Kaibosh

Top five tips
for minimising
waste on
construction
sites
­ Identify what you
are trying to achieve
in terms of waste
management. Is it
simply about cost
saving or is there
a bigger goal?
­ Get all site personnel
to buy into the
scheme. Educate
them about what
goes to landfill
from construction
each year and what
this means for our
environment.
­ Identify your
recycling partners
and talk to them to
find solutions that
will work for you.
­ Clearly identify how
you are going to
implement waste
minimisation onsite,
which personnel
are involved, where
accountability sits
and how you will
record your results.
­ Whatever system
you choose: keep it
simple and low tech.
continues from page 17
A pilot show home in Havelock North
built by Horvath Homes will be the
subject of a case study to improve
understanding of sustainable design
and construction techniques. We
talked to Horvarth Homes Managing
Director Adam Horvarth about
why they got involved and how
they’ve been bitten by the waste
minimisation bug.
Q&A with
Adam Horvarth
How would you describe
Best Home?
“It’s a non-exclusive, best practice
sustainable housing initiative
between local government and the
building industry” says Adam. “The
initiative supports and encourages
the design and construction of
more energy efficient homes in New
Zealand for minimal additional cost.
It is an initiative open to the building
and construction industry and all
local authorities.“
How did Horvarth Homes
get involved?
“We have a drive to always be
improving what we do and the
standard of home we deliver. We
had seen a real demand over the
last few years for more sustainable
options. When Hastings District
Council first mentioned the initiative,
we wanted to jump on board and be
part of it, to lead by example.”
For Best Home to be
successful other builders
need to get involved, how do
you think you'll achieve this?
“Our show home has only been
open for a matter of weeks and we
are already getting other builders
showing huge interest in the
scheme. I think it makes perfect
sense for builders to get involved.
The program is open to everyone
and as an industry we can all share in
the information and learning gained,
instead of each individual company
having to figure it out for themselves
through a process of trial and error.
I’ve been in the building industry
for my whole working career and I
can honestly say I have learnt more
in the last two years through my
involvement with Best Home than
I have in the previous ten years. Just
imagine if we can all share in our
learnings how much the industry will
improve.”
In regard to reducing waste
to landfill, what have you
achieved?
“The average weight of waste sent
to landfill from a new build in New
Zealand is around 5000kg. The Best
Home in Havelock North created
2829 kg of waste. 95 percent of
this was diverted for recycling with
a meagre 133kg sent to landfill!
We are incredibly proud of this
achievement, which shows a real
commitment by our whole team.”
What were the key
challenges in achieving this?
“In the first instance it was really
just recognising the enormous scale
of what was being thrown away, it
was actually pretty scary. We found
that getting our team engaged with
waste minimisation was relatively
easy; it was really just about making
a commitment, increasing the
knowledge of those on site and
putting procedures in place to
support them.”
Did it cost you a lot to divert
the waste from landfill?
“Actually the costs were negligible,
especially when compared to the
money we saved on disposal fees.
I’m sure that it’s something everyone
would do if they knew how.”
Best Home is a registered trademark
owned by Hastings District Council.
For further information go to www.
besthome.org.nz. For more information
on Horvarth Homes visit www.
horvarthhomes.co.nz.
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