Construction of Amazon Australia’s first standalone sort centre in Craigieburn, Melbourne is nearing completion. Located at Goodman Group’s new Amaroo Business Park, the 15,600 square metre site is in the final stage of internal fit-out and will be operational in time for the holidays.
Amazon sort centres are where already-picked-and-packed customer orders from fulfilment centres are further sorted by final destination, and then consolidated and shipped to last mile sites for delivery to customers.
Once fully operational, the site will create around 200 local jobs, ranging from entry level positions that will sort customer orders to specialist roles including human resources, workplace health and safety to team leader positions.
As part of Amazon’s commitment to be net-zero carbon across its business by 2040, the building is powered 100% by electricity, avoiding the use of fossil fuels for its heating and hot water systems.
It features the largest solar panel system at an Amazon site in Australia with 3,078 solar panels covering 7,121 square metres of roof. The solar panels have the capacity to achieve 1.4MW of solar power, expected to generate 80% of the site’s energy needs.
There is also 12 electric vehicle charging stations with the capacity to install 30 in the future, making up 20% of the site’s total car parks, and a rainwater recycling system connecting to toilets and irrigation, water efficient sanitary fixtures and fittings to reduce mains water consumption.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) is controlled by a building management system (BMS) that ensures a comfortable working environment for employees at the same time as reducing unnecessary energy consumption. LED lighting adjusts according to natural light availability and building occupancy, and indoor air quality is constantly monitored.
Commenting on what this new site means for Australian customers and the Victorian economy, Amazon Australia director of operations, Mindy Espidio-Garcia said, “We’re thrilled to open our first Australian sort centre here in Melbourne, the home of our very first fulfilment centre in 2017.
“Our continued investment in the state is a signal of our commitment to benefit both customers in the region with faster delivery speeds, as well as in the Victorian economy through the creation of thousands of local jobs for residents across our logistics sites. The opening of this site will further enhance our logistics capability, enabling faster delivery for the thousands of Australian businesses who sell their products on amazon.com.au.”