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Construction Industry Building a Greener Future
The Construction Initiative
EPA’s Construction Initiative, a collaboration with public and private sectors to increase reuse and recycling of industrial materials in building and transportation projects, is detailed in a new brochure (PDF) (2 pp, 1.8MB, About PDF) that can help firms green their construction practices. The brochure offers a glimpse of how recycled materials can actually improve products and processes.
A growing number of construction companies are taking a double-barreled approach to their work: Not only are they erecting “green” buildings, they are reducing the environmental impact of their day-to day operations. For example, many firms are careful to recycle bricks, concrete, and wood left after building demolitions, or that are unused during construction. Back at the office, they recycle copy paper and architectural drawings, and buy recycled-content office supplies.
Take the case of California’s Webcor Builders, a WasteWise partner and a 2008 honorable mention award recipient that employs nearly 500 people in offices across the state. The company has set a 90 percent recycling goal for 2008. Ted Huang, a sustainability engineer for Webcor, says their company realizes that “every little detail matters in efficiency efforts.”
Webcor uses specially designed, oversize bins to collect architectural drawings for recycling.
Photo courtesy of Webcor
To reach its aggressive goal, Webcor is reusing or recycling materials wherever it can. At the office, employees reuse glasses and water pitchers, rather than disposable items. Employees recycle paper, bottles, and cans. To more easily recycle oversized project drawing plans, Webcor designed customized recycling bins.
Webcor began a green purchasing program in the spring of 2007. Its online office supply system automatically substitutes products made of virgin materials with their recycled equivalent. After six months, Webcor was purchasing 20 percent of its office supplies—paper, pens, toner cartridges, and more—with recycled content. The company also challenges its vendors to provide sustainable product and service alternatives while helping them green their industries. For example, Webcor demanded and received recycled content paper for all its plan reproductions.
On the jobsite, Webcor reuses trailer furniture and all extra wood goes through a wood workshop to be fabricated into temporary equipment. The company recycles 80 percent of its construction and demolition debris—meaning it is able to reuse or recycle most of its leftover wood. For example, Webcor works closely with resource and charity groups, such as Sustainable Silicon Valley and Rebuilding Together, to ensure other materials are reused before they are recycled.
“Sustainable development is a necessity and the right thing to do,” says Huang. “It’s also our way of doing business, an investment that creates value and secures our collective future.”
For More Information
- Visit Webcor's Go Green site
to learn more about their sustainable building efforts. - EPA’s WasteWise program provides information, assistance and national recognition to organizations implementing or expanding waste reduction programs.
- Learn more about EPA’s Resource Conservation Challenge.
- Learn more about EPA’s Construction Initiative.