Using building information modeling to enhance the accuracy of forecasting genration rates of construction waste.

Abstract

The continuous increase in worldwide population has led to unprecedented rates of construction activities. In turn, the amounts of waste generated from construction activities are increasing at a steady pace. Such high waste generation rates are putting more pressure on landfills and are encouraging researchers and practitioners to look for alternative waste management strategies (e.g., recycling). In this thesis, a methodology is proposed to determine the required design capacity of a construction waste recycling plant using two essential sets of construction documents. The proposed methodology relies on building information modeling (BIM) technologies such as Revit and common scheduling tools such as Primavera to forecast the quantities of construction waste generated over time. While reported methods on the construction waste quantification are context specific and require significant amounts of field data collection, the proposed method is generic and automated, which makes it applicable to new projects of any type and at any location. The proposed method is illustrated on a real-world case study site, where the results of waste quantities generated over time serve as a baseline for estimating waste from multiple project sites. A set of project specific construction waste S-curves are generated visualizing the waste generation rates across the multiple stages of construction. The integration of several sets of S-curves obtained from different types of projects allows for an accurate forecast of waste generation rates at city, region, or country level, allowing waste management authorities to design the required capacity for recycling plants. Finally, the environmental and economic benefits achieved from recycling are estimated, serving to conclude that recycling could significantly save natural and monetary resources.