Sustainable Design - Reducing On-Site Waste

Careful choices in the systems and materials selected for your green home will reduce negative impacts of construction on the environment. The average 2000 square foot house produces approximately 8000 pounds of construction waste and debris. (See Mother Earth News article “Reducing Your Building Waste”).

Accounting for building systems, resources and material amounts during the design process equals savings in shipping costs, excess materials, labor, and on-site waste removal.

For example, when materials and units are constructed and prepared at the manufacturer’s facility, only the needed amount of material is produced for your project, and only that amount is shipped. With transportation prices, this alone can save you thousands of dollars. Additional savings can be seen because of the streamlined on-site building process. Waste removal is costly and rising; by reducing and/or eliminating significant site waste savings can again equal thousands of dollars.

All efforts to reduce waste are better for our environment and can result in substantial savings. The first step is hiring an architect to design your energy efficient home; someone who understands alternative building systems and considers your environmental goal during the entirety of the project.

Jeremy Bonin, AIA NCARB LEED AP
Bonin Architects & Associates, PLLC