I’ve encountered a differing of opinions regarding the Construction Waste management credit (MRc2) and could use some help. Our project involves the construction of a new elementary school and then the demolition of the existing elementary school. Both of these are included in the construction documents and our owned by the contractor. The disagreement involves what is being recorded for the construction waste management credit. Our interpretation is that all construction and demolition waste must be recorded to receive full credit. Our contractor seems to believe only the new construction waste needs to be recorded. They are stating that the credit gives you the option to record only the new construction waste and that doing so works out better for our project but I do not see where this interpretation is coming from.
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RETIRED
LEEDuser Expert
623 thumbs up
March 19, 2015 - 10:37 am
Matthew - I think you are right. When demolition is a component of an overall project's scope, I always include that waste stream in MRc2. When in doubt, I go back to the intent of a credit. For MRc2 the intent is “To divert construction and demolition debris from disposal in landfills and incineration facilities. Redirect recyclable recovered resources back to the manufacturing process and reusable materials to appropriate sites.” In addition, its requirements begin: “Recycle and/or salvage nonhazardous construction and demolition debris…” Demolition is obviously part of the credit.
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
March 22, 2015 - 3:18 pm
Michelle is right that your interpretation is correct. Since the demolition occurs as part of the LEED Project, the Project must track that demo waste for MRc2. At this point, the most important question may be, “What kinds of waste documentation do your construction documents require?”
If your project’s Contract Documents require the Contractor to track both construction and demotion waste and if the Contractor agreed to the Contract’s terms, the Contractor is bound to those requirements. The agreed Contract Sum should have included all costs associated with recycling and recording demolition waste.
As a side note, MRc2 is not the only part of LEED where demolition plays a role. Since demolition of existing buildings is one of the “construction activities associated with the project,” the ESC Plan required for Prerequisite SSp1 must include your project’s demo phase.
Matthew Heaton
1 thumbs up
March 23, 2015 - 11:54 am
Thank you both for your help. We did spell it out in the specifications to include both construction and demolition on this credit so everything should be covered.