In October 2013, the 35,000-square-foot (3,251-square-meter) the Boeing Salt Lake site building, used for painting the 787-9 horizontal stabilizer, received LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

To receive the LEED Silver certification, the building was designed to include numerous large windows, which are not commonly used in paint facilities; a rainwater collection system; recycled and salvaged building materials and enhanced environmental controls. But what makes the building stand out are the 3,600 rooftop solar tubes that provide heating for a portion of the paint operations. This addition also makes it the first Boeing paint facility to be partially heated by solar energy. Located on the roof of the building, thousands of solar tubes collect energy from the sun, which is used to heat water that is piped to the curing process.

The team expects that the elements incorporated to achieve LEED certification, including the solar power tubes, will lower energy use and operating costs. For the curing process, team members expect energy consumption to be reduced by seven percent.