A Planning Tool for Construction Waste Management

The increased interest in sustainable built environments and the recent movement toward green buildings in the construction industry have forced many construction practices to change significantly. Construction waste management, which is one of the most vital considerations in all sustainability assessment systems, also plays a major role in green building ratings. Recent revelations confirm that simply employing on-site waste management programs does not deliver sustainability; instead, waste management programs have to be effectively planned and managed to achieve sustainability goals.

This research contributes to the construction management body of knowledge by developing a planning tool that is comprised of three main components that guide the waste management decision making process: a) the modelling of construction waste generation; (b) the evaluation of costs/benefits of waste management strategies (reuse, recycling and landfill disposal); and, (c) the simulation modelling of the on-site waste management program along with the construction activity schedule.

Modelling of construction waste generation is based on the novel concept of the activity-based waste generation principle, which enables the identification of each activity's contribution to the total waste generation on-site. Personal observations and data collections at different Calgary based construction projects, followed by a series of interviews and discussions with industry professionals, were employed to develop an empirical approach to predict construction waste generation. A statistical model to predict waste generation from the drywall construction activity has been developed utilizing the empirical approach.

A computer simulation model was developed that accounts for the random and dynamic nature of construction activities that underlie every construction project. The costs and benefits of the available waste management alternatives to building construction projects have been modelled and incorporated in to the simulation model, thereby providing various analyses for use in decision making. The integrated planning tool, which incorporates both the simulation model and project activity schedules, provides an opportunity for construction industry professionals to directly benefit from this application.

The presented approach to strategic planning and management of on-site waste management programs and the subsequent implementation of this planning tool in industry will ensure effective planning of waste management and improved sustainability.