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2020 National Emissions Inventory Technical
Support Document: Dust - Construction -
Residential


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EP A-454/R-23 -00 It
March 2023

2020 National Emissions Inventory Technical Support Document: Dust - Construction -

Residential

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
Air Quality Assessment Division
Research Triangle Park, NC


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Contents

List of Tables	i

20	Dust - Construction -Residential	20-1

20.1	Sector Descriptions and Overview	20-1

20.2	EPA-developed estimates	20-1

20.2.1	Activity data	20-1

20.2.2	Allocation procedure	20-6

20.2.3	Emission factors	20-6

20.2.4	Controls	20-7

20.2.5	Emissions	20-8

20.2.6	Sample calculations	20-8

20.2.7	Improvements/Changes in the 2020 NEI	20-10

20.2.8	Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands	20-11

20.2.9	References	20-11

List of Tables

Table 20-1: SCCs in the Construction Dust sector	20-1

Table 20-2: Housing Start Data for 2020	20-2

Table 20-3: Breakdown of 2 to 4-unit structures	20-2

Table 20-4: Surface soil removed per unit type	20-5

Table 20-5: Emissions factors for residential construction	20-6

Table 20-6: Sample calculations for PM-10 PRI and PM25-PRI emissions from residential construction of
2-unit structures	20-9

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20 Dust - Construction -Residential

20.1 Sector Descriptions and Overview

Construction dust refers to residential and non-residential construction activity, which are functions of
acreage disturbed for construction. This sector will be divided below when describing the calculation of
EPA's emissions. Table 20-1 lists the nonpoint SCCs associated with this sector in the 2020 NEI. The SCC
level 1 and 2 descriptions is "Industrial Processes; Construction: SIC 15 -17" for all SCCs.

Table 20-1: SCCs in the Construction Dust sector

SCC

SCC Level Three

SCC Level Four

TSD Section

2311010000

Residential

Total

20

2311020000

Industrial/Commercial/Institutional

Total

21

2311030000

Road Construction

Total

22

This section covers residential construction dust. Section 21 covers dust for non-residential construction
activity, and Section 22 covers dust from road construction.

A list of agencies that submitted residential construction dust emissions is provided in Section 6.2.3.

20.2 EPA-developed estimates

Emissions from residential construction activity are a function of the acreage disturbed and volume of
soil excavated for residential construction. Residential construction activity is developed from data
obtained from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)'s Bureau of the Census.

20.2.1 Activity data

There are two activity calculations performed for residential construction: acres of soil disturbed, and
volume of soil removed for basements.

Determine the Number of Housing Starts in Each County

The US Census Bureau has data for New Privately Owned Housing Units Started by Purpose and Design
[ref 1] which provides data on housing starts based on the groupings of 1 unit, 2-4 units, and 5 or more
units. Regional-level results are also provided for quarterly totals and 1-unit structures in Table 20-2 [ref
1], In order to breakdown the 2 to 4-unit category, data from a consultation with the Census Bureau in
2002 are used; approximately 1/3 of the housing starts are for 2-unit structures, and 2/3 are for 3- and
4-unit structures.

The US Census Bureau New Privately Owned Housing Units Started by Purpose and Design [ref 1] data
for 2-4 units are distributed to two categories, 2 and 3-4 units, based on a ratio for 2 and 3-4 units
calculated from the 2000 US Census Bureau National Housing Starts data [ref 2], for each quarter. Note
that 2000 is the last full year when Census housing starts data are available separately for 2-unit and 3-
4-unit homes. Table 20-3 shows a breakdown of the 2 unit and 3-4-unit structures based on the
following calculation.

20-1


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Where:

$Q,n

Un
Ut

Sq,2-4

$Q,n ~ ( y ) X $Q,2-4

(1)

Housing starts, by quarter, Q, and number of units, n (2 units or 3-4 units), in thousand
units

Number of housing starts by number of units, n, from the 2000 National Housing

Starts data, in thousand housing starts
Total number of housing starts for both 2 units and 3-4 units from the 2000 National

Housing Starts data, in thousand housing starts
Number of 2-4 units by quarter, Q, from the New Privately Owned Housing Units
Started by Purpose and Design data, in thousand units

