Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.74
Liaison Krista Bailey
Submission Date Oct. 20, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Pennsylvania State University
OP-24: Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.87 / 1.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Construction and demolition materials recycled, donated, or otherwise recovered:
4,989.73 Tons

Construction and demolition materials landfilled or incinerated :
748.69 Tons

A brief description of programs, policies, infrastructure investments, outreach efforts, and/or other factors that contributed to the diversion rate for construction and demolition waste:

Penn State's Construction and Demolition Program manages construction and demolition waste. It separates recycleable materials from non-recycleables and disposes of them appropriately.
http://sustainability.psu.edu/construction-and-demolition-cd-program
Penn State includes a Construction Waste Management requirement on all projects regardless of whether or not LEED certification is pursued. This requirement stipulates that the contractor recycle and/or salvage 75% of construction, demolition, and land clearing waste, and is detailed in Article 8.11 of General Conditions of the Contract http://www.opp.psu.edu/planning-construction/design_and_construction_standards/division-00-procurement-and-contracting-requirements/documents/SECTION%20D%20GC.pdf
The following are mandatory requirements of Penn State's LEED policy:
- use materials with recycled content such that 10-20% of total cost of all materials is these materials
- use materials that have been harvested, recovered, manufactured within 500 miles of the project site for 10-20% of total cost of all materials
- use a minimum of 50% of wood-based materials and products certified with Forest Stewardship Council for wood building components.

In 2008 Penn State established a partnership with Armstrong Ceilings to recycle old ceiling tiles removed from renovation sites. Used tiles are removed and stored in a trailer provided by Armstrong until it reaches capacity, then are transported off-site to be remanufactured into new ceiling tiles.


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Waste data reported is from major (>$5m) construction/ renovation projects completed in 2013 (Pell Lab, Old Main reno, Pegula Ice Arena). Waste data from Penn State's Renovation Services projects is not available for 2013; however the target recycling rate for these smaller projects is similar to that for large ones (at least 75% diversion rate).
Tracking of C&D from Renovation Services projects recommenced in 2014.


Waste data reported is from major (>$5m) construction/ renovation projects completed in 2013 (Pell Lab, Old Main reno, Pegula Ice Arena). Waste data from Penn State's Renovation Services projects is not available for 2013; however the target recycling rate for these smaller projects is similar to that for large ones (at least 75% diversion rate).
Tracking of C&D from Renovation Services projects recommenced in 2014.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.