Getting a LEED certification requires a lot more than just using recycled or renewable materials. The certification also indicates that the construction process is environmentally friendly. For a project to be considered for LEED certification, it must have—as a prerequisite—a “construction waste management” plan. While it sounds fairly straightforward—reduce waste where possible, reuse scraps, recycle what you can, and keep a clean work site—it’s far more complicated than you might imagine.

In fact, the Construction Waste Management document for our project is 4 pages long. It lays out the goals of the waste management plan (recycle or salvage 75% of construction, demolition and land clearing debris), lists potential recycling companies, and defines specific processes for specific materials including concrete, scrap metal, plastics, wood products and many others.

In addition to all that, everything is documented—how much of what materials were recycled where, when and how they were reused. Whew!