A comparative analysis of waste management requirements between five green building rating systems for new residential buildings

The annual generation of construction waste is immense in both developed and developing economies. The environmental impacts caused by disposal of this waste stream are in multiple aspects, involving soil pollution, air pollution, water pollution, etc. Meanwhile, the green building concept is becoming more and more popular with the public; hence the building developers are eager to obtain green building certifications to increase the added value of buildings. Green building rating system (GBRS) is a tool for evaluating whether a particular building is green or not, and corresponding rank is given according to the detailed assessment requirements. In previous studies, GBRS has acted as a guideline to improve energy use and indoor air quality. However, the effectiveness of GBRS as applied to construction waste management has not been explored. To bridge this research gap, this study examines five selected GBRSs worldwide and proposes a comparative analysis, attempting to give a better understanding of measures that assist in improving construction waste management. The importance of construction waste management in different GBRSs is evaluated according to the accumulation of the corresponding scores of the related assessment items. Furthermore, the foci of construction waste management in different GBRSs are investigated in three dimensions based on the "3Rs" principle which is referring to reduce, reuse and recycle. The research findings reveal that of the five rating systems studied, the highest relative significance index of waste management is given to Evaluation Standard for Green Building, while the lowest belongs to Green Building Index. In relation to the 3Rs principle, Evaluation Standard for Green Building and Green Globes focus more on the reduce principle, while the other three systems propose waste management measures that largely based on the reuse and recycle principles. Discussions are further given based on the outcomes of the comparative analysis, future research topics are suggested as well.