The FINANCIAL -- UPS has become the first major package delivery and logistics company to earn Gold Status certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design along with an Energy Star certification for its corporate headquarters complex, according to UPS.

The Corporate Office is just the first UPS building to be assessed for certification."Our plan is to assess all new facilities and some existing facilities to see if they qualify for LEED and Energy Star evaluations," said Scott Wicker, UPS chief sustainability officer.

The corporate offices of UPS won the LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council . The Energy Star certification was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency for meeting strict energy performance standards.

In May 2011, UPS submitted the corporate office to the USGBC for review to determine its status as an environmentally friendly building. Currently, there are fewer than 9,000 LEED-certified building projects in the world.

The Energy Star award certifies the UPS headquarters uses less energy, is less expensive to operate and generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than most similar buildings in the United States To qualify for the Energy Star rating, a building or manufacturing plant must earn a score of 75 or higher on the EPA's 1-100 energy performance scale, indicating that the facility performs better than at least 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide.

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