This research consists of an investigation on the incidence of residential construction waste in Texas. Construction waste has proved to have a negative effect on the economic health of construction companies and on the environment. To evaluate the current methods two waste diagnostic questionnaires were developed to identify the most frequent waste categories present in the job site affecting the final cost of the residential projects, the types of waste and their possible causes. The questionnaires were sent to one hundred and twenty construction companies. Three criteria were used to select companies for the study. First, only private companies were chosen. Second, only companies doing predominantly residential construction works were chosen. Third, only companies who are operating in Texas were chosen. The results showed that wood, drywall and concrete are the most frequent waste categories affecting the final cost in residential projects and waste of materials, over allocation of materials, rework, clarifications, unnecessary handling of materials, inefficient movement of workers, waste of space on site, and delays are the most dominant types of waste occurring in these categories.

This research consists of an investigation on the incidence of residential construction waste in Texas. Construction waste has proved to have a negative effect on the economic health of construction companies and on the environment. To evaluate the current methods two waste diagnostic questionnaires were developed to identify the most frequent waste categories present in the job site affecting the final cost of the residential projects, the types of waste and their possible causes. The questionnaires were sent to one hundred and twenty construction companies. Three criteria were used to select companies for the study. First, only private companies were chosen. Second, only companies doing predominantly residential construction works were chosen. Third, only companies who are operating in Texas were chosen. The results showed that wood, drywall and concrete are the most frequent waste categories affecting the final cost in residential projects and waste of materials, over allocation of materials, rework, clarifications, unnecessary handling of materials, inefficient movement of workers, waste of space on site, and delays are the most dominant types of waste occurring in these categories.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

[pt] Existem milhares de técnicas e metodologias construtivas sustentáveis, e para o tratamento e reaproveitamento do resíduo da construção civil nos centros urbanos. Esse trabalho procura ordenar, de forma sintetizada, esses procedimentos para redução da geração e reaproveitamento do resíduo da construção civil no Rio de Janeiro, apresentando sugestões para as fases de idealização, projeto e execução do empreendimento e uma logística reversa para a reinserção do resíduo à cadeia produtiva. A pesquisa sugere no capitulo dois a utilização da ferramenta de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) na fase de idealização dos empreendimentos para uma visão ampla do impacto ambiental durante a execução da obra e na utilização do empreendimento até o descarte final, mostrando que a manutenção na fase de utilização representa mais de oitenta por cento do custo de toda a sua vida útil. O capitulo três apresenta uma analise do resíduo, sua composição, as classificações de acordo com o CONAMA e NBR 10.004, e seu potencial de impacto nas regiões urbanas, as principais fontes geradoras, um resumo das principais leis e resoluções brasileiras que regulamenta a sua gestão. Trás ainda uma comparação entre tipos de desconstruções com apresentação de um exemplo de uma demolição certificada no centro do Rio de Janeiro. O capitulo quatro apresenta um panorama geral da gestão dos resíduos da construção civil nas grandes cidades, evidenciando no Rio de Janeiro a existência de dois tipos distintos de geradores de resíduos na construção civil, o gerador das obras com canteiros instalados, licenciados, que segue as normas e exigências técnicas para seletividade do resíduo e os geradores das pequenas obras e reformas, responsável pela contribuição acima de 50 porcento do total de resíduo gerado e pela quase totalidade da poluição. O capitulo cinco trabalha sobre a formula: (Sustentabilidade = Projetos eficientes + Reaproveitamento dos detritos). Projetos eficientes, obras com baixa geração de resíduos e erradicação dos desperdícios é o caminho para a sustentabilidade no setor. Apresenta métodos construtivos para esse objetivo e sustenta que a segregação do resíduo na fonte é pré condição para um processo eficiente de reciclagem. Apresenta o Social como o principal legado da logística para reciclagem dos resíduos nas grandes cidades nos países em desenvolvimento. O capitulo seis propõe um caminho para a logística de reciclagem do resíduo da construção civil no Rio de Janeiro, transformando o processo linear em um processo circular para a indústria da construção civil. O fim do despejo de resíduo da construção civil in natura é uma meta a ser continuamente perseguida por toda