Green Buildings

Ford is a leader in green building and is committed to the sustainable design of our facilities and landscapes using the basic principles of resource effectiveness, lifecycle assessment, health, safety and environmental performance. In the past, we have included green building design principles into our buildings on a case-by-case basis. To help standardize and broaden our efforts in this area, we are currently developing corporate specifications for building new facilities that will focus on sustainability. These specifications require that new manufacturing facilities be designed and constructed using the best practices Ford has developed at plants all over the world. These standards will act to replicate best practices across our global operations and create efficient and sustainable plants. Some examples of best engineering practices that will be implemented in our new facilities include:

• Advanced water-treatment technologies, to allow the reuse of water and reduce water-supply requirements, water discharges, use of treatment chemicals and the generation of solid waste
• Energy-saving technologies, such as advanced control of air compressors, high-efficiency lights, variable-drive electric motors, skylights and daylighting, and white roofing materials
• Advanced paint shop technologies, to reduce emissions, energy use and waste, including wet- on-wet paint and advanced automated paint application equipment

Ford is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and a supporter of its green building rating system, known as LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The LEED system includes a series of standards used for certifying buildings as Silver, Gold or Platinum, and it is recognized as the industry standard for green building. Ford employees who are involved in the design, operation and maintenance of commercial and manufacturing facilities have obtained LEED Accredited Professional certification, which demonstrates their proficiency in the application of the LEED rating systems. Having this expertise in-house will continue to strengthen our knowledge and the speed at which we apply environmentally sustainable technologies and processes at our facilities.

Ford is evaluating existing buildings to achieve LEED certification. The LEED v3 Green Buildings and Operations Maintenance Rating System, or LEED GBOM, helps building operators measure operations, improvements and maintenance on a consistent scale, with the goal of maximizing operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts. The standards are intended to promote healthy and environmentally friendly buildings that are also durable, affordable and high-performing by focusing on six key areas: sustainable site management, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere impacts, materials and resource use, indoor environmental quality and innovations in operations.

Ford piloted the LEED Existing Building (LEED-EB) certification process on Corporate Crossings, an office building that Ford developed in 1999 in Dearborn, Michigan. In 2011 we achieved LEED-EB Silver Certification for this building, the first Ford Motor Company building certified under the LEED-EB program. We are now in the process of seeking LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) certification for our Research and Innovation Center (RIC) in Dearborn. In March 2013, RIC entered the “performance period” of the certification process. During this period, actual building performance is measured for at least three months, after all of the changes we are making to the building and its operation to obtain certification credits are implemented. These changes include energy-efficiency technology upgrades, operational policies and staff training. We hope to have the RIC facility LEED-EBOM certified in 2014.

Based on these experiences, Ford is evaluating the certification of the balance of our portfolio of commercial office buildings through the USGBC’s LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance Volume program. The LEED Volume Program was designed by the USGBC to meet industry needs for a streamlined approach to certifying similar buildings and spaces. The program, through the use of prototype standards, allows organizations to simplify the LEED documentation for multiple buildings or spaces of a similar type or management.

Our goal is to assure that the green building practices, procedures, policies and initiatives we have already developed will meet USGBC LEED-EB standards and help create a comprehensive sustainability program for our portfolio of commercial office buildings.

In 2012, Ford installed porous pavement systems in the parking areas of our Louisville Assembly Plant in Louisville, Kentucky. These systems reduce the amount of stormwater that runs off the site and into municipal storm sewer systems by allowing rainwater to infiltrate through porous pavement blocks and into the ground below. This project will help to reduce high flows in combined storm and sewage sewer systems during storm events and the resulting potential for sewage overflows into local stream and river systems. This project received an award from Ford’s Environment Quality Office in 2012. We also use porous pavement systems at our Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, as described below.

Ford is also working to advance green building practices through partnerships with our building-related service providers. These partnerships help to educate service providers and provide a forum to exchange information on the concepts of sustainable design. For example, we have held training sessions on site selection, water efficiency, energy-use reductions, sustainable materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

We are also working with our dealers to help them improve the environmental performance of their facilities. For more information on our work to help “green” Ford and Lincoln dealerships, please see below and the Dealers section.