Republic Services: Sustainable Facilities
Republic’s commitment to sustainable practices extends throughout their operations and into their facilities. When Republic builds new facilities, they adhere to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. This includes using sustainable materials to facilitate energy and water conservation, as well as design principles to enhance employee and guest comfort. With these standards at the forefront of their facility projects, Republic is making their working spaces more environmentally responsible and welcoming to all.
Facilities Standardization
At the end of 2015, Republic opened the Southern Nevada Recycling Center, the largest and smartest residential recycling center in North America.
Sustainability was a priority throughout the design and construction of the facility. Located in the City of North Las Vegas, more than 75% of the 110,000 square foot building was made from recycled or remanufactured steel. The building captures the area’s abundant sunshine with 1,776 solar energy panels placed on the rooftop. This system is expected to generate enough renewable energy to fulfill 15% of the building’s power requirements.
Outside the building, the natural desert landscape was preserved and repurposed for flood channel mitigation. Inside the facility, Republic added automatic low-flow water fixtures to reduce water consumption by more than 20%. They included a learning center, which incorporates sustainable materials into every facet of the space and educational displays, for customers and community members to experience and enjoy.
Republic is using the same rigorous environmental standards at each of their new construction projects, including their hauling facilities. This involves various environmentally responsible features, such as LED exterior lighting, high efficiency gas boilers to fuel radiant floor heating systems, and high efficiency gas furnaces for heating, ventilation and cooling throughout the building. Republic is also conserving water with low consumption flush toilets, high efficiency water coolers and high efficiency gas water heaters.
Republic’s flagship hauling facility for environmental responsibility is located in Elyria, Ohio. At this new facility, Republic was able to repurpose more than 100 tons of materials into building construction and design. In addition, they prioritized the use of materials that could be harvested within 500 miles of the construction site, including wall sheeting, roofing materials and structural beams.
Customer Resource Centers
Everything Republic Services does is for their customers. To make it easier for their customers to do business with them, Republic opened three Customer Resource Centers in 2016, located in Charlotte, NC, Indianapolis, IN, and Phoenix, AZ. These centers are equipped with modern communications capabilities that enable customers across the country to interact with Republic on their terms.
Republic has incorporated sustainable principles throughout each of these facilities. In these Centers, 67% of the materials used within the facilities are made from recycled or reclaimed elements, to include office furniture. The work spaces were planned with advanced ergonomics and employee wellness in mind, including sit-to-stand desks and outdoor views. The facilities also uses Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting throughout, as well as automated lighting controls to conserve energy when lighting is not needed.
