Building for the Future: Strategies to Reduce Construction and Demolition Waste in Municipal Projects, Bette K. Fishbein, June 1998, 100 pp.

Synopsis: In cities around the country, construction and demolition (C&D) debris--the waste produced in the course of constructing, renovating, and demolishing buildings--accounts for 10 percent to as much as 30 percent of the total municipal waste stream. In New York City, about 2.25 million tons of this waste are generated every year, approximately half of it from municipal building projects. Despite some success in recent years to increase recycling, most C&D waste ends up in landfills, where the amount of space it occupies creates problems for state and local governments. Building for the Future identifies strategies that have been used successfully around the country to reduce C&D waste during the design, construction, and demolition phases of municipal building projects. Reusing existing buildings; extending building lifetime through effective maintenance; designing buildings to accommodate new functions and technologies; incorporating durable, reusable materials into design plans; and deconstructing buildings rather than tearing them down so materials can be reused--all are strategies that bring down disposal costs, save on landfill space, and reduce the amount of raw materials needed for new projects. This report is the product of INFORM's involvement with NYC's effort to develop environmentally responsible building guidelines for its $3 billion capital construction program.

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