ENHANCING SUSTAINABILITY OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS USING QUARRY STONE WASTE AS A BUILDING MATERIAL

The intensive construction industry drives a demand for use of waste stone as a sustainable construction material. This is result of the goals to decrease the intensity of use of the available natural resources and to increase in utilization of stone waste from quarries. This paper delves with the utilization of waste from the marble mine in the Gjurovo locality near Prilep for construction purposes. Geotechnical testing was carried out on the quarry waste and the possibilities for its use as a construction material were examined. Then, a residential building at a distance of 40 km from the quarry is considered as a case study. Two alternatives were compared for the building: the first one by using conventional construction materials and the second one by utilising stone waste from the quarry. The costs of items where it is possible to use waste stone were compared. The study shows that the costs for earthworks can be reduced by 58%; concrete works by 5%; floors by 25% and facades by 24%. It is calculated that the construction costs for 1 m2 of the building can be reduced by 6%, compared to the alternative with the conventional materials. The study promises that there are many opportunities for the use of quarry waste as a building material. The use of quarry waste reduces construction costs, which benefits the circular economy and all aspects of sustainable development. The paper also discusses some of the limitations of using quarry waste that should be considered in any project.