We have a 45 story Core and Shell project in a downtown area with minimal space for dumpsters. This base project is still under construction and not going for LEED. However, within this project, we have a interior 12 story buildout going for LEED CI 4.1 and we will need to share dumpsters with the base project. We are currently using a non-certified recycling sort site and are achieving a 80% recycle rate. Moving forward, using a certifed facility and diverting 2 waste streams, can we start a new recycle report comigling the base building with the CI to achieve MR6?
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Tiffany Beffel
Managing PartnerInnovative Workshop Consulting
LEEDuser Expert
22 thumbs up
October 19, 2020 - 12:25 pm
Hi Jennifer. I would actually suggest that you reach out to a LEED Coach on this particular situation. The 80% diversion rate you indicated from the non-certified facility is accounting for full building waste and not only your construction and demolition, correct? As the intent of the credit is to document and divert construction and demolition waste, it doesn't seem like you would be able to effectively account for only construction and demolition waste properly. Combining with base building waste has the potential to not only adversely affect your project, but also would inappropriately account for waste and recycling not generated by the project.
Allen Cornett
Sustainable ConsultantINSPEC Sustainability Group LLC
49 thumbs up
January 13, 2021 - 8:12 am
Was commingling the base building with the CI to achieve MR6 approved on your project? I have just been brough on board a project that the contractor is wrapping up construction on the core & shell building and the interior finish out, and only the interior finish out is attempting LEED certification. The interior finish out achieved a 54% diversion rate with 4 waste streams, but the core & shell portion achieved a 97% diversion rate with 8 waste streams. Combining them would get the project over the 75% threshold and attempting 2 points as opposed to 1. Thank you for your time.
Jennifer Kruse
OwnerStrategy 17
2 thumbs up
January 13, 2021 - 8:33 am
No, it was not approved. FOr the first time in my life I have to forgo these credits. Here is LEEDs response...
Thank you for your patience while the GBCI and LEED MR subject matter experts evaluated your request to combine waste between the base building project and your ID+C project
They have determined that it would not be allowable under the v4/v4.1 Construction & Demolition Waste Management credit to combine the waste from the base building project with the waste from the ID+C project. In this case one project is not certifying under LEED and the two project types are not similar enough, therefore the base building waste could unfairly skew the achievement of the certifying ID+C project.
If your team would still like to pursue the C&D Waste Management credit, we recommend reading the updated guidance for counting material streams, source separating, and staging collection bins in the most recent version of the LEED v4.1 BD+C Beta Reference Guide here: https://build.usgbc.org/bd+c_guide, which teams with tight sites might find helpful.
Note that collection bins would not necessarily need to be onsite for the entirety of the project in order to count. So if a subcontractor will be collecting and removing their own scrap material (i.e. drywall subcontractor, or flooring contractor, for example, and the materials are going back to the manufacturer's recycling program), those materials could potentially count as separate material streams under this LEED credit. In addition, donated materials can also count as a separate material stream if documented per the instructions provided in the LEED v4 BD+C Reference Guide.
I am sorry an exception could not be provided in this case.
Hope this helps.