Use BIM and Prefabrication to Reduce Construction Waste

Abstract

It is estimated that the US generated on average 12 million tons construction waste per year between 1996 and 2014. The literature showed that prefabrication can use the material more efficiently, thus reduce the waste. And Building Information Modeling is necessary to provide the precise building product dimension and location information for prefabrication. Interview results showed that operational savings are more than material savings. Five case studies were evaluated, one showed that with use of prefabrication, BIM and careful construction sequence planning, on-site waste generation rate is between 15% to 45% lower than EPA study result of an average of 4.34 lb/ft². However, the other four case studies seemed to be much higher than EPA’s average rate, suggesting a need for more sampling.