Composting Audit or Estimate Volume?

Hi Allison! I have successfully completed this credit for multiple projects and not once have we performed a waste audit. I have utilized estimations for compost storage for both, so I think you can too in this instance. Good luck!

Hi Annalise, Do you have any information on the documentation submitted regarding the estimation of the volume of organic waste? Thanks, 

For a recent project, we submitted an estimated organic waste volume that the project's waste hauler provided. They created an estimate based on the food service of the building, occupancy patterns, and number of rooms/occupants. This estimate is typically needed to determine the collection bin size and haul frequency, and can typically be found in the hauler's proposal/price estimates. 

For our recent project, we provided organic waste volume estimations. We used the tool found here that can be helpful for specific building types: https://www.rit.edu/affiliate/nysp2i/food-waste-estimator. I agree with the methodology of using estimations directly from the hauler.
Our building didn't implement the waste hauler estimations because composting on the campus was already implemented, and container sizes were already known based on surrounding campus buildings. When we checked the container size based on our estimation versus what was implemented, they aligned. I found at my own office where we have implemented composting in a similar flexible environment that we were able to reduce our compost bin sizing significantly from what was provided. During regular operating hours with a full office we used a 25 gallon container, since flexible scheduling was introduced we're using a 5 gallon container.   

For our recent project, we worked with the estimates that the composting contractor provided based on the building size, occupant count and patterns, types of tenants, etc. But we also had to do a waste stream audit anyway for MRp1, so we had both.

Hello - I have seen that as long as you can provide the rationale for how your composting storage was sized (i.e. data from a similar building, especially on a campus or for an existing building) that this has been accepted by USGBC. It's also helpful if your composting policy explains how you know you are sizing sufficiently and how freqently the policy is revisited and updated.