Haworth Wastes Not

LEED points are available for diverting waste from the landfill during demolition and construction. It doesn’t matter where the waste goes – to recyclers, reclamation centers, charity or Aunt Tillie’s basement–just not to the landfill (or incinerators). The idea is to write a construction waste management plan that will send as much material as possible back to the manufacturing process or to further uses.

We know that learning from others’ successes lessens the burden on inexperienced project teams, so let’s take a look at a true success story.

Haworth, a leading commercial furnishings manufacturer, earned LEED-NC Gold for the renovation of its 300,000-square-foot, Holland, MI headquarters. Haworth significantly bested the LEED requirement for earning two construction waste management points by diverting over 99 percent of the demolition waste.

That’s a pretty impressive number achieved through the combined efforts of the project contactor Turner Construction, the demo subcontractor Homrich, Inc., and Haworth suppliers and team members.

Reuse has the least environmental impact of all the waste diversion strategies and Haworth directed its primary efforts in that direction. For example, the contractors drained and treated 75 gallons of hydraulic fluid from the existing elevators to be reused in the new elevators. Items as minor as door locksets were removed intact to be reused in other Haworth facilities. Carpet tile was sent to OPT3 in Kingsport, TN to be cleaned, sanitized and treated with a stain shield and offered for resale.

Haworth partnered with Aggregate Management to come up with a creative plan to repurpose the concrete waste dust from manufacturing and the window glass from the old building–materials from two distinct waste streams–to make concrete construction blocks for the new building. In doing so they not only diverted waste but also created a construction material that did not need to be purchased.

Donations are a viable and increasingly popular waste diversion strategy. The Black River Public School in Holland partnered with Haworth and received higher quality materials such as carpeting and lighting that could have been purchased within its budget – in excess of $60,000 replacement value.

As green building technologies advance, the value of recovered materials increases. Haworth and others are realizing the economic and environmental benefits from creative waste management–and they’re earning points.