Zappos.com, Inc. has been awarded LEED Gold certification for New Construction and Major Renovation, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is also internationally accepted as the standard for design, construction, and operation of high performance “green” buildings. The LEED system promotes a holistic approach to sustainability by recognizing five areas of human environmental health: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

“We are excited and humbled to have earned this prestigious certification for our new headquarters. The benefits of building to LEED standards will be enjoyed by our Zappos family, the community, and the environment”

Zappos.com earned LEED Gold for New Construction and Major Renovation by renovating the 300,000 square foot Las Vegas City Hall; a staple of the downtown skyline. The Zappos headquarters relocated from Henderson, Nevada in September 2013 in order to blend Zappos’ unique culture of customer service with that of the urban Las Vegas community, while also considering the environmental impact of Zappos’ presence in the southwest.

The project was awarded points toward LEED Gold Certification in the following ways:

  • A 25% reduction in energy use against the baseline consumption
  • Landscape irrigation and domestic water fixture improvements yielding a 57% reduction in water consumption against the baseline consumption
  • More than 20,000 yards of low-emitting, C2C certified Shaw EcoWorx carpeting, which contains 44.4% recycled content
  • A waste management plan during construction that led to over a 75% total waste diversion rate
  • 48 preferred parking spaces for Low Emitting and Fuel Efficient (LEFE) vehicles, as well as four electric car charging stations
  • A lighting power density (LPD) of 0.57 Watts per square foot-nearly half the average office LPD of 1.0 Watt per square foot
  • Allocation of less than 100 square feet per employee, therefore less energy used per square foot per employee (kWh/ ft2/employee)
  • Enhanced Commissioning (Cx) to verify that systems operate according to planned requirements (typically yields 5-16% additional improvements in efficiency)
  • Herman Miller furniture in workspaces and conference rooms comprised of total pre-and post-consumer recycled content ranging between 24 and 67%

In September and October of 2013, Zappos smoothly transitioned 1,500 employees to the newly renovated, 300,000 square foot headquarters over a period of 40 days. Brad Tomm, senior manager of campus operations and sustainability, managed logistics for the move and also spearheaded the campaign for LEED certification with the assistance of The Cadmus Group, a social good consulting firm. “We are excited and humbled to have earned this prestigious certification for our new headquarters. The benefits of building to LEED standards will be enjoyed by our Zappos family, the community, and the environment”, said Tomm.

Established in 1999, Zappos.com is a subsidiary of Amazon.com