Waste Management

Photo: Peter Craven. License: CC BY 2.0

Construction waste that goes to the landfill is a missed opportunity.

When materials are purchased for a job and then go unused or wasted, avoidable costs and environmental burdens result. Attention to construction waste management (CWM), especially when starting early in design, can reduce tipping fees and earn LEED credits.

It can also extract monetary value from scrap, and aesthetic value from architectural materials.

Waste Management

Deep Dives

Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.

    Loading...

  • Prefabricating Green: Building Environmentally Friendly Houses Off Site

    Feature Article

    Prefabricated housing offers several potential environmental benefits, including reduced transportation impacts, reduced waste, and quality control for better durability and performance. Aside from a few industry leaders, however, most manufacturers do not take full advantage of those efficiencies to create affordable high-performance houses.

  • Treated Wood in Transition: Less Toxic Options in Preserved and Protected Wood

    Feature Article

    Following the recent phaseout of CCA, the dominant wood preservative of the last 30 years, the treated wood industry is in major transition. Some current wood treatment technologies present familiar environmental problems, while less-toxic alternatives are just entering the market.

Quick Takes

Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.

Product Guidance

Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.

  • Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
  • Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
  • You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.

In The News

We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.

Perspective

Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.

  • Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
  • Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
  • You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.

Learning Resources

A wide range of education options, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.

  • Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
  • Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
  • You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.

Just For Fun

Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...

    Loading...

  • Reclaimed Building Materials in the Age of COVID

    April Fools

    Using reclaimed building materials is a great way to save resources and lower the embodied carbon of a building, but obtaining these materials in the age of COVID has created a new set of legal and ethical challenges.