In an important step in Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment, a Seattle Amazon Fresh location received a Zero Carbon Certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), becoming the world’s first grocery store—and Amazon’s first building—to receive the certification. ILFI awarded the certification in September, and is currently evaluating four additional Amazon locations, which are on track to achieve this validation of their carbon-reduction efforts.
The 35,000-square-foot store opened in 2022 on Aurora Avenue in North Seattle, and was built with sustainability in mind. Its many climate-forward features include a natural-refrigerant-based refrigeration system, all-electric kitchen and hot water heating systems, electric-vehicle charging for customers, and low-carbon concrete floors. These features are hiding in plain sight throughout the store, and customers may not even realize the floors they walk on have a lower carbon footprint, for example—yet, the store has saved over 100 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) compared to an industry standard grocery store since it opened.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the team and everyone involved in this achievement,” said Tony Hoggett, senior vice president of Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores. “At Amazon, we’re building a best-in-class grocery shopping experience, and part of that is bringing customers more sustainable options across our stores. Enacting initiatives that support Amazon’s commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040, like the Zero Carbon Certification, are a win for our planet.”
ILFI’s Zero Carbon Certification is a globally applicable standard mandating combustion-free systems, reductions in operational and embodied carbon impacts of a building, and measured achievement through demonstrated data. Its certification is a highly rigorous standard for validating building decarbonization efforts—to achieve it, the Amazon Fresh store operations were reviewed for 12 consecutive months.
“We’re thrilled to see this leadership from Amazon,” said Lindsay Baker, CEO of ILFI. “A grocery store showing how to be accountable for all its carbon—from construction and materials to operations—is impactful from both a customer and industry perspective.”
In addition to the Seattle Amazon Fresh location, three Los Angeles-area Amazon Go locations, an Amazon Same-Day site in Sacramento, and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle are currently on track to receive Zero Carbon Certification from ILFI.
