Design Principles And

Application For Construction

And The Built Environment

Class -4 & 5
Construction waste management &
renewable energy

Prepared by Sahla Zaman .K

Construction Waste
Construction waste

Construction waste consists of unwanted material produced directly or

incidentally by the construction . This includes building materials such
as insulation, nails, electrical wiring, shingle, and roofing as well as waste
originating from site preparation such as dredging materials, tree stumps,
and rubble. Construction waste may contain lead, asbestos, or
other hazardous substances.[2]
Much building waste is made up of materials such
as bricks, concrete and wood damaged or unused for various reasons
during construction.
Some certain components of construction waste such
as plasterboard are hazardous once landfilled. Plasterboard is broken
down in landfill conditions releasing hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas.
What is Construction Waste?
Construction waste is anything generated as a result of construction and then
abandoned, regardless of whether it has been processed or stockpiled. It comprises
surplus materials from site clearance, excavation, construction, refurbishment,
renovation, demolition and road works.

There are two types of construction waste:

•Inert construction waste
•Non-inert construction waste

Non-inert construction waste is around 20% of the total and usually comprises
bamboo, timber, vegetation, packaging waste and other organic materials. Some of
these can be recycled while others are disposed of at landfills.
In contrast, inert waste - otherwise known as public fill - mainly includes construction
debris, rubble, earth, bitumen and concrete, which can be used for land formation..
• Public fill arises from construction, excavation,
renovation, demolition and road works. Comprising of
rocks, concrete, asphalt, rubbles, bricks, stones and
earth,
Construction waste problem
The traditional disposal way for construction waste is sent it to landfill
sites. By directly landfill those waste, it will cause many problems in
the long period:
• Waste natural resources
• Increase the construction cost, especially the transportation process
• Occupy a large area of land
• Reduce soil quality
• cause water pollution
• cause air pollution
• Some wastes, called 'absolute entries', are always classed as
hazardous, for example inorganic wood preservatives, waste paint or
varnish remover and wastes from asbestos processing
• Other wastes, called 'mirror entries', are classed as hazardous if they
are present in amounts above certain threshold concentrations, for
example some wastes containing arsenic or mercury
Hazardous waste must be treated, before it can be sent to landfill, to meet
the limits set by a landfill site's waste acceptance criteria (WAC).
Treatment means physical, thermal, chemical or biological processes,
including sorting, that change the characteristics of the waste in order to:

•Reduce its volume

•Reduce its hazardous nature
•Make it safe to handle
•Make it easier to recover.
Dredging Materials
Dredging materials are materials or objects that are displaced during
the preparation of a construction or demolition site.
These materials may include trees, tree stumps, rubble, dirt, and
rocks.
A waste management company can provide waste disposal and trash
removal of dredging materials. If any of these materials can be reused
or recycled, they will be taken to a recycling plant
. A waste management company can also provide dumpster rentals in
which you can collect this waste.
Hazardous Waste
The sites of construction, demolition, restoration, and remodeling projects
often produce hazardous waste. Hazardous waste may include lead,
asbestos, plasterboard, paint thinners, and solvents, mercury, fluorescent
bulbs, and aerosol cans. These materials need to be disposed of according
to strict state and federal laws, and there are harsh fines and punishments
for non-compliance
A paint thinner is a solvent used
to thin oil-based paints or clean up
after their use.
 Need for waste management
With the implementation of an effective construction waste minimization effort, a high
percentage of all waste materials listed above can be diverted from the landfill and
recycled into new products.
How To Develop A Construction Waste Minimization
Program
• To develop a successful Construction Waste Minimization Program, a
builder should evaluate each of the following steps and determine the best
and most cost-effective approach.
Step 1) Design To Prevent Waste
• Paying attention to waste potential in the building’s design stage can lead
to less waste on the site.
: • Optimize building dimensions to correspond to standard lumber
dimensions.
• Modify framing details to optimize lumber use and reduce waste and costs
when ordering..
• Order drywall in optimal dimensions to minimize cut off waste. Drywall is
available in different lengths, and designed dimensions should correspond
to standard sizes. • Minimize the number of blueprints during the design
and construction.
Step 2) Plan For Waste Prevention

• Estimate the types and quantities of waste the project will generate
and determine a schedule of when the wastes will be developed.
• Work with all suppliers to reduce waste on a project by asking them to
buy back unused product.
•Ask suppliers to deliver supplies using sturdy, returnable pallets and
containers. Then have the suppliers pick up the empty containers when
delivering new building materials.
• Ascertain if storage and handling practices prevent loss from weather
and other means and make revisions as needed.
• since dimensional lumber
always comes in specific sizes,
they can only be used for
projects that would be right for
their respective sizes.

