Exploring how waste management is being approached in green building rating systems: A case study

Abstract

Green building rating systems (GBRS) propose sets of indicators to measure the level of sustainability of buildings, and include waste as one of the categories to be assessed. Yet, both the number of indicators and their aim, as well as the waste fraction they refer to, vary greatly from one system to another. This study identifies the waste-related indicators included in 10 global GBRS. They are classified on the basis of different criteria (waste fraction assessed, stages of the life cycle of the building, waste hierarchy and stages that make up the waste management system) so as to make it possible to subsequently analyse the importance given to each indicator through the specific weightings of each GBRS. Finally, the indicators are implemented in the case study of a building located in Colombia, in order to quantify the current level of sustainability achieved in the waste category of each system and to propose improvement actions that allow this score to be improved. In this way, it is shown that proper waste management can increase the level of sustainability of a building.