CIB W116—Smart and Sustainable Built Environments - Test Input

“4. Accept the responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human
well-being, the viability of natural systems and their right to co-exist,” and.
6. Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products
and processes to approach the state of natural systems, in which there is no waste.”
Unfortunately, current planning, architectural, engineering, construction, and facility management
practices do not always address the fact that C&D waste reduction is an important part of
sustainability. High-profile examples of green building, such as wind or solar energy, bioremediation
fields, green roofs, or geo-thermal heating and cooling, attract greater attention. Landfill
disposal of C&D materials is still the most common practice because it is the path of least resistance.
Landfilling is not illegal, nor is it improper if performed within prevailing waste disposal regulations.
Landfill disposal is also still relatively inexpensive in most regions of the U.S., which is attractive to a
construction industry whose business model almost always favours the lowest first cost.
2. Problem
Decision makers do not have sufficient information to assess the true environmental impacts of
wasting building materials or the benefit of reusing or recycling them. In addition to direct project
costs such as demolitions services, landfill tipping fees, and recycling costs and revenues, a
methodology and metrics representing long-term environmental behaviors and costs relevant to the
building industry is necessary.
3. Objectives
The objectives of this paper are to: reveal the adverse environmental impacts associated with
wrecking and landfill disposal of residential buildings; describe the benefits (in terms of reduced
adverse impacts) of recovering and reusing or recycling building materials on a project and national
(U.S.) basis; and begin to associate cost benefits with reducing environmental impacts created by
C&D waste.
4. A Life-Cycle Approach
While a comprehensive description of life-cycle assessment (LCA) is not given in this paper, it is
important to understand the LCA fundamentals, especially in the context of buildings’ environmental
performance and the impacts associated with materials use and waste.
The Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (1991) published A Technical Framework
for Life-Cycle Assessment, which established a uniform, consensus-based LCA and information
exchange process. LCA is a process used to evaluate, holistically and objectively, the environmental
effects of a material, product, or process occurring through its life. All phases of a process or product
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