Construction Waste Management- Regarding waste material reused on site, our project is currently reusing wood and concrete on site. The wood reused on site is reused at least 3 times or even more during the construction process (formwork, support, etc) after this process the reused wood exits the project site. The Concrete is reused (leftover after every concrete casting on site) elsewhere in the project where concrete is needed and the concrete stays on site there is no end waste leaving the site. My question is, can both these reused “on site” waste materials count towards construction waste diversion from landfill? (since we are diverting waste that will otherwise end up in a landfill by giving it a second use on site) Or does the end waste leaving the site (in the case of wood) affect this documentation?
Regards,
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LEEDuser Expert
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July 29, 2016 - 1:02 pm
Adrian - Reuse of materials on site is a laudable activity.
Re: Concrete - If I am understanding what you are describing I don't think that this is actually waste and hence would not count in the overall construction waste calculations.
Re: Wood - To clarify: When you say that "the reused wood exits the project site" - do you mean it leaves to be used elsewhere? Or does it get landfilled? If it does get landfilled then the wood would need to be included in the construction waste counts.
Abdulla Anwar
Lead Design Architect | LEED Professional coordinatorNesma & Partners
July 31, 2016 - 7:38 am
Shall it considered as reducing wastes? and shall be counted and documented?
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LEEDuser Expert
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July 31, 2016 - 8:53 am
Abdalla - For the concrete: no it would not be counted in MRc2's calculations and documentation. It was used as a building material and it not waste. If the wood is leaves the site to be used elsewhere: yes because it was diverted from the landfill. However, if the wood leaves the site and gets landfilled, then yes it would be counted in MRc2's calculations and documentation. It would be considered waste and not material diverted from the landfill.
Adrian Arenas
Architect, Sustainability Consultant, LEED AP BD + CAECOM
10 thumbs up
August 2, 2016 - 12:47 pm
Thanks for your reply Michelle- However i still have some inquiries
WOOD: It is clear to me now, regarding wood, what counts towards the MRc2 calculation is the final waste material leaving the site. When i say "reused wood exits the project site" i mean (after it is reused on site) the leftover small pieces which can no longer be used, these have been both landfilled or donated/recycled externally throughout the project. Will this wood "waste material" count towards landfill calculation or diverted from landfill calculation respectively?
CONCRETE: If i understand correctly, this leftover concrete after every on site casting is not considered a waste but a building material. Will this material then be able to contribute to MRc3 as a reused material? Or to any other MR credti? Or is it no more than a laudable activity or a Best Management Practice?
another thought: (Hypothetically speaking, if this left over concrete was not reused on site and exited the project site to be landfilled, would it be considered as a waste in the MRc2 calculation?)
the project is LEED CSv3
Regards,
Abdulla Anwar
Lead Design Architect | LEED Professional coordinatorNesma & Partners
August 4, 2016 - 3:45 am
in Addition, if the project has pile cap demolitions, how it be considered in MRc2 calculations?
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August 7, 2016 - 8:43 am
Adrian - To answer your questions:
Wood: Landfilled material is counted in the landfilled calculation for MRc2. Reused material that you can document its final disposition as not being landfilled is counted as diverted.
Concrete: While you are avoiding waste generation, under the LEED 2009 version of MRc2, this is just a best practice as source reduction. However, when you start using LEED v4, you can be rewarded for source reduction - http://www.usgbc.org/node/2601031?return=/credits/new-construction/v4.
Hypothetical situation: Yes - landfilled material from on-site activities are included as waste in MRc2.
Abdalla - Pile caps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile_cap)are manmade and hence should be considered in the calculations and documentation for MRc2 - even though they would have been dug up.
Adrian Arenas
Architect, Sustainability Consultant, LEED AP BD + CAECOM
10 thumbs up
August 9, 2016 - 1:16 pm
Michelle, it is clear to me now.
Thanks!
Abdulla Anwar
Lead Design Architect | LEED Professional coordinatorNesma & Partners
August 15, 2016 - 5:17 am
Michelle, please advise how to consider pile cap demolitions in Mr2 since the concrete weight is about of 1600 ton, that means that credit cannot be achieved.
OR, as per my information, this material cannot be used for further application, OR is there a method for reuse? please advise.
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LEEDuser Expert
623 thumbs up
August 19, 2016 - 5:00 pm
Abdalla - Projects with large amounts of demolition can have a hard time achieving MRc2 if there are not recycled material markets. If this is the case you have, then MRc2 might not be achievable.
In the United States, concrete from demolition is often crushed and used for aggregate for new concrete or as a base or sub-base material. Consider looking at http://www.cdrecycling.org/concrete-recycling or http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/demolition/recycling_concrete.htm for additional information.