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GREEN CONSTRUCTION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

It is high time Kenyans and African at large start to consume their natural resources sparingly. For
the longest time, we have never had to think about our resources getting extinct. I bet the Emirates
and Saudi Arabia never saw it coming with their oil fields. However, it is a reality that Kenyans need
to deal with in order to achieve sustainable development.

Sustainable development is the ability of present generations to meet their needs without
compromising the future generations’ ability to do so. In simpler terms, we should use the resources
judiciously, be it water, coal, oil, minerals, etc.

It’s noteworthy to mention that most resources consumed in the construction industry are non-
renewable. Moreover, the processes of obtaining these resources and the waste products of
construction, negatively impact the environment due to their inert nature. In Nairobi County,
most of the construction waste ends up in landfills, more specifically, the Dandora dumpsite. Did
you know that this dumpsite has reached full capacity and has been noted to be responsible for
gross environmental and public health hazards within its environs? (Kimani, N. G., 2007).

The National Solid Waste Management Strategy formulated by the National Environment
Management Authority, Kenya (NEMA) sets strict long-term goals for the country to achieve
approximately 80% waste recovery and 20% landfilling of inert material by 2030. With that in
mind, all stakeholders in the construction industry need to review the construction waste
management strategy pragmatically.

Construction waste in this context refers to any matter or thing that is rendered useless and is
generated as a result of construction works, demolitions, renovations, rehabilitation, excavation and
excess unused material that is abandoned.

Before embarking on a construction activity, proper planning for waste reduction should be
carried out. This can be achieved by preparing a Waste Management Plan to identify key waste
types, set out waste reduction programmes and targets, and also arrange on-site sorting and
proper waste disposal. More often than not, an unprompted generation of waste gets an
unprompted disposal solution which in turns creates disarray and comes with a cost implication.

The whole idea behind the Waste Management Plan system is to avoid, minimise, reuse, recycle
and finally dispose of waste with the desirability decreasing in this order. In simpler terms, the
priority is to as far as possible reduce the generation of construction waste and to maximize
reuse and recycling of the waste. To say the least, the hard cement waste can be used for filling
and asphaltic concrete waste from pavement rehabilitation can be re-used.

The following are some aspects that can be considered while planning for waste reduction:

a) Conservative designs and Lean construction: designing and constructing thinner internal
walls and floor slabs and reducing foundation size could minimise the amount of raw
material being used and thus reduce the amount of waste.
b) Cut and Fill economics: designing for reusing excavated spoils as back-fill material to
balance cut and fill could reduce the generation of excavated spoils.
c) Modular Designs and Precasting of Building Components: off-site prefabrication can
reduce cut-off wastage and the use of moulds on-site.
d) Designs for Reuse and Recycle: Construction designs should be flexible to incorporate
reused and recycled materials. For instance, low volume roads made from reclaimed
asphaltic concrete waste.
e) Selective Demolition: Building demolition should be planned and designed so as to
maximise recovery of reusable and recyclable materials.
f) Material Utilization: Raw materials should be fully utilized to avoid wastage.
g) On-Site Sorting: It is necessary to recover waste for reuse and recycle. A specific area
should be allocated for on-site sorting of waste while suitable containers should be
provided to temporary store the sorted materials such as metals, concrete, timber,
plastics, glass, excavated spoils, bricks and tiles. If small area of the site limits detailed
sorting, waste material should at least be separated into inert and non-inert portions.
h) Orderly Disposal: Prior to disposal, all materials should be sorted and reused on-site or
off-site while recyclable materials should be collected for recyclers' reuse. Public fill
waste should be either transported to the nearest identified site or to the stockpile
location.
In conclusion, when waste at a construction site is managed scientifically, it can reduce the
construction cost and add to the better management of environmental pollution. As such, storage of
raw materials and construction waste should be added to the systematic design of construction
activity. This will in general contribute to ‘Green Construction’ and by extension sustainable
development.

As it was aptly stated by Mahatma Gandhi "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, not
every man's greed".

References
Kulkarni D.G. and Charantimath P. M. Green Construction: Managing Construction

Waste in India. Belgaum.

Kimani, N. G. (2007). Environmental Pollution and Impacts on Public Health:

Implications of the Dandora Municipal Dumping site in Nairobi, Kenya. Nairobi: United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) - Urban Environment Unit.

NEMA. (2015). The National Solid Waste Management Strategy. Nairobi: NEMA.

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