the interior LED lighting is designed to reduce power usage.
Other sustainable features include a water reclamation system and more than 170 electric-vehicle charging stalls located outside. In total, Amazon says the facility features more than 40 technologies designed to reduce resource usage and shrink its carbon footprint.
"We have experimented with and implemented a lot of sustainability initiatives over the years," said Daniel Mallory, VP of global realty, Amazon, in a corporate blog post. "DII5 continues that effort by taking a culmination of a lot of big ideas not just in how we operate our facilities, but in how we build them. And it’s going to help us as we steadily climb toward our sustainability goals."
According to Amazon, its ultimate goal in opening the facility is to identify the approaches that are most effective and best suited to be implemented across its building network. The retailer is currently scaling up some of these strategies in other buildings.
In developing the facility, Amazon worked with partners including general contractor Graycor, design architect and sustainability lead ZGF, architect of record Atlantic AE, Sterling Structural, Ozinga, TimberHP, and local manufacturer Arborwood. Climate Pledge Fund company CarbonPure provided the lower-carbon concrete technology.
