SESSION: SUSTAINABILITY & METRICS

June 18, 2014, 10:30am. Track A

STATE OF THE PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT IN TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS

Jeralee Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., Greenroads Foundation

EVALUATING SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH INVEST -

FHWA’S SUSTAINABILITY RATING TOOL Constance M. Hill Galloway, Ph.D., Environmental Protection Specialist, FHWA

GREEN DOT SUCCESS

Nedd Codd, Assistant Secretary, GreenDOT

DDOT: ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE

Lezlie Rupert, DDOT

SESSION: SUSTAINABILITY & METRICS State of the Practice for Sustainable Materials Management in Transportation Projects

Jeralee Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., Greenroads Foundation

The Greenroads Rating System, a third-party sustainability metric for roadway projects, includes both mandatory and voluntary best practices to encourage the proactive management of construction waste and related resource efficiency activities for transportation projects. This presentation will explore the waste management and recycling rates of active and successful projects pursuing Greenroads Certification as case studies by comparing them to benchmark data analyses for 105 projects in the United States completed by Anderson & Muench (2013).

Jeralee Anderson is the Executive Director of Greenroads Foundation. She holds her doctorate in sustainability and civil engineering from the University of Washington. Prior to launching Greenroads Foundation, Jeralee worked in a variety of structural, geotechnical and construction engineering positions after receiving her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She is a licensed professional engineer in Washington State and California.

Jeralee Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP - Greenroads Foundation

Transportation Research Board Committee ADC60Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Workshop

June 17, 2014 – New York City, New York

State of the Practice for Materials Management in Transportation Projects

Transportation projects produce substantial amounts of construction waste, but actual amounts are UNKNOWN.

Highway 35 Betterment, Mt. Hood, OR

Johnson, 2009EPA, 2009Construction Materials Recycling Association, n.d.

Transportation is major contributor!

5From Cochran, 2006

Roads and bridge waste ≈ 2x building waste

Materials Consumption vs. Waste

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Rate of consumption is increasing annuallyWaste retention rates are no match for consumption

No single source for transportation material data

1.3 billion tons waste in 2002*Highest contributor = concrete (buildings, transport, other)

1.4 trillion tons2nd highest contributor = asphalt concrete (transport)

400 million tons3rd highest = wood and wood products (mostly buildings)

Cochran, 2006 – 2002 appears to be best available data that includes transport waste estimates

How many tons of material can the average dump truck haul?How far and where does it travel? And at what cost?

Dump trucks hauling dirt shore up levees in communities along the Red River near Fargo, ND

7 Andrea Booher/FEMA, Wikimedia Commons

How We Can Manage the Unknowns

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Industry associations/NGOs take a leadership roleTrack and manage reporting statistics of consumption and waste

Owners: add accountability requirements for contractors

We suggest a per-project approach and project metricsWe found in 120 projects (reviewed in 2011 and prior)

Only 23 had a waste management plan (19%)Only 73% of WMPs had recycling and diversion strategies

This is why Greenroads requires a CWMP56 registered projects in 7 states and 7 countries; 11 CertifiedOver $5.5 billion construction value

Anderson, 2012; Greenroads Foundation, 2014

We are interested in what happened to the existing materials

Similar to credit CA-3 Site Recycling PlanNot all do both – why not?

PR-6 Waste Management Plan

Goal Create an accounting and management plan for road construction waste materials

Requirements Establish, implement, and maintain a formal Construction and Demolition Waste Management Plan (CWMP) during roadway construction

Documentation Copy of contractor waste management plan

SITE RECYCLING PLAN

General Contractor: Project Name: Site Recycling Coordinator: Phone: Debris Collection Agency: Site Recycling/Diversion Goals: Steps to inform contractors/subcontractors of Site Recycling Plan policies. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

C&D Materials Expected to be Generated and Proposed Diversion Method The following charts identify materials expected to be generated by this project and the planned method for

diverting these materials from disposal as a waste.

DECONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PHASE Material Quantity (units) Diversion Method & Location Handling Procedure

CONSTRUCTION PHASE

Material Quantity (units) Diversion Method & Location Handling Procedure

Muench et al. 2011

Frequency of Achievement

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ID Credit Title Achievement (%) ClassificationPR-6 Waste Management Plan 9% Typical (65 Projects)

28% Sustainable (40 Projects)16% Overall (105 Projects)

CA-3 Site Recycling Plan 5% Typical28% Sustainable13% Overall

MR-2 Pavement & Structure Reuse 60% Typical55% Sustainable58% Overall

MR-4 Recycled Materials 35% Typical38% Sustainable36% Overall

Anderson & Muench, 2013

City of Austin, TXTodd Lane ImprovementsPilot Project$7.8 mil

A great example of an owner-initiative for waste management. Based on LEED requirements for buildings and applied equally for roadway projects.

Presidio Parkway Phase ICalifornia Department of Transportation - $134.8 mil

PB/ARUP Joint Venture; CC Myers, R&L Brosamer Inc.

No formal CWMP, but City of San Francisco requires diversion of 75% minimum.

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Finishing the wearing course over cold-in-place recycled base.

City of San José, CAInfrastructure Maintenance DivisionMonterey Road Reconstruction$2.7 mil

Bid out two construction alternatives: conventional remove and replace and cold-in-place recycling (CIR).

CIR bid came in 23% under estimate.

Bellingham, WAMeador Kansas Ellis Trail Project$0.85 milPlacing Poticrete flatwork made with 400 salvaged toilets

Project Manager Freeman Anthony, P.E., basks in glory while dedicating a commemorative toilet seat to embed on this innovative project.

Summary

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Transportation waste is unknown and unmeasuredHard to manage unknown and unmeasuredMaterials consumption outpaces diversion and recyclingPotential to improve accountability in simple waysPlenty of opportunity to increase/incentivize reuse/recycling

Sustainability tools can help incentivize BMPs

Great waste management BMPs can apply on any project:Local agencies more often have waste strategy/goalState agencies more often have allowable recycling spec

Takeways: Helpful Hints

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Adopt C&D specs from local and state building projects

Set near term goals to characterize your waste stream from transportation projects

Set permissible or flexible specifications for recycling/reuse or new materials

Enforce quality control standards during reprocessing