How Amazon's HQ2 Proposal Fulfills Pentagon City's Sustainability Guidelines

• January 21st 2022

by Nena Perry-Brown

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As Arlington County continues to review Amazon's proposed headquarters in Northern Virginia, UrbanTurf is taking a look at some of the sustainability practices the development will employ.

HQ2 is expected to deliver over three million square feet of office space in three buildings with ground-floor retail near S Fern Street and 12th Street S (map), another 24,000 square feet of retail across three "pavilion" buildings, and a nearly 350 foot-tall corkscrew-shaped office amenity building ("The Helix"). There will also be 2.75 acres of open space and nearly 2,000 below-grade parking spaces.

Because the site falls under the Pentagon City Sector Plan, the project must adhere to several sustainability principles, including biophilic and passive building design, low carbon output, and high-standard stormwater management. 

HQ2 has been designed to qualify for LEED Platinum certification, and is also meant to use 100% renewable energy via both on- and off-site sources. The buildings will have EnergyStar scores of at least 90, and will have 10% less embodied carbon than a typical building, as a result of building and insulation materials used. While the development is supposed to comply with the International Living Future Institute's standards for Zero Carbon certification, Amazon is not yet committing to achieving this certification (which requires 12 months of data on the buildings once operational). Amazon has also pledged to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

The Arlington County Site Plan Review Committee will consider the construction and transportation aspects of the proposal next week.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how-hq2-proposal-at-pen-place-fulfills-pentagon-citys-sustainability-guidel/19172.