It might seem daunting, time consuming & prohibitive for smaller practices, to implement BIM. Not with Driving Vision!
This article is part of a blog series on new building materials used in the construction industry, exploring what they are, why they are cheaper and why they are more durable than traditional materials.
The word recycling is tantamount to profanity in the construction industry, but that is because very few people know the process.
Recycling is a waste management system transforming misused, unused, or obsolete products or materials into something durable and sustainable.
By scaling down the traditional waste disposal methods you can reduce energy consumption, lower the usage of natural raw materials, diminish pollution for both air and water, and cut down greenhouse gas emissions.
Construction and demolition, or C&D, debris is estimated to be one-quarter of the USA's total waste output every year by the bureau of transport statistics.
In the construction industry when we measure waste we include concrete, asphalt, wood, and other building waste.
Sustainability implies that we stop relying on landfills for waste disposal. Only 34.6% of the USA's total waste gets recycled, some gets burned for energy, and the rest gets sent to landfill - of which the capacity is getting thinner.
The Architect, Engineer, Construction, and Operation (AECO) industry produces a lot of waste at every stage of a built asset, such as extracting raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, construction, and demolition.
The disposing of general and hazardous waste is a key factor in material and products ending in landfills. It includes ordering products in excess, harmful or mistreated materials, insufficient storage, and weather damage to materials.
Construction uses chemicals, paint, and fuel. Harmful waste disposal if not planned properly and responsibly disposed of at a hazardous waste facility, could damage the environment.
To avoid the impact caused on the planet, these substances should be stored in a waterproof area, when not in use, or disposed of.
It is critical to plan and manage construction waste properly. You should establish sustainable and safe use of resources in construction and demolition.
Eliminating production waste as much as possible is crucial. You could do so by reusing materials and recycling waste.
For each project before construction starts, we recommend you set a waste management plan to accurately calculate how much material is needed on-site and maximize the reduction of generating waste.
Your plan should highlight the probable causes of waste generation, review the areas on your construction site that would be suitable for recycling or composting, determine where waste crates/bins should be located, and identify the materials that should be recycled.
There are criteria for appointing a new supplier for a specific project, either on construction sites or when the built asset is in use. Some examples might be to see if they would provide waste containers, remove and reuse recyclable material, and collect the waste produced.
To avoid putting too much waste in skips, you should make recycling bins easily accessible and available. We recommend you design specific recycling processes for each project. This implies a lot of research before you can incorporate it into your waste management plan.
The packaging criteria in your purchasing processes should include buying in bulk to reduce expenses, and waste from individually packaged materials.
You should ensure that the packaging is recyclable and how it would be prioritized. Reusing your packaging, for example, bags and canisters could be used to stock materials.
Do not throw away your scraps and off-cuts. Reworking scraps will allow you to avoid using new materials. You will be able to get the products when required, and you will be able to sell the surplus back to your suppliers.
If your construction sites and building maintenance projects are well organized, they will be leaner, and producing less waste. You could increase your productivity and efficiency, saving you money that you could use for recycling waste and paying for additional storage.
We suggest you remove any uncertainty by clearly indicating to workers where they should dispose of various waste materials.
Advocate sustainable construction best practices, such as donating recovered materials to charities, to reduce waste and the tax burden.
You can lower your transportation and packaging costs by reusing materials.
Avoid the production and overhead costs of generating new raw materials or storing excess goods by training your workers to reduce their personal waste output.
There are several ways of gathering waste in the construction industry depending on the type of building components you want to recycle. Asphalt, concrete, and rubble can be transformed into aggregate or new asphalt and concrete products. Wood can be converted into furniture, mulch, and compost. Metals including steel, copper, and brass are valuable materials to remodel.
Cardboard packaging, from home-building sites or building maintenance, is classified as general waste, so it should be collected through drop-off centers, pavement collection, deposit, or refund programs.
Once collected, waste materials are transferred to material recovery facilities or recycling centers, to be evaluated, washed, and transformed into materials that can be manufactured.
