A comprehensive model for quantifying construction waste in high-rise buildings in India

Abstract

The construction industry plays a vital role in the economic development of any country. Concurrently, the sector also generates enormous quantities of construction and demolition waste (CDW) that damages the ecology causing environmental pollution and deteriorating human health. Recently, various governments and other organizations realized the importance of implementing construction waste management (CWM) practices to attain sustainability in construction. The current decade can be called a pathway for achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals in which CWM plays an inevitable role. However, accurately quantifying construction waste is necessary to successfully implement any CDW management plan. A detailed literature review for the current research revealed that limited information on the magnitude of construction waste is available in India. Therefore, the current paper proposes a practically viable model to estimate the waste generation index (construction waste generated per total floor area) of high-rise residential buildings in India. The waste quantification is being done based on the project documents and expert interviews. The methodology is later validated through a high-rise building with G + 18 stories located in Kerala, India. The study indicated that a high-rise concrete framed structure generates 122.3 kg m⁻² of waste during construction. It was also noted that, concrete, aggregates and blocks constitute 92% of the total waste generated in the project. The developed model can also be used as a cornerstone for establishing a construction waste database at the regional level.