If typical continuous concrete footings are

used, they usually support a foundation
wall that acts either as a retaining wall to
form a basement or as a frost wall with
earth on both sides.
Step 3) Prevent Waste On-Site
• Clean concrete chunks, old brick, broken blocks and other masonry
rubble that can be used as backfill
•Install leftover insulation in interior wall cavities or on top of installed
attic insulation if it can not be used on another job.
• Branches and trees from site clearing can be stored separately and
chipped for use on the site as landscaping mulch.
Step 4) Purchase To Prevent Waste
• ordering only the quantity needed in building specific lengths.
• Evaluate estimating procedures to make sure that excess material is
not delivered to the site
• Avoid excessively packaged materials and supplies.
( Packaging should be adequate to prevent damage and waste.)
REUSE
• As distinct from recycling, reuse of construction products involves
their reuse with little or no reprocessing. Reuse offers even greater
environmental advantage than recycling since there is no (or few)
environmental impacts associated reprocessing.
• For example, reusing a steel beam in its existing form is better than
remelting it and rolling a new steel beam, i.e. the energy used to
remelt the beam is saved.
• By using more recycled and reused materials on your
construction project, you can reduce your overall costs
Reuse

Components that can readily be reused include:

stairs
timber – hardwood flooring, weatherboards
thermal insulation – fibreglass, wool and polyester insulation,
polystyrene sheets
carpet and carpet tiles
plumbing fixtures – baths, sinks, toilets, taps, service
equipment, hot water heaters
electrical fittings – light fittings, switches, thermostats
• linings and finishings – architraves, skirtings, wood
panelling, joinery
• doors and windows – metal and timber doors,
aluminium windows, steel windows, sealed glass units,
unframed glass mirrors, store fronts, skylights, glass
from windows and doors, timber and metal from frames
• clay and concrete roof tiles
• roof claddings
hardwood flooring
weatherboards horizontal boards nailed to outside walls
with edges overlapping to keep out the rain.
Thermal insulation is the process of insulating material from transferring
heat between the materials that are in thermal contact
It means all the techniques used to limit heat transfer between a
hot medium and a cold medium.
The insulation of a building reduces the heat exchange between the
interior of the building and the outside environment, thus reducing
the need for heating and, where appropriate , air conditioning . This
insulation must be thought of according to the climatic constraints
of the place in which the building is located. Thermal insulation is
the basic principle of the passive house . It traps warmth inside in
winter and keeps the house cool in summer
Fibre glass
insulation
 Attic
insulation
Thermal
insulation
by wool
• Carpet tiles, also known as carpet squares or modular carpet, are
a modern and stylish alternative to standard carpet rolls
architraves
skirting
skylight
Roof shingles
Recycling
• Environmental Importance
Recycling is very important as waste has a huge negative impact on the
natural environment.
• Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in
landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by waste.
• Habitat destruction and global warming are some the affects caused by
deforestation. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials so that the
rainforests can be preserved.
• Huge amounts of energy are used when making products from raw
materials. Recycling requires much less energy and therefore helps to
preserve natural resources
• Importance To People
Recycling is essential to cities around the world and to the people living
in them.
• No space for waste. Our landfill sites are filling up at a fast rate
• Reduce financial expenditure in the economy. Making products from
raw materials costs much more than if they were made from recycled
products.
• Preserve natural resources for future generations. Recycling reduces
the need for raw materials; it also uses less energy, therefore
preserving natural resources for the future
Energy recovery
• Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste
materials into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of
processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolization, anaerobic
digestion. This process is often called waste to energy
• Waste to energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of
generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the
primary treatment of waste. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most
WtE processes produce electricity and/or heat directly through
combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such
as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.[1
• The terms ‘energy recovery from waste’, ‘waste to energy’ or ‘energy from
waste’ can be used interchangeably to describe a number of treatment
processes and technologies used to generate a usable form of energy from
waste materials. Examples of usable forms of energy include electricity,
heat and transport fuels. For the purpose of this document the term
‘energy from waste’ or ‘EfW’ is used.
• The main technologies are summarised below:
• • combustion to produce heat
• • gasification, including plasma gasification or plasma assisted gasification,
to produce a combustible syngas
• • pyrolysis to produce syngas
• • biological processes such as anaerobic digestion or fermentation to
produce biogas or alcohol.
• The most common type of EfW technology around the world is direct
combustion of waste to create heat, which can be used directly or to
generate electricity.
Landfill
A landfill site is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial

