91视频

When Oregon legislators decided in 2009 that waste processors in the state would have to meet higher material recovery standards, one of those processors, Waste Management, decided to go for the gold.

One of the company’s facilities in Oregon is its Tualatin Valley Waste Recovery landfill in Washington County. The landfill handles more than 1,000 tons of construction and demolition debris per day.

With an eye toward upgrading its Hillsboro operations to meet new standards, Waste Management set its sights on a new facility worthy of earning a gold rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building program. The company hired URS Corp. to come up with a design that would help it meet its sustainability goal while introducing new, innovative ways of processing debris.

Installing an entirely transparent roof, for example, maximized natural lighting to a point that saved 50 percent more energy than using a more traditional roofing material. A 140,000-gallon cistern underground serves as a collection point for rainwater. The collected water will be used for on-site dust control and for fire suppression in emergency situations.

When it came to creativity, URS started by looking in Waste Management’s backyard, using crushed glass, concrete and asphalt that had been dropped off at the landfill as backfill for the new facility.

Innovation also came into play with the exterior of the building, which is basically a pre-engineered structure that was turned inside out. By placing columns and supports on the outside of the building and flattening interior walls, URS found a way to minimize dust accumulation inside the facility.

While Waste Management ended up with a new building, Washington County also walked away a winner. The construction of the facility created 100 jobs for the building industry while 20 permanent positions were created once recycling operations went into full swing.