LEED for Retail - MRp1 Waste Stream Study

I have not found any sample studies, but have spent much time looking! At Greenbuild I spoke with a GBCI reviewer about what the expectation was of the study. She said that there is no particular form of study that is required. However, there needs to be a clear analysis showing the anticipated types and volume of waste expected during normal business hours. Plans or equivalent should be provided depicting the square footage areas and containers that will be provided for the anticipated volumes and types of waste. She also said that the biggest mistake that reviewers see when reviewing this prerequisite is that project teams forget to show that they are providing the same volume of storage as they have calculated they will need.

We could really use some guidance on this as well. We wrote our whole rationale and it was only two paragraphs. Then in LEED Online we discovered it needs a methodology narrative as well as the actual waste stream study. So, we feel that we must be missing something here. Any guidance is appreciated.

And I. We finally received the review comments last week (in February) for a project we submitted for review in early October of last year. We received the following review comment: The LEED Prerequisite Form has been provided stating that the project has provided appropriately sized dedicated areas for the collection and storage of materials for recycling, including cardboard, paper, plastic, glass, and metals. Floor plans showing the recycling areas have been provided. However, a waste stream study that identified the top five recyclable waste streams has not been conducted. Note that the LEED-Retail project must conduct a waste stream study to meet the requirement of this prerequisite. TECHNICAL ADVICE: Please conduct a waste stream study to identify the top five recyclable waste streams by either weight or volume and provide an excerpt of the waste stream study which highlights the top three waste streams identified. The information we provided on the form was: The project is a 4,702 sf bank branch remodel and addition. Currently the branch collects and stores confidential items in the vault until it is picked up by a company which they have a contract with. This company then shreds and recycles the paper. This practice will continue in the renovated branch. The remainder of the recycling has been and will continue to be picked up once-per-month by the City of Olympia. The City provides a single cart for comingled recycling. Plastics, paper, metal, glass and cardboard may all be added to the cart. Paper recycling is collected at all work stations and in various other locations throughout the branch as shown on the drawings. Mixed recycling is collected in the staff Break Room and by the front door then added to the cart provided by the City. The project does not have a "top 3 waste stream" per-say as all recycling is co-mingled save the confidential papers. Plastics, paper, metal, glass and cardboard will all continue to be collected by the staff and placed in the cart. Based on the volume of the last branch constructed (completed and certified Gold 2011-2012) and the history of the operations at this branch, it is presumed approximately 120lbs of paper recycling per month will be generated. I would love to see how someone may have successfully approached the waste stream study? Are they looking for a detail report? Something like: "First, I studied the previous years bills from the recycling company then created an equation which determined what the weekly volume of..... Second, at the end of each day I stood at the back door and weighed the garbage removed from the building and placed in the trash and recycle bins to determine which three (now apparently five) items they recycled most. Third..."?

I thought I was being a bit facetious regarding what information they were looking for, but after doing some searching on this site, my facetious comment turned out to be accurate. EBOM MRc6 has an in-depth description of what to do. http://www.leeduser.com/strategy/waste-stream-audit-protocol