Waste Managementis Critical to Your LEED Building Certification Success

No longer a fad for wealthy people who wear socks with their sandals or Ed Begley Jr., LEED Certification is now being sought by businesses, home builders and buyers who want to save environmental resources and money. The benefits of LEED-certifiedbuildings include: • lower operating costs and increase asset value, • areduction of waste sent to landfills, • conservation of energy and water, • buildings that are healthier and safer for occupants, • reduction of harmful greenhouse gas emissions as well astax rebates, • zoning allowances, • and other incentives in hundreds of cities across the nation. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building or community is designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: 1. sustainable site development, 2. water savings, 3. energy efficiency, 4. materials selection and 5. indoor environmental quality.Participation in LEED standards gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings' performance. Waste Management and LEED Certification When it comes to dealing withtheLEED specifications for waste materials and resources, there are prerequisites every building must meet.Two such prerequisites for existing buildings include: • Waste Management Policy and Waste Stream Audit: The intent of this prerequisite is to “establish minimum source reduction and recycling program elements and quantify current waste stream production volume.” Specifically, those seeking certification must conduct a waste stream audit of ongoing waste stream to establish a baseline and identify opportunities for source reduction and diversion. It must also operate a waste reduction policy that addresses source reduction, collection, recycling, and occupant education. • Storage and Collection of Recyclables:This prerequisite requires builders to; “Facilitate the reduction of waste generated by building occupants that is hauled to and disposed of in landfills or through incineration.” This means that contractors must provide an easily accessible area that serves the entire building and is dedicated to the separation, collection and storage of materials for recycling. The recycling area needs to include (at a minimum) space for paper, glass, plastics, cardboard and metals. The basics of waste management and LEED compliance is this:You must recycle during construction and have a way of collecting, storing, and transporting recyclables after the job and during the ongoing operation of your building.Sounds simple but as always, the devil is in the details. When It Comes To LEED Building Certification Trust Subject Matter Experts It is highly recommended that building owners employ specialists in LEED waste strategies to provide the proper waste stream audits, consulting and services to guarantee compliance and eliminate the costly mistakes that can result in denial of LEED certification. The independent non-profit Green Building Certification Institute provides the technical specifications for LEED certified structures. If you’re responsible for providing comprehensive LEED audits or a building owner doing it yourself, look to a waste management consulting firm that specializes in LEED audits and ongoing waste management strategies to handle the waste component of your certification.