The British Standards Institution (BSI) has launched a new standard that can help reduce waste in the early stages of building or refurbishment projects. 

The standard has been developed by a committee of leading industry experts and was chaired by Mohamed Osmani, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Sustainable Building Design from Loughborough University’s School of Civil and Building Engineering. 

The new standard – BS 8895-1 will help designers, architectural teams, contractors and clients make their building projects more materially efficient.  The standard is intended to allow teams to consider the materials that they use, factoring in high recyclability, designing out waste and implementing recycling strategies before any work is undertaken.

Minimising build time and project costs through intelligent material waste reduction is a key issue for building projects.  Material efficiency needs and waste reduction measures that are identified after strategies are set in place are very hard to deal with retrospectively and this is where the new standard’s preventative approach to designing out waste can help.

The design stage of a project is key stage for the identification of waste reduction and the new standard targets this important point in the life of a project.  It works by using an identify, investigate and implement system.  This should be done throughout the different stages of the project design, commencing as early as possible. 

“BS 8895 responds to the recognition of the impact of designing in material efficiency and designing out waste on the overall sustainable performance of buildings as shown by recent research and government guidance documents and supported by the call from designers for guidance and codes of practice,” comments Mohamed.