Amazon's sustainability plans for its offices

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Responding to Amazon's sustainability, leading architecture firm NBBJ has unveiled a cutting-edge green design for the site of its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

According to Business Green , Amazon seeks to “infuse nature into the urban landscape and create a unique, sustainable environment,” with integrated gardens and buildings that will use all-electric heating and cooling powered by clean energy from a solar farm in nearby Pittsylvania County. .

Called PenPlace, the site encompasses 2.8 million square feet of office space across three 22-story buildings designed to meet LEED Platinum standards, the highest certification issued by the U.S. Green Building Council.


How will ecological design work?
An area known as “The Helix” will encourage employees to connect with nature, the firm said. A double helix-shaped space, evoking natural elements “from the geometry of our own DNA to the elemental form of galaxies, weather patterns, pine cones and seashells,” will be filled with gardens dotted with native trees and artwork inspired by nature.

The site will also include an Ecuador Mobile Number List amphitheater overlooking green space, a forest, retail pavilions, restaurants, a dog park and a daycare.

NBBJ.
Bike lanes and sidewalks will encourage low-carbon modes of transportation, while office buildings will be equipped with entrances and facilities for cyclists. The boarding area will be underground to minimize the presence of motor vehicles.

PenPlace will join Amazon's current headquarters in Seattle, where the tech giant, which has made a series of huge investments in clean energy and transportation in recent years, as well as pledging to become a net- zero carbon organization by 2040 , It has also placed a centerpiece inspired by nature, in a green area known as 'The spheres'.

Meanwhile, construction is underway on two green office towers in the Metropolitan Park section of the complex.
               


The technology giant's investment
In December, Amazon had already transferred more than 1,600 employees. The Arlington County Board more than two years ago signed off on developing the site, which has been called National Landing and includes neighborhoods in Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard. The Arlington headquarters is expected to house 25,000 employees.

Workers.  Amazon's sustainability plans for its offices
Amazon has said it intends to invest more than $2.5 billion in the county over the next decade. The expected influx into National Landing has already inflated home prices in the area and sparked several new transportation projects, including the expansion of Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express services.

One advocacy organization has estimated that the new headquarters will generate a $4 billion boom in public and private investments.

The tech company, which has been criticized in Seattle as a domineering neighbor that has overlooked the side effects of growth such as gentrification and homelessness, has taken steps to win over Northern Virginia.