JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Corp. has obtained its first LEED green building certification from the U.S. Green Business Council.
The LEED® certified building is a newly constructed 22,500-square-foot division headquarters in Florence, South Carolina, which includes 32 offices, a large conference room, a fitness center and a dispatch center.
“CSX is committed to implementing innovative and sustainable practices throughout the company’s network,” said W. Wayne Bostic, AIA, CSX director of facility design. “Reducing our carbon footprint is a major focus of our everyday operations and that translates to constructing facilities which are environmentally-friendly.”
The building, constructed by Breaking Ground Contracting and the construction firm Dana B. Kenyon Company, includes a 6,200-square-foot command center with a raised supervisor’s platform and technology equipment for 10 dispatchers.
To obtain LEED certification, the building’s design and construction met a number of requirements set forth in the LEED for New Construction Registered Project Checklist, which governs the details of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, as well as innovation and design process.
“CSX takes environmental stewardship very seriously and we are proud to partner with a company which shares our vision,” said Mary Tappouni, president of Breaking Ground Contracting, a Jacksonville-based general contracting firm specializing in sustainable LEED construction, pre-construction, design/build and construction management. “As CSX continues to become the industry leader in LEED certified construction, we are working together to obtain additional certifications for several buildings.”
CSX’s commitment to the environment extends to all of its operations. Since 2000, CSX has invested more than $1.5 billion to purchase new Tier I and II clean air locomotives and modernize existing locomotives to further reduce emissions and fuel consumption. CSX has also entered into innovative public-private partnerships around its network to expand the use of new ultra-low emissions GenSet locomotives that dramatically reduce emissions and meet stringent noise level requirements. These changes, combined with environmentally conscious operations around the network, have helped CSX significantly reduce its carbon emissions.
CSX was the first railroad to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Leaders Program, and in 2009 voluntarily committed to reduce CO2 emissions by 8 percent per revenue ton-mile by 2011. CSX also was the charter railroad member of EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership, which promotes voluntary reductions in fuel consumption and emissions.
In 2007, CSX became the first railroad to win the SmartWay Excellence Award, which recognizes freight carriers that have made significant contributions to protecting the environment.
