This article is reposted, with edits, from the USGBC洛杉矶分会网站 是由 卢卡斯·艾伦 和 萨拉·内夫.
It’s well documented that our global society today is resource-intensive, that human activities are accelerating global climate change 和 that we must take urgent action. While there are several different pathways for humanity to make changes to help our climate, one that has gained significant traction in recent years is transitioning to a 循环经济.
Our current global economy is a "take-make-waste" extractive economy, which relies on fossil fuels 和 also does not effectively manage resources f或者是 long term. When it comes to global emissions, 45%是 from producing 和 disposing of products we use every day. This is ultimately what a 循环经济 approach aims to address.
In 2020, we’ve seen governments 和 entities (like 欧洲联盟 和 阿姆斯特丹)和公司(比如 贝莱德，谷歌，宜家等等) establish circularity goals 和 adopt 循环经济 action plans to change the way we do business in the modern era. 在美国这里.S., we’ve already seen cities like San Francisco, 洛杉矶, 纽约, Seattle 和 more lay out goals to be zero waste cities before 2050 or sooner!
Buildings have an important role in helping companies, cities 和 countries to achieve these goals, because their construction 和 operation makes up approximately 40% of the volume of American l和fills. Throughout a building’s life cycle, there are opportunities for us to design out wastes 和 keep materials in use across all segments of the value chain.
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When it comes to reducing waste in building operations, resources like bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航 for zero waste can provide an accessible road map to take action 和 guide buildings to be more sustainable, 资源高效和循环. The certification tackles key areas both upstream 和 downstream, encouraging the procurement of environmentally preferable products, as well as effectively managing them to ensure they can be 重用d, 循环再造或堆肥. For projects that are just beginning their journey to zero waste, there is also the bc菠菜论坛 Precertification pathway, which helps projects establish the building blocks to reach zero waste 和 qualify f或者是 full certification.
当涉及到新项目时， LEED certification has been working to address construction waste management for a long time now through its prerequisites 和 credits, which require 和 incentivize LEED projects to reduce, 重用, source-separate 和 recycle as much waste as they can. bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航 is also releasing a zero waste construction site scorecard, which will be an excellent crossover between principles established in both the LEED 和 bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航s 和 can guide construction project teams to adopt more circular principles.
An excellent strategy for getting started is to learn from the successes of other projects. bc菠菜论坛有一个 项目目录, where anyone can go 和 review the case studies of each project 和 learn about practices, policies 和 other strategies that helped them to achieve bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航. In 2018, 基尔罗伊房地产公司oration’s 观澜街350号 property achieved certification at the Gold level 和 serves as a great example of a building focused on waste reduction. 观澜街350号, 包括455,340平方英尺, was the largest single commercial property in the world to achieve bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航 和 was also the first commercial building in San Francisco to do so. (Additionally, 观澜街350号 is LEED Platinum 和 certified by Energy Star 和 Fitwel.)
基尔罗伊房地产公司.
The waste diversion threshold for bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航 is 90% diversion, which is what 观澜街350号 was targeting. The project ultimately achieved a 91.9% diversion, in addition to meeting other rigorous performance requirements. The project achieved this by diverting 610,2018年减少了1000磅的垃圾, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 24,000磅.
Key strategies that enabled 350 Mission to achieve bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航 include:
- Investing in reusable pantry supplies 和 ordering in bulk
- Replacing individual desk bins with central waste collection with appropriate signage
- Developing ongoing education 和 awareness programs
- Implementing post-sorting services to further increase occupant diversion rates
- Procuring critical consulting services from All 关于 Waste
- On-site performance verification with representatives from GBCI
While there are many ways we can aspire to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings 和 spaces, including buildings in the transition to a 循环经济 is critical. To learn more about the 循环经济 和 how you can help the transition, check out bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航 或者是 艾伦·麦克阿瑟基金会 获取更多资源.