Poon, C S; Yu, A T W and Jaillon, L (2004) Reducing building waste at construction sites in Hong Kong. Construction Management and Economics, 22(5), pp. 461-470. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
The building industry is using a considerable amount of resources, but if the life cycle of the material on site is closely examined, it is generally known that there is a relatively large portion of the materials being wasted because of poor material control on building sites. The problem of material wastage is not an isolated issue on construction sites. It is also an environmental concern. Hong Kong is running out of both reclamation sites and landfill space for the disposal of construction & demolition (CandD) waste. Many resources can be conserved and the amount of CandD waste required to be disposed of should be greatly reduced if better management of materials is practiced on building sites. This paper reports on a recent study conducted in Hong Kong relating to material control on construction sites with high-rise multi-storey buildings. In the paper, the causes of building waste are identified and the wastage levels of various trades for public housing and private residential projects in Hong Kong are quantified. The role of material control in reducing building waste is then discussed in details under three headings, namely design, material procurement and handling, and site management and practices.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building industry; construction waste; Hong Kong; material control; waste reduction |
| Index terms: | construction site, building site, material procurement, reclamation, residential project, landfill, waste reduction, Hong Kong, environmental concern, life cycle, public housing, site management, building industry, construction waste |
| Subjects: | environmental issues, waste management, value management, construction type, contractual arrangements, construction operations, work location, Geography, site and location studies, land management, sustainability assessment, economic development, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Site Management, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Construction Technology, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here