Source Evaluation of Solid Waste in Building Construction

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.