Sparrow Square is a new development in East Flatbush designed by Adayje Architects on the site of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. It comprises 950 affordable and supportive housing units,  two homeless shelters, ground floor retail and community facilities. It will be constructed in three phases. We developed a waste management plan for the master plan and first phase of the project.

The project is being designed to high environmental goals including Passive House and Enterprise Green Communities. Working with the development, design and project management team - Adjaye Associates, Hill West Architects, Douglaston Development, Breaking Ground, and Clinton Management - we designed strategies to improve the labor of waste management, increase diversion of recycling and food waste, and assess space and equipment needs. 

A central roll-off auger compactor for trash and bulk will be located in an exterior loading area. This will allow for efficient, sanitary and ergonomic waste management, will keep streetscapes free from piles of trash bags, and handle any furniture waste. The trash chutes in each residential building can feed into 4-wheeled bins rather than sausage bags, increasing the compaction rate and improving labor for building staff. These 4-wheeled bins can be pulled to the auger compactor by a small electric vehicle each day, and tipped in using an automated tipper, so staff will not have to handle or store trash bags. Cardboard will be baled in each building to reduce storage requirements and labor for staff. 

City Beets will use the commercial kitchen on site to provide meals for the shelters on site and elsewhere in the city. Working with the kitchen consultant we ensured the shelter dining rooms could use reusable dishware, and kitchen staff could easily separate and store food waste. Two undercounter food waste pulpers remove the liquid from the food waste and shred it up, reducing the volume by 80%and weight by 60%. This reduces the storage area required, and the odors. 

To increase waste diversion we ensured that space was provided for central waste stations within community facilities and offices, textile recycling bins in laundry rooms, and ensured that the waste rooms on each residential floor had space for recycling and food waste bins alongside the trash chute.