The City of Tacoma announced Wednesday the Tacoma Landfill Recovery & Transfer Center has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification by the Green Building Certification Institute.

According to City officials, an average of 165,000 tons of garbage goes through the state-of-the-art, 75,000-square-foot facility annually. A portion of the material is recovered and recycled, while the rest is trucked to the LRI Landfill in Graham.

The Green Building Certification Institute cited the following factors in awarding the LEED Gold certification: 40 percent energy cost savings with improved thermal envelope, reduced interior and exterior lighting power density, daylighting controls and on-site solar panels; 32 percent of the building materials were manufactured using recycled materials; 97 percent (more than 15,000 tons) of the construction waste was diverted from the landfill. Materials diverted included concrete, asphalt, steel, non-ferrous metals, wood, gypsum debris and co-mingled recyclable materials; 51 percent reduction of water use by collecting and reusing roof rainwater for use in toilets, using low-flow plumbing fixtures and water-efficient landscaping; two percent glazing factor (interior illumination) in 99.66 percent of all regularly-occupied spaces, using skylights, translucent panels and glazing in doors; and indoor environment quality using increased ventilation of occupied spaces and use of low-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, coating, carpet systems and composite wood materials.

The $27 million facility, which opened last year and is located at 3510 S. Mullen St., was designed by HDR Engineering. JE Dunn was the project’s contractor. JR Miller & Associates was the architect and structural engineer.