Waste in the Building Industry

So much trash.

Buildings are a human necessity. We need them for shelter, to produce our goods, to provide us with entertainment, and to store our ever growing digital footprints. As the rate of construction increases, so does the amount of waste as a byproduct of construction. One third of the world’s waste comes from the act of building new and tearing down existing buildings.

We are really good at throwing things away. The same goes for builders on site. Looming project deadlines, demanding clients, and a lack of recycling infrastructure outweigh any desire to care about waste. The primary goal is to get the building done as fast and as cheaply as possible.

But there is a turn in the tide. Advancements in digital technologies, legal requirements from municipalities, and the urge to do right by Mother Earth is overcoming our laziness. We’re all responsible - waste is not within any single stakeholder’s court. We all have a part to play to make our world a sustainable place to live.

In the next series of articles, we’ll take a dive into each phase of the building process and how the construction industry can mitigate waste during each stage. First, an overview!

The Planning & Design Phase

While the statistics and headline news articles are primarily focused on the waste created while a building is under construction or demolition, it’s important not to overlook the design and planning phase that precedes it.

Work is primarily completed digitally so there isn’t much tangible waste. Next week, we’ll dive deeper into 3 ways AEC professionals can plan for less waste before construction begins:

• Building Information Modeling & Material Quantity Take-Offs

• Material Sourcing & Selection

• Proposed Construction Methodologies

The Construction Phase

So much waste during this phase arises from poor planning and coordination. You think you have all the pieces laid out and then a chaotic mess explodes on the construction site.

A few active ways to reduce waste while in the midst of construction include:

• Materials & Labor Tracking

• Reducing Mistakes & Change Orders

• Organizing Trash Onsite

The Operations Phase

Since the building is complete, the waste produced during this phase is occupational. However, the building operations phase contributes highly to greenhouse gas emissions. We won’t go into detail during this series as we’ve discussed methods of powering our buildings in previous articles here, here, and here. ⚡

Source: U.S. Green Building Council

The Demolition or Reuse Phase

Environmental conditions and human use eventually bring buildings to the end of their lifecycle. A surprising metric I discovered recently is that 90% of construction & demolition waste comes from the demo phase. That’s a lot. The wrecking ball doesn’t need to ruin what’s still viable. A few ways we can reduce trash during this phase include:

• Adaptive Reuse

• Deconstruction Over Demolition

• Material Upcycling

See You Next Week 🏗️

Stay tuned next week when we take a closer look at all things preconstruction and planning.