Teaching Sustainable Design in Construction: A Module on the Recycling and Re-use of Urban Soil, Stone, Fill and Related Construction Material

This paper presents a module on the recycling and re-use of urban soil, stone, fill and related construction material at the job site to demonstrate that such practices are consistent with progressive sustainable design and construction practices for this industry.While the displacement of excavate material is often inevitable in site preparation due to grading, foundation design and contaminant removal, the value of these materials can often be realized in re-use applications both on and off-site.Such opportunities include use of soil as grading material, re-use of stone aggregate as a raw material for concrete and re-use of crushed concrete material as sub-base material for roadways and parking lots.Recycling and re-use rather than off-site disposal of these materials saves on transportation expenses and tipping charges.Reducing the need to bring virgin soil and stone on-site protects natural resources, lowers transportation costs and reduces air emissions.These practices may also provide credit opportunities for projects seeking LEED certification.Despite the growth in recycling and reuse of on-site soil materials, the topic is rarely addressed in any detail in standard sustainable construction texts.This paper both reviews current practices as well as emerging trends in the reuse and recycling of these materials in construction and describes how the general topic has been included in civil and construction course-work.