The FedEx World Service Center & Administration Building is LEED Silver certified, and in addition to the 10,000 sf greenroof which connects to the Cargo Facility (with its 165,000 sf greenroof) and the FedEx Vehicle Maintenance Building (with its 3,170 sf greenroof), sustainable design features also include: Permeable pavers used for walkways; Minimum of 14% energy cost savings; Construction IAQ Management Plan ? During Construction & Before Occupancy; At least 75% of space with daylight and views. “The new FedEx Cargo Facility at O?Hare Airport in Chicago is an impressive design response to the sustainable vision promoted by the City of Chicago?s O?Hare Modernization Program (OMP). The 363,320-gross-square-foot development includes four buildings: the World Service Center (WSC)/administration building, aircraft maintenance building, vehicle maintenance building and sort building. A 300-foot pedestrian bridge connects the WSC with the sort building, which contains the material handling systems and sortation matrix as well as support spaces.

“Located next to an active runway, the design team sought a roofing system that would meet the challenging demands of an airport environment. The roof needed to be wind resistant and leak proof, fall under a unified warranty (covering water tightness, success of plants, and overburden removal and replacement), and allow for easy identification and quick repair so that FedEx operations would never be compromised.

“The optimal green roof system was chosen to be a Sarnafil PVC (thermo-plastic) roof membrane with Xero Flor Vegetated Mat. The waterproof membrane layer was designed for Factory Mutual (FM) 1-35 data sheet standards, with FM tested 1-60 adhered roofing assembly and an integrated conductive layer for electronic leak detection,” (Frisch, 2011).

The connected FedEx Cargo Relocation green roof is the largest freestanding green roof in the Chicago metro area and the largest at an airport worldwide at 165,000 sf.

According to the Chicago Dept. of Aviation, there is currently 229,355 square feet of green roof space at O’Hare International Airport, with an additional 108,816 square feet proposed as of February, 2011.