Source Evaluation of Solid Waste in Building Construction
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 120, Issue 3
Abstract
The construction industry contributes a major portion of the waste stream in the United States. Both increased environmental awareness and increased cost for depositing waste have caused many construction companies to reevaluate their practices. So far, no scientific data are available for developing strategies to adjust to the changing parameters and requirements. This paper addresses one critical step in developing a comprehensive waste‐management system; the categorization and quantification of construction wastes. Several residential‐building projects were used to test a conceptual framework for studying the sources of solid wastes in one important segment of the construction industry. Three important categories of building materials—brick and block, dimensional lumber, and Sheetrock—were analyzed using a “sources‐of‐waste” framework. The presented research data indicate that solid wastes in residential construction are primarily scraps resulting from cutting dimensional stock material (e.g., lumber) to size. As will be shown, many factors are related to the amount of such process waste. Strong relationships between poor productivity and high waste generation are suggested.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 120 • Issue 3 • September 1994
Pages: 536 - 552
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 15, 1993
Published online: Sep 1, 1994
Published in print: Sep 1994
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