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Introduction
Cornell University, in cooperation with the Home Builders Institute (HBI), recently
developed an educational program about residential construction waste management
for home builders. HBI is the educational arm of the National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB), a national trade association, and is the nation’s
leading source for education and training programs serving the home building
industry.
The educational program was informed by studies done at Cornell University and the NAHB Research Center. The Cornell Study was conducted by the Department of Design & Environmental Analysis at the College of Human Ecology and was completed in June, 1996. Cornell's part in this project included archival and on-site research in addition to producing an educational video about residential construction waste management. The name of the educational program is Talking Trash, and it has been distributed to every state and local home builders association in the United States (see end of this document for order information). This document provides a summary of the methods used in the Cornell study, as well as a brief description of the results.
Methods
The archival research for this project included a review of literature, interviews and discussions with home builders, waste hauling and recycling firms, and municipal solid waste officials, across the United States and Canada. In addition, all waste generation audits identified as recently being conducted at new residential construction sites in the U. S. were reviewed. Results of this waste audit review are presented in this document.
The on-site research involved a case study of a residential construction site of RDR Builders of Highland Mills NY. The case study included conducting a waste generation audit of all waste materials that were generated during the construction of a new, 1,900 square feet bi-level single family detached home. Once the waste audit was completed, the economic and logistical feasibility of reduction, re-use and recycling strategies identified during the archival phase of the study were investigated and tested.
Archival Research: Summary of Findings and Waste Audit Review
The archival research identified six residential construction waste audits recently conducted in different areas of the United States. These six residential waste audits, in addition to the residential waste audit conducted by Cornell University, are summarized below (Table 1).
Figures 1 and 2 below illustrate relative amounts of waste wood, gypsum, and
cardboard generated at each of seven residential construction projects. The
results of these audits indicate that the combined amounts of waste wood, gypsum,
and cardboard remain relatively constant regardless of a structure's size or
style.
Figure 1. Percentages of combined wood, gypsum, and cardboard waste
by weight.
Figure 2. Percentages of wood, gypsum, and cardboard by weight.
Waste Generation Audit at RDR Construction Site.
The waste generation audit conducted at the RDR construction site involved collecting and separating waste building products and waste packaging by material type, then weighing and calculating volumes of each type of waste material (see list). The waste materials were separated into 14 different categories.
Waste Material Categories
Table 2 lists the actual amounts of each type waste packaging material generated during the construction of the audited house.
Table 2: Waste Packaging Materials
Table 3 lists the combined amounts of waste construction materials a waste packaging materials generated during the construction of the audited house.
Table 3: Waste Construction and Packaging Materials
Figure 3 illustrates the relative volumes of each waste material generated during the construction of the audited house. Because RDR Builders pay for waste removal and disposal on a volume basis, this graph is also representative of the relative disposal costs of each waste material for RDR Construction.
Figure 3. Relative Amounts of Waste Materials by Volume.
References
Cosper, S. D., Hallenbeck, W. H., & Brenniman, G. R. (1993). Construction and demolition waste generation, regulation, practices, processing, and policies. Office of Solid Waste Management, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago.
The National Association of Home Builders Research Center. (1995). Residential construction waste management demonstration and evaluation task 1 report. Upper Marlboro, MD: NAHB Research Center.
The Cornell University data were obtained from a waste audit conducted in cooperation with RDR Construction Corporation of Highland Mills, NY.
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Principal Investigator:
Joseph Laquatra
jl27@cornell.edu
Associate Professor
Cornell University
(607) 255-2145
This document was prepared by:
Mark Pierce
mrp6@cornell.edu
Extension Associate
Cornell University
(607) 255-0431
Copies of Waste Management at The Construction Site, a publication designed to assist builders in identifying cost-effective and environmentally sound methods for handling and getting rid of construction wastes can be ordered by contacting Mark Pierce.
Related Links:
Cornell Center for the Environment: Waste
Management Institute
http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/