GYR for Vendors

The City of Fort Lauderdale strives to utilize environmentally preferred products and services. From small to large purchases, we try to keep our resource consumption lean. You will see that in the recycled content promotional materials that our Sustainability Division commissions, all the way up to the Energy Star qualified components of our FXE Maintenance Facility, and to the the geothermal heaters in our Carter Park pool.

We have begun the process of formalizing our commitment to environmentally conscious purchasing. This may include formulation of a green procurement preference program, a life cycle costing procedure, a sustainable buildings program, and formal requirements for reduction of gasoline and electrical energy consumption, as well as other so called "green purchasing" components. This follows in the tradition of our Federal government and actions enacted by many states, counties and municipalities, as well as action by the private sector.

Changes to our existing procurement practices would include establishing environmental standards for any solicitations, enacting an environmental screening process during solicitation and selection, and incorporating environmental verification into any renewals. This in no way eliminates vendors of traditional products from submitting consideration or from doing business with us. Instead, the way we evaluate our purchases would change to include additional factors.

The benefit to the environment is clear, but we also anticipate benefits to our neighbors and to our employees via increasingly efficient operations, reduced toxicity in products, and further controlled expenses. The main goals of our green purchasing program would be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease waste, decrease consumption of water, energy, fuel, and other resources, and minimize hazardous materials.

It is anticipated that we will formalize our requirements via a green purchasing guide, as well as via one or more applicable resolutions to be considered by our City Commission. You can follow the progress of our green purchasing initiative on this page. In the interim, vendors interested in presenting their products to the City of Fort Lauderdale should do so through our Procurement Services.