Approximately a year ago, we documented this credit for a small 3,000 sf (give or take) bank branch. The reviewer required we collect the waste from an average 24 hour period, sort the waste, photograph it, weight it, break it down in to a table, and submit it for approval of the prereq.
I am now documenting a student center at a community college which is approximately 65,000 sf. I don't have the option of collecting, sorting and weighing each of the streams. I will contact the waste management company but in case they don't have the information I need - can I get some ideas on how others have approached this in the last year (they keep changing the requirements it seems - the documentation has gotten significantly more strict each time I've documented this prereq).
Thank you for your help.
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Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
August 12, 2014 - 7:08 pm
Caroline – The reviewers of your former project appear to have forgotten that, in LEED-NC, MRp1 is a Design Phase submittal documented prior to construction. Your review team appears to have imposed EBOM Waste Stream Audit Credit documentation requirements on your project. The post-occupancy waste stream audit that they required is beyond the normal, pre-occupancy scope of LEED-NC.
LEED-NC requires only a narrative “describing the size, accessibility and dedication and the collection frequency” of recycling provisions. Ideally, the design of recycling facilities should be based on volume estimates from a Solid Waste Assessment or similar study performed during early design & programming. For the two MRp1 submittals that I have been involved with in the past year, such a narrative was all that reviewers required.
On your branch bank, my guess is that your narrative did not convince the reviewers that the sizing of your facilities had been studied sufficiently during design. For your student center, find out if the design team did such a study. If not, work with your Owner & their waste service to evaluate your project’s anticipated needs (and justify its design) based on volumes at similar, existing facilities. Citing recommendations from the LEED Reference Guide (based solely on building SF) is not enough anymore.
Susan Walter
HDRLEEDuser Expert
1296 thumbs up
August 12, 2014 - 10:55 am
You may not need a study if your owner has an established waste hauling contract that includes that includes recycling (which is likely in a university setting). You will need to provide information on the how their contract works, that the owner is committed to the recycling effort and what happens when things are 'full'. See my response below on 10/2013 for additional information.
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
August 12, 2014 - 3:40 pm
Susan – Excellent suggestion! The important point is to demonstrate that the recycling provisions are not arbitrary, but that they come from kind of quantification based on building use and waste contractor capabilities. If you don’t show the methodology used to size the facilities, you risk tempting reviewers to prescribe their own.
The audit that reviewers required for the branch bank must have been a challenge. Institutions that handle cash &/or confidential documents typically follow stringent policies to secure, manage, shred, & remove trash. An initial narrative describing these procedures and projecting waste/recycle volumes might have satisfied the reviewers.
Caroline O'Leary
Architectstudio point253
99 thumbs up
August 27, 2014 - 9:55 pm
It was interesting (and frustrating) because it was the exact same information we had provided for a different branch for the same company a year prior - which was accepted without question. We included the waste hauler's contract amount, the shredder/recycler's contract amount, etc. The requested information from the reviewer was pretty extreme. Thankfully it was a small project and we were able to comply with their request! I'll do a search and see if I can find a narrative for a college campus situation.
Thank you both for your response.
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
August 28, 2014 - 8:36 am
Contract dollar amounts may not be so relevant. To justify the space allotted for recycling storage, focus on estimated volumes, sizes & quantities of trash & recycling dumpsters, and frequency of pick-up. Your client’s waste hauling service might stipulate these provisions in their contract based on their experience with similar buildings. Keep in mind that their estimates for a student center might differ considerably from the waste/recycling projections that they would make for a classroom building. If such a contract is not in place already for your building, try asking your client to seek recycling estimates from their waste hauler.