Construction Waste Generation in the Iranian Building Industry

Document Type : Research Papers

Authors

1 Imam Khomeini International University

2 Imam Khomeini International University, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism

Abstract

Building industry as one of the greatest industries in Iran comprises a significant share of waste generation in the country. Since a large quantity of the generated construction waste is buried due to the lack of a recycling protocol, it leads to an undesired waste of resources and causes severe environmental issues. This paper provides a study on the problem of material loss/construction waste in the Iranian Building Industry regarding the impact of relevant shortcomings in the stages of design, construction and supervision as the main phases of construction process. This paper includes the case studies from Isfahan, Mazandaran, Qazvin and Zanjan provinces, with a focus on the most important elements underlying construction waste generation. It also presents the experts points of view on prefab and conventional construction methods considering construction waste generation through a questionnaire-based survey. In general, the results show that Iranian project managers, engineers, contractors and workers believe that from 40 to 100 percent of construction wastes can be reduced via application of prefab construction methods. The results indicate that prefabrication can be considered as a solution to waste reduction in the Iranian Building Industry, whereas there is a dominant conventional method application in the industry.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Abdelhamid, M.S. (2014). "Assessment of different construction and demolition waste management approaches", HBRC Journal, 10(3), 317-326. 
Ajayi, S.O., Oyedele, L.O., Akinade, O., Bilal, M., Owolabi, H.A., Alaka, H.A. and Kadiri, K.O. (2016). "Reducing waste to landfill: A need for cultural change in the UK construction industry", Journal of Building Engineering, 5, 185-193.
Baldwin, A., Poon, C.S., Shen, L.Y., Austin, S. and Wong, I. (2007). "Reducing construction waste by decisions within the design process", CIB World Building Congress, pp. 2568- 2583.
Baldwin, A., Shen, L.Y., Poon, C.S., Austin, S. and Wong, I. (2008). "Modelling design information to evaluate pre-fabricated and pre-cast design solutions for reducing construction waste in high rise residential buildings", Automation in Construction, 17(3), 333-341.
Chwieduk, D. (2003). "Towards sustainable-energy buildings", Applied Energy, 76(1-3), 211-217.
Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA). (2005). reflects and looks to the future. Construction Demolition Recycle. 7(5), 12(2).
Ding, Z., Wang, Y. and Zou, P.X. (2016). "An agent based environmental impact assessment of building demolition waste management: Conventional versus green management", Journal of Cleaner Production, 133, 1136-1153. 
Esin, T. and Cosgun, N. (2007). "A study conducted to reduce construction waste generation in Turkey", Building and Environment, 42(4), 1667-1674.
Hendriks, C.F. and Petersen, H.S. (2000). "Sustainable raw materials construction and demolition waste", State-of-the-Art Report of RILEM Technical Committee, RILEM Publication (s.a.r.l.), France.
Jaillon, L. and Poon, C.S. (2014). "Life cycle design and prefabrication in buildings: A review and case studies in Hong Kong", Automation in Construction, 39, 195-202.
Jaillon, L., Poon C.S. and Chiang, Y.H. (2009). "Quantifying the waste reduction potential of using prefabrication in building construction in Hong Kong", Waste Management, 29, 309-320.
Khosravi, A. and Enayati, B. (2015). "Nano technology in building industry an effective way to reduce construction waste", First Conference in Building Environment, Iran.
Li, J., Vivian, W.Y. and Zuo, J. (2014). "Designers’ attitude and behavior towards construction waste minimization by design: A study in Shenzhen- China. Resources", Conservation and Recycling, 82, 1-7.
Liu, Z., Osmani, M., Demian, P., Baldwin, A. (2015). "A BIM-aided construction waste minimization framework", Automation in Construction, 59, 1-23
Osmani, M., Glass, J. and Price, A. (2006). "Architect and contractor attitudes to waste minimization", Waste Resource Management, 159, 65-72.
Poon, C.S. (1997). "Management and recycling of demolition waste in Hong Kong", Waste Management and Research, 15, 561-572.
Poon, C.S. and Jaillon, L. (2002). "A guide for minimizing construction and demolition waste at the design stage", Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Poon, C.S., Yu, A.T. and Jaillon, L. (2004). "Reducing building waste at construction sites in Hong Kong", Construction Management Economy, 22(5), 461-470.
Poon, C.S., Yu, A.T., Ching, S. and Cheung, E. (2004). "Minimizing demolition wastes in Hong Kong public housing projects", Construction Management and Economics, 22, 799-805.
Poon, C.S., Yu, A.T., Wong, A. and Yip, R. (2013). "Quantifying the impact of construction waste charging scheme on construction waste management in Hong Kong", Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139, 466-479.
Poon, C.S., Yu, A.T., Wong, S.W. and Cheung, E. (2003). "Management of construction waste in public housing projects in Hong Kong", Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Poon, C.S., Yu. A.T. and Ng, L.H. (2001). "On-site sorting of construction and demolition waste in Hong Kong", Resources Conservation and Recycling, 32, 157-172.
Sajedi, F. and Yavari, A. (2016). "Construction waste management in Iran”, First International and Third National Conference in Architecture and Sustainable Urban Landscape, Mashhad, Iran.
Shen, L.Y. and Vivian, W.Y. (2002). "Implementation of environmental management in the Hong Kong construction industry", International Journal of Project Management, 20, 535-543.
Siefi, S., Karimi, H., Soffianian, A.R. and Pourmanafi, S. (2017). "GIS-based multi criteria evaluation for thermal power plant site selection in Kahnuj County, SE Iran", Civil Engineering Infrastructures Journal, 50(1), 179-189.
Skoyles, E.R. and Skoyles, J.R. (1987). Waste prevention on site, Mitchell Publishing, London.
Statistical Center of Iran (SCI). (2011) "Selected findings of the 2011 national population and housing census", http://www.amar.org.ir, 2016/04/05.
Tehran Waste Management Organization (TWMO). (2016). http://pasmand.tehran.ir, 2016/04/07.
Villoria, S.P., del Río Merino, M., San-Antonio González, A. and Porras-Amores, C. (2013). "Best practice measures assessment for construction and demolition waste management in building constructions", Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 75, 52-62.
Wang, J., Li, Z., Tam, V.W., (2014). "Critical factors in effective construction waste minimization at the design stage: A Shenzhen case study, China", Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 82, 1-7.
Wang, J., Li, Z., Tam, V.W., (2015). "Identifying best design strategies for construction waste minimization", Journal of Cleaner Production, 92, 237-247.
Won, J., Cheng, J.C. and Lee, G. (2016). "Quantification of construction waste prevented by BIM-based design validation: Case studies in South Korea", Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Yuan, H. and Shen, L.Y. (2011). "Trend of the research on construction and demolition waste management", Waste Management, 31, 670-679.
Zerbock, O. (2003). "Urban solid waste management: Waste reduction in developing nations”, M.Sc. Proceeding, Michigan Technological University.