a sociedade no compromisso com as gerações futuras. Esse trabalha apresenta sugestões para esse fim. / [en] The historical importance of the construction industry in the constant improvement of society s quality of life is undeniable. A major source of employment, it accounts for twenty percent of all U.S. economic activity, and in Brazil, in 2008, it represented 8.9 percent of the GDP; in 2000 it consumed 210 million tons of natural aggregates. These figures express the sector s strategic need justifying investments in research for its sustainability, which is currently less than 1 percent from the U.S. government and 6 percent in Europe. There are thousands of sustainable building techniques and methodologies, as well as those for the treatment and reuse of construction waste in urban centers. This article aims to organize, in a summarized way, these procedures to reduce generation and treat construction waste in Rio de Janeiro, making suggestions for sustainable processes in the idealization, design and implementation phases of a new development and the reverse logistics for treating waste and reintegrating it into the production chain. In chapter two the study suggests the use of the Life Cycle Assessment (ACV) tool during new developments idealization phases for a broad overview of the environmental impact of their execution, during the use of the developments until their final disposal. Research shows that maintenance costs in a development s utilization phase represent more than eighty percent of its entire life span. The ACV study qualifies knowledge of sizing, materials specifications and construction techniques, as well as routines for use of developments. It adjusts its viability guiding developments toward sustainable principles, for example, low power consumption settings, minimizing the use of natural resources, parameters for diversity of materials being used, the impact of the use of assembly and/or mounting adhesives that hinder selective disassembly for reuse, and the importance of planning deconstruction ahead of time in order to reuse materials; these factors are crucial in the quest for sustainability in the sector. Chapter three brings an analysis of this waste, its impact potential in urban areas, major generating sources, and a summary of the main Brazilian laws and resolutions regulating its management. By listing the main sources generating waste and scrap in construction, attention is drawn to the selective deconstructions of yesteryear that reused materials. Made viable by the construction techniques used at that time in these buildings that allowed the selective removal of material. Also in chapter three, an example of a current certified demolition in downtown Rio de Janeiro is presented. Finally, it shows the general composition of waste and its classifications according to CONAMA (the National Environment Council) and NBR (Brazilian Technical Standards Association) 10,004. Chapter four provides an overview of construction waste management in large cities, in Rio de Janeiro it is evident that two distinct types of waste generators exist in constructions: the first is the generator in construction works with installed and licensed construction sites, which follow the standards and technical requirements for waste selection from generation to transportation under joint liability during the whole process until the final destination, in accordance with CONAMA s resolutions; these generators are monitored throughout the process. Yet the second, the generator in small construction works and renovation without installed construction sites, they do not comply with waste management standards and requirements, they use the same bucket to carry all classes of mixed waste, with no responsibility for the segregation and final disposal. Most often these wastes are dumped in illegal transshipment areas, mostly in protected areas. This widespread practice under the pretext of lack of segregation space in the civil work is endorsed by the lack of an urban policy to empower and require waste segregation at source and its reprocessing. The segment of small generators is responsible for contributing over 50 percent of waste generated in the city, and for almost all of the total pollution generated by construction waste, due to their crude mixtures that cannot be recycled and untreated transshipments into nature. Thus this study focuses on studying a suggestion for waste segregation logistics and recycling for this second group of generators. Chapter five dissects the formula: (Sustainability = Effective projects + Waste reutilization). Efficient projects, civil works with low waste generation and waste elimination is the way toward sustainability in the sector. In some regions of Brazil, the loss reaches 33 percent as opposed to the world average of 10 percent. Several factors rooted in the country s culture of raw material abundance are mentioned. There is still a lack of sustainable efficiency concern in national projects, of doing more using fewer natural resources, using construction methods to lower the impact on the use and disposal of materials in the process.

