CAREER: Sustainable Material Harvesting in Civil Engineering: A Building Lifecycle Approach to Maximize Recyclable and Reusable Demolition Waste

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

The research objectives of this CAREER project are to investigate impacts of decisions made by various stakeholders across a building’s lifecycle on material use, reuse, and recycle, and to develop a holistic approach to maximize recyclable and reusable material yields during the demolition phase. Many investigators have emphasized the importance of optimizing the use of materials throughout a building’s lifecycle, but most approaches have primarily focused on early stages (i.e., design and construction). This is because there is only a limited understanding of the impacts of collective decisions made by all relevant stakeholders (i.e., building owners, demolition contractors, and government agencies) across a building’s service life and the lack of a method to integrate their independent actions toward achieving downstream sustainability. This project addresses this knowledge gap. Specific research activities include advancing understanding of the decision-making process of stakeholders, (i) through the incorporation of recovered demolition material benefits within building owners’ maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation (MR&R) decision-making process, (ii) the quantification of productivity of different demolition options, and (iii) evaluating their impacts on recycling and reuse under different scenarios of environmental policy implementation. Focusing at a community level (i.e., in Tallahassee, Florida), this project will develop an integrated planning method for sustainable demolition material harvesting. The educational objectives are to instill in students and as much as possible in the general public a positive attitude about demolition waste as recoverable materials with untapped potential, and to educate the next generation of engineers to adopt sustainable practices. Educational activities include (i) developing educational modules on recycled construction materials and sustainable material harvesting for undergraduate and graduate teaching, (ii) engaging undergraduate and K-12 students in small-scale demonstration of the sustainable material harvesting concept, and (iii) promoting the benefits of recycled/reused construction materials and sustainable practices by working with student chapters. The educational activities are designed to improve the negative perception of demolition waste through interaction with students and the public. This project will create a holistic approach to sustainable demolition material harvesting, which not only advances phase-specific sustainability methods but also enables integration to maximize downstream sustainability across a building’s lifecycle. For the building use & occupation phase, this project will develop a new stochastic model to evaluate MR&R decisions made over a building's service life with respect to their contribution to the carbon- saving potential of recycling, and enable optimization of building owners’ decision-making toward sustainability. The project will quantify the time-performance of demolition methods under various management and operational conditions. Additionally, the project will develop a policy- planning framework, which enables interrelating and driving decision-making processes in a way that maximizes demolition material yields for recovery. The integrated material harvesting planning tool developed will be modified for use as an easy-to-comprehend learning medium by graduate students to address regional material issues (e.g., high material needs for rebuilding after a hurricane), thereby contributing to local environmental sustainability. Research and education outcomes will be disseminated nationally through the PI’s connection with natural hazards and construction engineering research communities. Minority and K-12 students will be engaged in research and education through FAMU-FSU College of Engineering's unique partnership with a minority-serving institution and FSU's existing programs. As part of the project, a new engineering-art collaboration will be created to improve students’ and the public’s perception of demolition waste. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.