Table 20-2: Housing Start Data for 2020

Quarter

Total

Structure

Region

Regional Starts of
Structures
with 1 unit

1
unit

2 to

4
units

5

units

or
more

NE

MW

S

W

NE

MW

S

W

Q1

328

214

3

111

29

31

186

84

12

21

127

55

Q2

299

217

3

79

22

47

157

73

13

34

120

51

Q3

387

281

3

103

32

63

203

90

19

42

154

67

Q4

363

277

3

83

29

50

191

94

17

39

153

69

Table 20-3: Breakdown of 2 to 4-unit structures

Quarter

2 to 4 units

2 units

3-4 units

Q1

3.0

1.11

1.89

Q2

3.0

1.11

1.89

Q3

3.0

1.11

1.89

Q4

3.0

1.11

1.89

Ratios of the number of 2, 3-4, and 5 or more-unit structures are then used to estimate the number of
structures of each type in each region. The ratios are calculated by dividing the housing starts by quarter
for each unit type by the total housing starts for buildings with 2 or more units.

^Q,n	,

rQ,n ~ T	(2)

^Q.t

Where:

rem = Ratio of structures with number of units, n, to total number of units by quarter, Q
Sa„ = Housing starts, by quarter, Q, and number of units, n, from distributed calculation in
Step 1 for the 2-unit or 3-4 unit categories or directly from the New Privately Owned
Housing Units Started by Purpose and Design data for the 5 units or more category,
in thousand housing starts

20-2


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Sat = Housing starts, by quarter, Q, for total number of buildings with 2 or more units, t
(excludes 1-unit category), in thousand housing starts

The ratio is then used to distribute the New Privately Owned Housing Units Started by Purpose and
Design regional data for all unit types to the 2, 3-4, or 5 or more-unit categories within each Census
region - Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.

Q,n,rgn ^~Q,n (fi^t,rgn RS±,rgn)	(3)

Where:

AQ,n,rgn = Number of housing units started in quarter Q, by number of units, n, and region of the

country, rgn, in thousand units
rQ/n = Ratio of structures with number of units, n, to total number of units by quarter, Q
RSt,rgn = Total regional starts from the New Privately Owned Housing Units Started by Purpose
and

Design data, in thousand housing starts
RSijgn = Regional starts of structures with 1 unit from the New Privately Owned Housing Units
Started by Purpose and Design data, in thousand housing starts

Data from the Census report New Privately Owned Housing Units Authorized Unadjusted Units [ref 3] is
used to calculate a conversion factor to determine the ratio of structures to units in the 5 or more-unit
category. The conversion factor is calculated by dividing the total number of units in structures with 5 or
more units by region [ref 2] by the total number of buildings with 5 or more units by region [ref 3],

= r1	hi

^5,rgn

Where:

CF5,rgn = Ratio of 5 units or more to the number of buildings with 5 units or more by region, rgn

Usjgn = Total number of 5 or more units by region, rgn

Bsjgn = Total number of buildings with 5 or more units by region, rgn

Structures started by category are then calculated at a regional level by summing the number of housing
unit starts across all four quarters and dividing by the number of units in each building type. For the 3-4-
unit type, the number of units per building is 3.5. The value is multiplied by 1,000 because the Census
data are in units of thousand building starts.

For buildings with 1, 2, or 3-4 units:

-.Q4

.n.rgn) x 1,000	^

Bn,rqn

a	n

Where:

Bn,rgn = Number of building starts by the unit number category, n, and by region, rgn
AQ,n,rgn = Number of housing units started in quarter 0, by number of units, n, and region of the
country, rgn, in thousand units

20-3


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n = Number of units per building

For buildings with 5 or more units:

B,

(O

iQi^Q.n.rgn) x 1,000

CFs

(6)

n,rgn

Where:

Bn,rgn = Number of building starts by the unit number category, n, and by region, rgn
AQ,n,rgn = Number of housing units started in quarter Q, by number of units, n, and region of the

country, rgn, in thousand units
CFs = Ratio of 5 units or more to the number of buildings with 5 units or more

Annual county-level building permit data were obtained from the US Census Bureau [ref 4], The County
Level Residential Building Permit dataset has data to allocate regional housing starts to the county level.
This results in county-level housing starts by number of units.

The number of building permits for each unit number category by region is calculated by summing the
county-level Census data to the Census region level.

BPn,rgn = Number of building permits by the unit number category, n, and by region, rgn
BP„/C = Number of building permits by the unit number category, n, and by county, c

The ratio of the number of building permits by county to the total number of building permits by region
in which the county is located, for each unit number category, is then calculated.

