I am currently working on a large Barracks project in Alaska for the US Army Corps or Engineers. The building is to be certified as LEED Silver. The construction scope consists of a large amount of existing building demolition. Our plan is to haul the demolition debris to a reclamation site for disposal, during my examination of the LEED 2009 Reference Guide in the MR Credit 2 Construction Waste Management section I do not see any language acknowledging a reclamation site as an approved waste diversion method, although I do not see and language that prohibits me from claiming the material disposed at the reclamation site as waste diversion method and counting that material towards my overall material percentage.
Can anyone provide any insight into this issue? If so can you direct me to LEED documentation that allows reclamation sites to be used as a waste diversion method?
Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Feel free to respond to this discussion of email me at andy.kallam@kiewit.com
RETIRED
LEEDuser Expert
623 thumbs up
August 1, 2012 - 3:38 pm
Andy - While I can’t direct you to any documentation, I think this situation is very similar to when material is collected on-site and taken to a MRF (Materials Recovery Facility). I’ve had this scenario and I get a report from the MRF detailing the quantity and destination of the materials from my jobs. So I think it all depends on what happens at and after the reclamation site with the materials. When in doubt, I always look to the intent of the credit. If you can prove that the demolition debris was diverted from the landfill and incineration facilities and that the reclamation site is redirecting recovered resources back to the manufacturing process and reusable materials to appropriate sites, then I think you can count it as diversion as long as the reclamation site can give you a detailed report as backup on where materials go from it including the quantity. The Reference Guide can’t cover every scenario so ensuring you are meeting the credit’s intent is the underlying point to all credits.