This thesis concerns waste management on construction sites and was conducted on behalf of ICA Fastigheter. Areas of concern: How can an environmentally-efficient waste management system on construction sites be defined?  What potential exists for exploiting the waste resources that are generated? How can the waste management be optimised by reducing the quantity of waste and by optimal sorting? How can the client of a project influence the waste management? The purpose of the work was to investigate sustainable waste management in the building and construction sector and to highlight waste as a resource from an environmental and economic perspective.The aim of the work was to define an environmentally-efficient waste management system, to analyse the potential that exists in waste management and to draw up guidelines for optimal waste management.The method consisted of a literature study, two visits to construction sites and four interviews.An environmentally-efficient waste management system means that the waste is managed in the following order of priority: Prevention      Reuse   Recycling      Energy recovery Landfill      The prevention of waste is an important area that has not been adequately explored by the building and construction industry. The quantities of waste could decrease with the implementation of measures such as ordering materials in the dimensions required, prefabricated components, logistics centres with Just-In-Time deliveries, less and improved packaging and less wrapping. The reuse of waste materials and temporary apparatus as well as the use of a return pallet system are examples of reuse that reduces the quantities of waste. In most cases the source sorting work is a matter of course and the proportion going to landfill is down at a low level. The source sorting can be optimised by sorting all materials that can be reused and recycled to use them as a resource. The client of a project has great opportunities to influence the waste management in a sustainable direction by placing demands on the contractor. Demands can be placed on measures to reduce the quantities of waste, on a specific level of source sorting and on the reporting and monitoring of statistics.

O crescimento da economia brasileira proporcionou uma intensificação na quantidade de obras de infraestrutura iniciadas no país nos últimos anos. A adoção e ampliação de estratégias utilizadas pelo governo para combater os efeitos da crise internacional sobre a economia e as obras necessárias ao país, em razão de eventos internacionais que acontecerão, como a Copa do Mundo de Futebol em 2014, e de programas como o Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), foram uma resposta às atuais necessidades do Brasil. Com essas inúmeras obras, houve um crescimento na geração dos resíduos da construção civil (RCC), o que fez com que autoridades, pesquisadores e a sociedade voltassem seus esforços para enfrentar as dificuldades de manejo e disposição final adequada desses resíduos. A ausência de políticas públicas que promovessem a fiscalização do gerenciamento desses resíduos, em relação aos geradores, provocava diversos impactos como, por exemplo, o surgimento de vários depósitos clandestinos nas áreas mais afastadas do perímetro urbano e gastos por parte da administração pública com modelos de gestão corretiva. Contudo, com a elaboração da Resolução CONAMA nº 307/2002 e da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, Decreto nº 7.404/2010 que regulamenta a Lei nº 12.305, ficou instituído que os geradores devem ser responsáveis pelos resíduos das atividades voltadas à construção civil, contemplando, assim, a minimização dos impactos causados ao meio ambiente e à saúde humana. Dessa forma, esse quadro de descaso com a situação dos resíduos começou a mudar. Com a intenção de contribuir com essa área de conhecimento, esta pesquisa teve como finalidade estudar a situação do sistema de gerenciamento de RCC de obras de grande porte, após a regulamentação da Resolução CONAMA nº 307/2002 e do Decreto nº 7.404/2010, que regulamenta a Lei nº 12.305, referente à Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo da situação da gestão e do gerenciamento dos RCC na demolição e construção da Arena Fonte Nova, em Salvador - BA, e na construção da Arena Pernambuco, em São Lourenço da Mata - PE, realizadas para a Copa do Mundo de Futebol de 2014, por meio de três etapas de estudo: análise das variáveis e indicadores locais; caracterização qualitativa dos resíduos; e, por fim, comparação do gerenciamento da obra com o preconizado em ambas as leis. Esta pesquisa utilizou metodologia de classificação qualitativa do RCC, por meio de observações e entrevistas de campo, com o objetivo de identificar e analisar sua gestão e seu gerenciamento nessas obras, e teve como principal importância ajudar as empresas construtoras de obras de grande porte a fazerem uma autoavaliação de sua gestão e gerenciamento dos resíduos sólidos. Portanto, concluiu-se que as obras pesquisadas atendem às exigências das leis e que, para que haja um efetivo sistema de gestão e gerenciamento dos resíduos da construção civil, deve-se influenciar a mudança cultural das pessoas, visando a efetiva compreensão e concordância das necessidades ambientais. / The Brazilian economy has provided an enhancement in the amount of infrastructure works initiated in the country in recent years. The adoption and expansion of strategies used by the government to combat the effects of global crisis on the economy and the works necessary