Apple Environmental Responsibility Report

95 percent of the material from
the demolished buildings at the site
was recycled or reused in the new
Apple campus.
Apple Park is populated by over 9000
trees, including more than 7000 newly
planted shade and fruit trees.
We’re building the greenest corporate headquarters
on the planet.
Apple Park in Cupertino is on track to be the largest LEED Platinum–certified
office building in North America—and that includes facilities dedicated to
energy-intensive research and development. It’s powered by 100 percent
renewable energy, 75 percent of which is generated onsite by a 17-megawatt
rooftop solar installation and 4 megawatts of baseload biogas fuel cells. Any
additional energy required is drawn from the California Flats Solar Project
in nearby Monterey County. When the building has less use—on weekends,
for example—it will actually generate renewable energy that’s delivered to
Pacific Gas and Electric for use in the public grid. Over 80 percent of the
new campus is open space with more than 9000 drought-tolerant trees.
Most of them are oak, and many are shade and fruit trees. We also reclaimed
old-growth oak trees from California landscapes where they would otherwise
have been destroyed. To conserve water, the new campus uses 75 percent
recycled nonpotable water to care for its dense forest and to run other onsite
facilities where fresh water isn’t required.
In 2016, Apple opened a new 38-acre campus in Austin, Texas, housing
more than 5300 employees. The project is expected to be certified to
the Gold level of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system.
The development’s environmental design features include LED lighting,
high-efficiency water fixtures, stormwater detention ponds and wetland
treatment, and native drought-tolerant plants, which will be irrigated using
a 600,000-gallon rainwater cistern. Together, the environmental design
features are expected to save over 6,692,000 kilowatt-hours, 26,700 therms
of energy, and 4,336,200 gallons of water each year, compared to local
building code requirements. During construction, 94 percent of building
demolition waste was either reused or recycled. In addition, the Austin
campus contains a 1.4-megawatt distributed rooftop solar installation, which
is anticipated to generate up to 1,959,900 kilowatt-hours of renewable
energy each year. Any additional electricity needs will be covered by the local
utility’s 100 percent renewable green energy program. The campus’s central
plant also makes use of thermal ice storage, making ice at night to be used
for daytime cooling, reducing the draw on the power grid during peak times.
Environmental Responsibility Report | 2017 Progress Report, Covering FY2016
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