Diagnosis and actions to reduce waste generation in building sites: a progressive approach

Abstract

Apart from being a major consumer of natural resources, the building industry also generates a large amount of waste. For this reason, this sector is the object of much discussion on the search for sustainable development. The actions aimed at improving this situation may take place in several phases of the building process, involving different supply chain participants, including measures for reducing the waste generation at its source, as well as the reuse or recycling of waste, and, eventually, its adequate disposal. This paper deals with the issue of how to reduce waste in building sites, proposing a set of postures and methods, devised and adopted in several research studies coordinated by the Construction Department from the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, most of them involving other institutions, which have proposed a progressive improvement towards the reduction of waste in the production of buildings. Those studies have led to a research approach that emphasizes the management of material consumption in building sites based on performance measurement and on the application of the continuous improvement principle.