for the country due to international events that will happen as the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and programs such as PAC (Program Growth Acceleration), were a response to the current needs of Brazil. With these numerous works, there was an increase in the generation of civil construction waste (CCW), which meant that the authorities, researchers and society return their efforts to face the difficulties of handling and final disposal of such waste. The absence of public policies that promote the monitoring of waste management in relation to generators, caused many impacts, for example, the emergence of several underground deposits in the areas furthest from the urban perimeter and spending by the public administration models corrective management. However, the drafting of the CONAMA Resolution 307/2002 and the National Policy on Solid Waste Decree 7.404/2010 which regulates Law 12,305, it was established that the generators should be responsible for waste from activities related to construction, encompassing thus minimizing the impacts to the environment and human health. Thus, this picture of neglect with the waste situation began to change. Intending to contribute to this area of knowledge, the present study was aimed to study the situation of the CCW management system for large works, after the implementation of Resolution CONAMA 307/2002 and Decree regulating 7.404/2010 Law 12,305, on the National Policy on Solid Waste. To that end, a study of the CCW management situation was conducted in the demolition and construction of the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador - Bahia, and in the construction of the Arena Pernambuco in São Lourenço da Mata - PE, performed for the FIFA World Cup 2014, through three stages of study: analysis of variables and local indicators, qualitative characterization of the waste and, finally, comparing the CCW management as recommended in both laws. This research used the qualitative methodology of the CCW, through field observations and interviews, in order to identify and analyze the management of these same works and its main importance to help manufacturers of major works to make a self- evaluation of its management and solid waste management. Therefore,it was concluded that the works researched met the requirements of laws and that to have an effective management system of civil construction waste, must influence cultural change in the people, in order to enhance comprehension and compliance of environmental needs.

O crescimento da economia brasileira proporcionou uma intensificação na quantidade de obras de infraestrutura iniciadas no país nos últimos anos. A adoção e ampliação de estratégias utilizadas pelo governo para combater os efeitos da crise internacional sobre a economia e as obras necessárias ao país, em razão de eventos internacionais que acontecerão, como a Copa do Mundo de Futebol em 2014, e de programas como o Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), foram uma resposta às atuais necessidades do Brasil. Com essas inúmeras obras, houve um crescimento na geração dos resíduos da construção civil (RCC), o que fez com que autoridades, pesquisadores e a sociedade voltassem seus esforços para enfrentar as dificuldades de manejo e disposição final adequada desses resíduos. A ausência de políticas públicas que promovessem a fiscalização do gerenciamento desses resíduos, em relação aos geradores, provocava diversos impactos como, por exemplo, o surgimento de vários depósitos clandestinos nas áreas mais afastadas do perímetro urbano e gastos por parte da administração pública com modelos de gestão corretiva. Contudo, com a elaboração da Resolução CONAMA nº 307/2002 e da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, Decreto nº 7.404/2010 que regulamenta a Lei nº 12.305, ficou instituído que os geradores devem ser responsáveis pelos resíduos das atividades voltadas à construção civil, contemplando, assim, a minimização dos impactos causados ao meio ambiente e à saúde humana. Dessa forma, esse quadro de descaso com a situação dos resíduos começou a mudar. Com a intenção de contribuir com essa área de conhecimento, esta pesquisa teve como finalidade estudar a situação do sistema de gerenciamento de RCC de obras de grande porte, após a regulamentação da Resolução CONAMA nº 307/2002 e do Decreto nº 7.404/2010, que regulamenta a Lei nº 12.305, referente à Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo da situação da gestão e do gerenciamento dos RCC na demolição e construção da Arena Fonte Nova, em Salvador - BA, e na construção da Arena Pernambuco, em São Lourenço da Mata - PE, realizadas para a Copa do Mundo de Futebol de 2014, por meio de três etapas de estudo: análise das variáveis e indicadores locais; caracterização qualitativa dos resíduos; e, por fim, comparação do gerenciamento da obra com o preconizado em ambas as leis. Esta pesquisa utilizou metodologia de classificação qualitativa do RCC, por meio de observações e entrevistas de campo, com o objetivo de identificar e analisar sua gestão e seu gerenciamento nessas obras, e teve como principal importância ajudar as empresas construtoras de obras de grande porte a fazerem uma autoavaliação de sua gestão e gerenciamento dos resíduos sólidos. Portanto, concluiu-se que as obras pesquisadas atendem às exigências das leis e que, para que haja um efetivo sistema de gestão e gerenciamento dos resíduos da construção civil, deve-se influenciar a mudança cultural das pessoas, visando a efetiva compreensão e