Design the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle into the building’s construction and operation.
Specify low-energy construction techniques and low embodied energy materials. These include recycled materials, local materials, and those that require minimal processing. Embodied energy is typically considered to be the energy used to build the school, including energy used for construction tools and cranes and the energy needed to extract, manufacture, and transport materials to the school site. Areas should also be set aside within the building for separate waste stream storage and at-source waste separation.
3.2.4 Materials and Waste
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Design Options:
A. Operation Waste Diversion
Incremental Cost: Low to None
Ease of Implementation: Easy to Moderate Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
Divert waste from landfill by point of source separation. This requires specialized waste receptacles for deposit of organic and recyclable waste and collection of all the buildings waste for centralized collection.
Implementation Considerations:
• Design of two or three bin waste receptacles located where the waste is being generated (e.g.
organic waste receptacle in lunch room)
• Provide a pest resistant location for centralized waste collection
Cost Considerations:
• Usually cost neutral
B. Construction Waste Diversion
Incremental Cost: Low to None Ease of Implementation: Easy Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
Requiring 50% waste diversion from landfill during construction. This requires on-site waste separation for recycling and/or reuse.
Implementation Considerations:
• Contractor must provide on-site bins for recyclable materials
Cost Considerations:
• Usually cost neutral as recycling saves contractor on landfill charges
C. Long life Building Design
Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate Ease of Implementation: Moderate Payback: not applicable
System Description:
Design building for long service life by allowing for flexibility to meet future needs and specifying durable materials. Designing for flexibility may include designing corridor and mechanical system for future additions, or use of an open bay structural system to allow for reconfiguration of interior partitions. Specification of durable materials should include a review of life cycle
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Realizable Targets:
• Generally designing for long life will increase capital costs but save on maintenance and operational cost over the life of the building.
Therefore, budget tools to transfer funds from O & M to capital are required
Cost Considerations:
• Should reduce overall building costs
D. Reuse
Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate
Ease of Implementation: Moderate to Difficult Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
Design for the reuse of building components or materials. Reuse strategies could include renovation of an existing building on site, reuse of building materials from a building on-site or from another location (e.g. structural steel, windows, furniture, etc).
Implementation Considerations:
• The renovation of an existing building would need to be carefully studied for cost, schedule and appropriateness of the renovation.
• Reuse of materials needs to reviewed for soundness of the reused elements and scheduling
Cost Considerations:
• Can vary widely depending on the individual situation
E. Materials with High Recycled Content
Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate Ease of Implementation: Easy to Moderate Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
• Specify materials with high recycled content.
These materials include steel, aluminum, drywall, ceiling tiles
Implementation Considerations:
• Designers must source high-recycled materials for inclusion in contract documents
Cost Considerations:
• Usually cost neutral
F. Materials that can be Recycled Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate Ease of Implementation: Easy to Moderate Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
•Specify materials that are recyclable or can be returned to a manufacture. These materials include some types of carpet, steel, aluminum, drywall, and ceiling tiles.
Implementation Considerations:
• Designers must source recyclable materials for inclusion in contract documents
Cost Considerations:
• Usually cost neutral
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G. Locally Extracted and Manufactured Materials
Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate Ease of Implementation: Easy to Moderate Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
• Specify materials that are locally extracted or manufactured (In Ontario, a high percentage of materials are available from a local manufacturer.)
Implementation Considerations:
• Designers must source local materials for inclusion in contract documents
Cost Considerations:
• Usually cost neutral because of Ontario manufacturing base
H. Rapidly Renewable Materials
Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate
Ease of Implementation: Moderate to Difficult Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
Specify materials that are composed of rapidly renewable materials (can be renewed in less than a generation or 20 years). These materials include:
linoleum (linseed and jute), bamboo, popular wood, agro-fibre (wheat, straw, coconut), etc.
Implementation Considerations:
• Designers must source renewable materials for inclusion in contract documents
Cost Considerations:
• Usually add to cost moderately to cost
I. Certified Wood
Incremental Cost: Low to Moderate Ease of Implementation: Moderate Payback: not applicable
Realizable Targets:
Specify Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood. This is wood that has been grown in a sustainable manner.
Implementation Considerations:
• Designers must source FSC certified wood for inclusion in contract documents
• FSC certified wood is not available from all suppliers
Cost Considerations:
• Usually adds moderately to cost. Additional costs may be quite minor depending on the amount of wood used on the job
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GREEN SCHOOLS RESOURCE GUIDE