The University of British Columbia
OP-24: Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion

All new institutional buildings on campus must achieve a minimum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating, which includes potential credits for material reuse and waste diversion. UBC has made 75% diversion of construction waste mandatory for all institutional buildings, as specified in UBC’s Vancouver Campus Plan Design Guidelines and UBC’s LEED Implementation Guide. In addition, all new residential buildings must achieve a minimum of REAP Gold rating in UBC’s Residential Environmental Assessment Program (REAP), which requires mandatory diversion of 75% of construction waste for residential construction. In addition to large institutional construction projects targeting LEED or REAP certification, UBC is working to enhance waste tracking and diversion for smaller specialty projects, such as smaller renovations. The waste from these projects is typically handled by small private contractors, and historically has not been reported to the UBC tracking systems. However UBC is one of the leading jurisdictions in the region for promoting and tracking C&D waste diversion. UBC’s Zero Waste Action Plan, completed in 2014, has set new C&D waste targets of: • 90% diversion for all major construction projects by 2015 • Implementation of a waste-tracking system for smaller projects by 2015 In 2013/14, UBC exceeded these waste diversion targets, achieving an overall construction and demolition waste diversion rate of 91 per cent.