concordância das necessidades ambientais. / The Brazilian economy has provided an enhancement in the amount of infrastructure works initiated in the country in recent years. The adoption and expansion of strategies used by the government to combat the effects of global crisis on the economy and the works necessary for the country due to international events that will happen as the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and programs such as PAC (Program Growth Acceleration), were a response to the current needs of Brazil. With these numerous works, there was an increase in the generation of civil construction waste (CCW), which meant that the authorities, researchers and society return their efforts to face the difficulties of handling and final disposal of such waste. The absence of public policies that promote the monitoring of waste management in relation to generators, caused many impacts, for example, the emergence of several underground deposits in the areas furthest from the urban perimeter and spending by the public administration models corrective management. However, the drafting of the CONAMA Resolution 307/2002 and the National Policy on Solid Waste Decree 7.404/2010 which regulates Law 12,305, it was established that the generators should be responsible for waste from activities related to construction, encompassing thus minimizing the impacts to the environment and human health. Thus, this picture of neglect with the waste situation began to change. Intending to contribute to this area of knowledge, the present study was aimed to study the situation of the CCW management system for large works, after the implementation of Resolution CONAMA 307/2002 and Decree regulating 7.404/2010 Law 12,305, on the National Policy on Solid Waste. To that end, a study of the CCW management situation was conducted in the demolition and construction of the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador - Bahia, and in the construction of the Arena Pernambuco in São Lourenço da Mata - PE, performed for the FIFA World Cup 2014, through three stages of study: analysis of variables and local indicators, qualitative characterization of the waste and, finally, comparing the CCW management as recommended in both laws. This research used the qualitative methodology of the CCW, through field observations and interviews, in order to identify and analyze the management of these same works and its main importance to help manufacturers of major works to make a self- evaluation of its management and solid waste management. Therefore,it was concluded that the works researched met the requirements of laws and that to have an effective management system of civil construction waste, must influence cultural change in the people, in order to enhance comprehension and compliance of environmental needs.

Building design can have a major impact on sustainability through material efficiency and construction waste minimisation (CWM). The construction industry consumes over 420 million tonnes of material resources every year and generates 120 million tonnes of waste containing approximately 13 million tonnes of unused materials. The current and on-going field of CWM research is focused on separate project stages with an overwhelming endeavour to manage on-site waste. Although design stages are vital to achieve progress towards CWM, currently, there are insufficient tools for CWM. In recent years, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been adopted to improve sustainable building design, such as energy efficiency and carbon reduction. Very little has been achieved in this field of research to evaluate the use of BIM to aid CWM during design. However, recent literature emphasises a need to carry out further research in this context. This research aims to investigate the use of BIM as a platform to help with CWM during design stages by developing and validating a BIM-aided CWM (BaW) Framework. A mixed research method, known as triangulation, was adopted as the research design method. Research data was collected through a set of data collection methods, i.e. selfadministered postal questionnaire (N=100 distributed, n=50 completed), and semistructured follow-up interviews (n=11) with architects from the top 100 UK architectural companies. Descriptive statistics and constant comparative methods were used for data analysis. The BaW Framework was developed based on the findings of literature review, questionnaire survey and interviews. The BaW Framework validation process included a validation questionnaire (N=6) and validation interviews (N=6) with architects. Key research findings revealed that: BIM has the potential to aid CWM during design; Concept and Design Development stages have major potential in helping waste reduction through BIM; BIM-enhanced practices (i.e. clash detection, detailing, visualisation and simulation, and improved communication and collaboration) have impacts on waste reduction; BIM has the most potential to address waste causes (e.g. ineffective coordination and communication, and design changes); and the BaW Framework has the potential to enable improvements towards waste minimisation throughout all design stages. Participating architects recommended that the adoption of the BaW Framework could enrich both CWM and BIM practices, and most importantly, would enhance waste reduction performance in design. The content should be suitable for project stakeholders, architects in particular, when dealing with construction waste and BIM during design.

