We have been asked by the New Zealand Government, in partnership with elements of the NZ construction industry, to establish the feasibility of significantly reducing the amount of waste generated in the plasterboard and treated timber sectors.
We are seeking to do this by establishing suitable strategies, initiatives and tools for designing out waste i.e. preventing, avoiding or eliminating waste in these two sectors. The target is to reduce generated waste by 20% in these sectors by 2017.
We are well aware that designing out waste measures are already in place in several other countries around the world. As an essential first stage in our research we are seeking to find out what these are and how effective they have been. As you might be aware there are strong links between the concept of designing out waste, resource efficient design and lean design
Do you know of any research investigating Designing out Waste in the construction sector?
Thanks
Hello,
We have been following the same concept for designing buildings in the construction context. I think there are some good references mentioned in the paper below regarding the impacts of design and some examples from the manufacturing industry
Integration of design for reverse logistics and harvesting of information: a research agenda
You can download it from my profile. In the meantime there are some guidelines for designing buildings as recommended in the publication below.
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/2888/
Crowther, P. 2009. Designing for disassembly. In: NEWTON, P., DROGEMULLER, R. & HAMPSON, K. (eds.) Technology, Design and Process Innovation in the Built Environment. Taylor & Francis, eISBN: 9780203928325, pISBN: 9780415462884 Independence, KY, USA.
Crowther, P. 2002. Design for Buildability and the Deconstruction Consequences. In: CHINI, A. & SCHULTMANN, F. (eds.) Deconstruction and Materials Reuse; Technology, Economics, and Policy, CIB Publication 272, CIB Task Group 39 - Deconstruction, Annual Meeting. Karlsruhe, Germany.
Crowther, P. 2014. Investigating design for disassembly through creative practice. INTERSECTIONS: Expertise, Academic Research and Design International Symposium. Florence, Italy (available at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/79154/).
Kind Regards,
Thanks very much! I did in fact come across some of your work yesterday as well so great to make contact.
The US is struggling with the concept of applying Lean Construction principles to its design projects and I might add to its construction projects. However, Antonio Sergio Itri Conte who leads the Brazilian Lean Construction Institute and actually applies his LC research in the field on actual high rise building projects has some fascinating work that might be of interest to you. He speaks English fluently and would probably be willing to connect with you telephonically and help as he is absolutely passionate on the topic. I visited one of his projects and a 27-story building's waste pile was less than 30% of what I would have expected in a typical US project.
Lastly, Professor Andy Buchanan at U-Canterbury has done some amazing research on timber structures. I briefly collaborated with him when I was in Christchurch on sabbatical a few years ago. We looked at the constructability of LVL structures which would have involved cost estimating and measuring waste. So although he is retired, he might have some information that would help.
Thanks very much Douglas, that's very helpful! This is actually John Storey's project - I have just agreed to help out with the initial research. He will know Andy. I will pass all of this on to him. Thanks again.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Methodology
- Research Methodology
- Research Papers