I'm working on a university project and was just notified by our contractor that from February to June their waste hauler took all waste to landfill due to concerns about their employees being exposed to the coronavirus while sorting through the comingled waste. We were at 96% diversion, but with everything going to landfill over the last 5 months, our overall diversion rate dropped to 64%. Has anyone else encountered this impact related to the coronavirus? Has GBCI address how we should document this?
Thanks in advance for your responses!
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
454 thumbs up
July 23, 2020 - 7:18 pm
USGBC has put out some FAQs that are COVID-specific, and...you're in luck! This happens to be one of them.
Look here: https://www.usgbc.org/about/covid-19-resources?utm_source=USGBC&utm_medium=website-homepage&utm_campaign=covid-resources
But more specifically here: https://www.usgbc.org/articles/top-customer-service-questions-leed-certification-and-credentialing
Here's the specific question/answer:
"Q: My construction waste recycling facility is closed or is not recycling materials at the same rate as before due to COVID-19. I am not able to store materials to wait for better recycling conditions. What can I do?
A: We encourage all projects to continue to divert materials and recycle to the greatest extent possible. Those materials that are able to be recycled and diverted shall be documented in the normal way as outlined in the Materials and Resources Construction and Demolition Waste Management credit. However, we realize that circumstances may make recycling challenging for reasons outside a project team’s control during the global pandemic.
Projects experiencing difficulty during this time shall continue to send materials to recycling facilities and either: (a) temporarily exclude the affected loads from credit calculations (still track the materials, even though they will not count toward overall project generation and diversion rates), or (b) use the waste processing facility’s average diversion rate reported prior to the pandemic. Diversion rates must be the facility average for at least the six months prior to the pandemic.
Contact us with a narrative explaining the circumstances, as well as your preferred approach, and our LEED reviewers will help you understand how to document the approach in your LEED certification."
Hope that helps.