Best Practices for Sustainable Construction
Doing construction is more than building a structure from the ground as quickly and efficiently as possible. There are various elements that construction contractors need to achieve to make a well-built structure. One element that modern construction companies follow in achieving sustainable construction.
It means that the entire construction project needs to have sustainable materials, methods, techniques, and everything else that will complete it. Also, some organizations are implementing sustainable construction methods to lessen the negative impact on the environment. You have to learn more about the several best practices to achieve sustainable construction.
1. Using Alternative Construction Materials
One common practice that most construction companies do nowadays is they always find ways to utilize alternative construction materials that can help them achieve sustainable construction. An example of a standard construction material that’s present in almost every building or structure is concrete.
Contractors use concrete to build at least between 70 to 80% of the structure because it’s the most robust and most convenient material to form. You can find concrete walls, foundations, driveways, and any other surface you can think of that uses concrete. You can find that concrete makes up most of the waste generated from demolitions, which goes to waste all the time.
Creating concrete materials from scratch usually requires manufacturers to get raw materials from the earth, damaging the environment. Instead, construction companies have found ways to replace concrete and use sustainable construction materials, such as recycled plastic, bamboo, hempcrete, and ferrock.
If you want to lessen the environmental damage during construction, you need to replace conventional construction materials with newer, more recyclable ones like plastic. Demolition companies can recycle the materials like LEED access doors and panels, which construction teams can use for their future construction projects.
2. Implementing “Just-In-Time” Construction Material Production
Many construction companies have a terrible habit of ordering more construction materials than usual, which isn’t good because they hoard and waste most of them. Instead of selling it to other construction companies that require the same materials they have, they leave it in warehouses and think they can save it for future projects.
Sooner or later, they will come to a warehouse that’s full of rotten construction materials because they didn’t store it properly. Keep in mind that some construction materials tend to rot away in certain conditions. A good example is when you place wood and metal materials in damp areas. Wood will get soft and lose its integrity in the long run, while metal will get rust in different areas that can also lose its durability.
It’s the reason some manufacturers offer “Just-In-Time” production, which is a method they follow wherein contractors will only receive a precise number of materials on a specific date. It also means they cannot reorder the same materials until they use up everything. It helps manufacturers limit their material production, which means they get to consume lesser materials.
And the lesser materials construction material manufacturers make, the better they can save the environment from depleting their resources. Today, people are searching for methods to reduce environmental resource consumption as it can slowly deteriorate other aspects, such as nature, animals, and oxygen.
If one of those elements becomes compromised, it will affect everyone’s living conditions, and you don’t want that happening.
3. Practicing Alternative Construction Methods
Another effective method that construction companies need to practice is alternative construction methods. One standard alternative construction method is building or assembling the structure off-site and then delivering it to the project site. Most of the time, factories and assembly warehouses construct the structure first, and then construction companies transport them.
Assembly factories usually have the necessary tools, machines, and equipment to put everything together, which saves the construction team valuable time and money. They do not have to waste time doing it themselves on-site because the manufacturers did it for them. The on-site project team doesn’t need to exert too much effort in building the structure. They can save their construction resources for other parts of the project, which helps them become more efficient with the process.
On your future construction projects, make sure you follow the several practices mentioned above to achieve sustainable construction. There’s nothing more significant than constructing sustainable structures, all the while saving the environment step by step.