Another possibility, rather than being sent to a recycling facility, would be to sell recyclable waste materials to be reused or manufactured. Prices would fluctuate according to the offer and demand ratio.
Manufactured waste materials can be reconstructed into useful products, including paper towels, newspapers, steel cans, and plastic or glass containers.
We propose you protect natural resources and recycle waste materials to conserve the environment. For example, recycling timber or packaging made of paper or cardboard could reduce deforestation.
Pollution generated by the construction industry is high due to the wastage of plastics and chemicals. Reducing pollution levels of the products can be achieved by reusing rather than just discarding carelessly.
For example, combining microalgae with sunlight, water, natural binders, and ambient CO2 can produce a bio-cement better than cement-based concrete.
The traditional method of waste disposal is to burn waste. This impacts global warming by generating carbon dioxide, sulfur, and nitrogen.
Transforming and reusing materials, rather than burning them, has zero or minimal environmental impact.
Recycling used and old materials means that new products can be manufactured without extracting or mining fresh raw materials to conserve natural resources like minerals, water, and wood, to sustain and optimize their use.
Manufacturing raw materials also requires a lot of energy. Recycling reduces energy consumption. Scientists have found new ways to manufacture products requiring fewer natural resources making the transformation process easier and quicker.
Transforming old and used materials into new products will help reduce the use of landfill sites, decreasing land, air, and water pollution.
Resources being used sensibly and sustainably, in the recycling process, helps the construction industry to keep their production of building materials at their actual level, without impacting the future.
For example, new sorting technologies help identify the grade and type of plastic automatically.
The more we recycle, the more eco-conscious we become, as we perform more eco-friendly activities.
Recycling creates job opportunities, by setting up new recycling facilities requiring collection and delivery activities performed by a lot of manual labor.
Selling waste for cash helps to save the environment and make money in exchange. Buying recycled materials is less expensive than fresh raw materials which helps to reduce your outgoings.
A new waste recycling unit requires high capital expenditures. Building costs or upgrading the recycling unit, buying several types of utility vehicles, and creating programs to educate local people can quickly add up.
Sending waste to landfills contributes to the development of debris and dust, spreads infectious diseases, encourages the proliferation of harmful and dangerous chemicals, creates health risks for recycling workers, damages the environment with pollutants such as chemical stews, and displays unsightly views.
Products manufactured from recycled waste may not be as durable as new products.
The materials used in recycled products may have been used many times, making them more fragile. The product's quality made with recycled waste materials may be poor if the initial raw material is damaged.
Recycling waste is an expensive operation. It requires maintaining the unit and utility vehicles, upgrading the processing facility, and educating residents by organizing seminars.
Even though recycling is good for the planet, it has not been popular so it is underdeveloped. Recycling is still far from preventing deforestation and oil spills on construction sites.
Recycling jobs are numerous, but the work is not remarkably interesting, generating a low-morale workforce, inferior quality of life, low wages, and poor health conditions.
Recycling does not happen for free. It requires a lot of energy to transform the waste products and materials into something reusable.
The waste needs to be transported in utility vehicles (electric or petrol-powered), sorted, cleaned, and processed in various factories.
Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of recycling, the construction industry can significantly improve the recycling process, effectively bringing unlimited benefits to the environment and humanity.
Recycling should be part of your best practices. Unfortunately, we know most firms intend to establish them, but work gets in the way and they are never created. In the United Kingdom, £220 million of waste material goes to landfill yearly.
Driving Vision's BIM expertise diagnostic looks at how you can eliminate waste (time and material) and improve your margins and the quality of the information provided during the design and construction phases.
A Driving Vision expert will conduct the interviews online, issue a report, and discuss our findings with you. Together we will decide the best way to implement the solutions at your pace and according to your budget.
Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now
Of practices using BIM made positive ROI
Of practices using BIM improved health and safety
Of practices using BIM decreased errors and omission
Of practices using BIM enhanced their practice image
Of practices using BIM claimed less litigations
Of practices using BIM reduced rework
It might seem daunting, time consuming & prohibitive for smaller practices, to implement BIM. Not with Driving Vision!