Submitted by Nara Lays Domingues Viana Oliveira (naradv) on 2015-07-01T19:30:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 micheledias.pdf: 1762771 bytes, checksum: ef597c67a9fa0e4be515580698ec6a19 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-01T19:30:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 micheledias.pdf: 1762771 bytes, checksum: ef597c67a9fa0e4be515580698ec6a19 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-05 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / FAPERGS - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / SINDUSCON/NH - Sindicato da Indústria da Construção Civil de Novo Hamburgo/RS / A significativa quantidade de resíduos gerada pelo setor da construção civil é hoje um grande problema ambiental a ser enfrentado pelo poder público e empresas construtoras. Para evitar ou reduzir a geração de resíduos é preciso atuar na origem, que pode estar desde o projeto até a fase de execução. O projeto consiste no passo inicial do empreendimento e tem influência significativa sobre o processo construtivo e produto final. Estudos apontam também que o sistema de gestão empregado por construtoras tem relação direta com a ocorrência de perdas, incluindo os resíduos. O conhecimento do índice de geração de resíduos é uma importante informação gerencial, com diferentes objetivos, desde a conscientização do problema, até para servir de base para o planejamento e implementação de ações voltadas à minimização da geração. Contudo, a quantificação dos resíduos de construção ainda pode ser considerada como um desafio, tendo em vista características peculiares da construção e a heterogeneidade dos resíduos. Observa-se muita variabilidade nos métodos empregados e variáveis consideradas, além das diferenças relativas à época e contextos pesquisados para geração dos índices e indicadores. Este trabalho propõe o desenvolvimento de um modelo estatístico para estimar a quantificação da geração de RCD em obras residenciais verticais, considerando características específicas das construtoras que atuam na região metropolitana de Porto Alegre-RS, investigando a influência do projeto e do sistema de produção. A estratégia de pesquisa consistiu num estudo de caso com múltiplas fontes de evidências, utilizando como ferramenta de análise estatística a regressão linear múltipla. A amostra é formada por dados de 20 obras residenciais verticais de 10 empresas que atuam na região metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Como resultado foi gerado um modelo estatístico, formado pela variável dependente (estimativa da quantidade de resíduo a ser gerada) e variáveis independentes relativas ao projeto (área do pavimento tipo, relação entre o número de pavimentos tipos e o número total de pavimentos e Índice econômico de compacidade) e ao sistema de produção (sistema construtivo e reaproveitamento de resíduos no canteiro). O modelo proposto obteve valor de R² ajustado = 0,69, permitindo explicar 69% da geração de resíduos em obras com características semelhantes, foi observada melhor aproximação da estimativa realizada pelo modelo quando comparado a algumas estimativas da literatura. A informação gerada através do modelo é importante na conscientização dos empresários locais e útil para basear ações no sentido de minimizar a geração, reciclar ou ações relativas ao destino final adequado, além de possibilitar comparações com informações sobre a geração de resíduos de outras localidades. / A significant amount of waste generated by the construction industry is now a major environmental problem to be faced by the government and construction companies. To avoid or reduce the generation of waste is necessary to work at the source, which may be from design to the implementation phase. The project consists in the initial step of the development and has significant influence on the construction process and final product. Studies also indicate that the management system employed by construction companies is directly related to the occurrence of losses, including waste. The knowledge of the waste generation rate is important management information, with different goals, since the awareness of the problem, even to serve as a basis for planning and implementation of actions aimed at minimizing the generation. However, the quantification of construction waste can still be considered as a challenge in view of the peculiar characteristics of the construction and the heterogeneity of the wastes. It is observed high variability in the methods employed and the variables considered, and the differences related to the time and contexts searched for generating indices and indicators. This work proposes the development of a statistical model to estimate the quantification of CDW generation in residential construction vertical, considering the specific characteristics of construction companies operating in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre - RS, investigating the influence of design and production system. The research strategy consisted of a case study with multiple sources of evidence, using as a tool for statistical analysis with linear regression. The sample consists of data from 20 residential construction vertical of 10 companies operating in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre. As a result generated a statistical model , formed by the dependent variable ( the estimated amount of waste to be generated ) and independent variables related to the project (area of the pavement type , relationship between the number of flooring types and the total number of floors and economic index compactness ) and production system ( building system and reuse of waste in construction ) . The proposed model obtained adjusted R² = 0.69 , allowing explain 69 % of waste generation in the works with similar characteristics was observed better approximation to the estimation made by the model when compared to some estimates of the literature . The information generated by the model is important in raising awareness of local entrepreneurs and useful to base actions to minimize the generation, recycling or actions relating to the appropriate destination, and enable comparisons with information on waste generation from other locations.