• Concrete
• Electrical Wiring
• Asphalt
• Rebar
• Wood
• Gypsum Board
• Metals
• Plasterboard
• Glass
• Carpet
• Brick
• Plumbing Fixtures
• Insulation
• Piping
• Nails
• Dredging Materials
• Tree Stumps
• Rubble
• The three most important problems with landfill are toxins, leachate
and greenhouse gases.
• Toxins
• Many materials that end up as waste contain toxic substances. Over
time, these toxins leach into our soil and groundwater, and become
environmental hazards for years.
• Leachate
• Leachate is the liquid formed when waste breaks down in the
landfill and water filters through that waste. This liquid is highly
toxic and can pollute the land, ground water and water ways
• Greenhouse gas
• When organic material such as food scraps and green waste is put in
landfill, it is generally compacted down and covered. This removes
the oxygen and causes it to break down in an anaerobic process.
Eventually this releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is 21 times
more potent than carbon dioxide. The implications for global warming
and climate change are enormous. Methane is also a flammable gas
that can become dangerous if allowed to build up in concentration. C
• Apart from the financial costs, garbage buried in landfill breaks down
at a very slow rate and remains as problem for future generations.
What is Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—
such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat—which
are renewable (naturally replenished).
Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind
power, hydroelectricity, biomass and biofuels for transportation.

This energy cannot be exhausted and is constantly renewed.

Wave energy
Ocean waves contain tremendous energy potential.
Ocean wave energy is captured directly from surface waves
and the capture of that energy is useful for
electricity generation, water desalination,
or the pumping of water (into reservoirs).
Wave energy can be difficult to harness
due to the unpredictability of the ocean
and wave direction
 Tidal energy

Tidal power or tidal energy is a form of

hydropower that converts the energy
obtained from tides into useful forms
of power, mainly electricity. Although
not yet widely used, tidal power has
potential for future electricity generation.
Tides are more predictable than
wind energy and solar power
 Solar energy
Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or
electrical energy.
• Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant
• renewable energy source available

One of the fastest growing energy sources,

new technologies are developing at a rapid pace.
Solar cells are becoming more efficient,
transportable and even flexible, allowing
for easy installation.
Wind Power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy by
wind turbines into a useful form, such as
electricity or mechanical energy. Large-scale
wind farms are typically connected to the
local power transmission network with
small turbines used to provide electricity
to isolated areas.
Hydro power

Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by

hydropower, i.e., the production of power
through use of the gravitational force of
falling or flowing water. It is the most widely
used form of renewable energy. Once a
hydroelectric complex is constructed, the
project produces no direct waste.
 Geothermal Power
Geothermal energy is a very powerful and efficient way to extract a
renewable energy from the earth through natural processes. This can
be performed on a small scale to provide heat for
a residential unit (a geothermal heat pump),
or on a very large scale for energy
production through a geothermal
power plant.
Biomass, a renewable energy source derived from organic matter such
as wood, crop waste, or garbage
Limitations of renewable energy

• A key disadvantage of renewable energy at present lies in the rate at which it can
be produced. Despite its successes, renewable energy production remains
limited, partly because of the costs of the new technologies required and partly
because their efficiency and productivity is partially dependent on variables such
as the weather. A study conducted by The Renewable EnergyFoundation revealed
that the UK has missed its 2010 targets by a 'large margin' (REF, 2011).
• Renewable energy may also face the challenge of land constraint. For example,
replacing crude oil-derived fuels by bio fuels would require between 1,000 and
10,000 times larger areas for crops than the land used by oil field infrastructures,
and shifting from coal-fired to wind-generated electricity would require 10 to 100
times more space (Smil, 2006). Land issues apply to most renewable energies,
along with direct or indirect impacts on natural habitats, the visual environment
and loss of agricultural land.