Construction waste generation is a global issue in the sustainable construction context and several studies have been performed in different parts of the world to develop methods and tools for waste prevention, reduction, reuse and recycling. Most of these studies adopted a linear approach by focussing on a specific project phase, such as design, procurement or construction. However, there is a consensus in the literature that factors causing construction waste span across the project life cycle and recent researchers emphasised the need for a more integrated lifecycle approach to holistically assess and evaluate causes of waste to suggest recommendations to reduce lifecycle construction waste generation. Over recent years, the UK government has been investing billions of pounds in new and refurbished healthcare projects, where the healthcare buildings are often referred to, in literature, as complex buildings. This large investment has created a number of sustainability issues including water consumption, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and more significantly construction waste generation. However, no significant research has been undertaken to propose a systematic construction waste minimisation mechanism for healthcare construction projects. Therefore, this research aims to develop a lifecycle construction waste minimisation framework for healthcare projects (HC-WMF). In order to identify the research problem and construction waste generation issues peculiar to healthcare projects, nine preliminary interviews were conducted with healthcare clients (N=3), architects (N=3), and contractors (N=3). The findings revealed that healthcare projects generate high rates of waste compared to other building projects throughout the project lifecycle, identified complex features that have an effect on waste generation, and identified particular causes of construction waste in healthcare projects. A further in-depth study based on four case studies was undertaken to understand the impact of waste generation due to the causes of waste, the relationship between complex features in healthcare projects and the causes of waste, and best waste minimisation practices to be implemented throughout a healthcare project lifecycle to address construction waste causes. Three interviews (client, architect, and contractor) from each case study were undertaken during the data collection stage. A Healthcare Construction Waste Minimisation Framework (HC-WMF) and Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) were then developed based on the findings of the literature review, preliminary data collection study and case studies, and adoption of the key concepts of problem solving methodology. This HC-WMF comprised six waste minimisation strategies (project documents management, stakeholders waste awareness, communication and coordination, buildability, materials selection and procurement, and change management) to be followed throughout the lifecycle stages of a healthcare project. SAT provides a means to assess the effectiveness in implementing HC-WMF and to obtain feedback and learning outcomes for continuous further improvements. In order to validate the developed HC-WMF and SAT a validation questionnaire (N=26) and validation interviews (N=4) were conducted. The validation results showed that the HC-WMF and SAT would be very useful in reducing construction waste generation from healthcare projects. The research contributes to construction waste minimisation research introducing a novel approach to lifecycle waste reduction. Also, the research revealed the complex features in healthcare projects that affect construction waste generation, causes and origins of waste peculiar to healthcare projects, and best waste minimisation strategies to implement to reduce construction waste generation from healthcare projects. Most importantly, through HC-WMF, this research produced a set of guidelines to be followed throughout the healthcare project lifecycle to reduce construction waste generation. The study has made recommendations which, if adopted, will lead to significant improvements in sustainable healthcare construction due to construction waste minimisation. The content should be of interest to clients, designers, and contractors dealing with construction waste minimisation and sustainable construction in healthcare projects. Key words: Construction waste, Healthcare, Causes of waste, Healthcare complexities, Waste minimisation, UK.