Rbp,c = Ratio of building permits, BP, to total regional building permits in county c
BP„/C = Number of building permits by the unit number category, n, and by county, c
BPn,rgn = Number of building permits by the unit number category, n, and by region, rgn

The final number of building starts for each unit type category is then calculated at the county-level by
multiplying the number of structures started at the regional level and the building permit ratio.

(7)

Where:

(8)

Where:

(9)

Where:

Number of building starts by the unit number category, n, and by county, c
Number of building starts by the unit number category, n, and by region, rgn

20-4


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Rbp,c = Ratio of building permits, BP, to total regional building permits in county c

Determine Amount of Soil Removed for Basements

To calculate basement soil removal, the Characteristics of New Single-Family Houses Completed,
Foundation table [ref 5] is used to estimate the percentage of 1-unit structures that have a basement at
the regional level. The data indicate whether the structure has a full/partial basement, slab or other
type, or crawl space. However, only structures with full/partial basements are used in this calculation.

BMrm =

rgn BMtrgn

(10)

Where:

BMrgn =
BMfprgn =
BMt,rgn =

Fraction of basements for buildings in the region
Number of full or partial basements, fp, by region, rgn

Total number of houses regardless of basement type (full/partial, slab/other, crawl
space by region, rgn

To estimate the number of building starts with and without basements in each county, the county level
estimate of the number of 1-unit starts (from equation 9) is multiplied by the percent of 1-unit houses in
the region that have a basement.

BC,BM Bn.C ^ BMrgyi
Bc,tibm Bn.c X (1 BMrgn)

(11)
(11a)

Where:

Bc,bm

Bc,nBM

Bn,c

BMran

Number of building starts by county, c, with a basement, BM
Number of building starts by county, c, without a basement, BM
Number of building starts by the unit number category, n, and by county, c
Fraction of basements for buildings in the region

Basement volume is calculated by assuming a house with a 2000 square foot footprint has a basement
dug to a depth of 8 feet (making 16,000 ft3 per basement). An additional 10% is added for peripheral dirt
bringing the total to 17,600 ft3 (651.85 yd3) per basement.

Determine Amount of Soil Disturbed by Unit Type

The number of acres of soil disturbed by the construction of residential buildings is calculated for
apartment buildings, buildings with 2 units, and buildings with 1 unit. Table 20-4 below shows the
assumptions used for the surface area disturbed for each unit type. Buildings with unit types of 3-4 and
5 or more are grouped together as apartments in this step.

Table 20-4: Surface soil removed per unit type

Structure Type

Acres disturbed

1-Unit

1/4 acre per structure

2-Unit

1/3 acre per structure

Apartment

1/2 acre per structure

20-5


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For apartment buildings (sum of 3-4 and 5 or more units) and buildings with 2 units:

^n,c Bn.c ^	(12)

Where:

Sn,c = Surface soil disturbed by building construction by county, c, and unit type category, n,
in acres

B„/C = Number of building starts by the unit type category, n, and by county, c
a„ = Acres of surface soil disturbed by each unit type category, n. See Table 20-4Table 20-4
for values for each type.

For buildings with 1 unit, with or without a basement:

Sn,c Bc,BM ^	(13)

Where:

S„/C = Surface soil disturbed by building construction by county, c, and unit type category, n,
in acres

Bc,bm = Number of buildings by county, c, with or without a basement, BM
a„ = Acres of surface soil disturbed by each unit type category, n. See Table 20-4 for values
for each type.

20.2.2	Allocation procedure

Annual county building permit data were obtained from the US Census Bureau [ref 4], The County Level
Residential Building Permit dataset is used to allocate regional housing starts to the county level.

20.2.3	Emission factors

Initial PM10 emissions from construction of single family, 2-unit, and apartments structures, provided in
Table 20-5, are calculated using the emissions factors [ref 5], These emissions factors describe average
"unit operations," such as "loading and unloading of earth and aggregate materials, land clearing and
general vehicle traffic" [ref 6], They therefore take into account the entire duration of construction, and
not simply the duration of active excavation. The duration of construction activity for houses is assumed
to be 6 months and the duration of construction for apartments is assumed to be 12 months.

Table 20-5: Emissions factors for residential construction

Type of Structure

Emissions Factor

Duration of
Construction

Apartments

0.11 tons PMlO/acre-month

12 months

2-Unit Structures

0.032 tons PMlO/acre-month

6 months

1-unit Structures with
Basements

0.011 tons PMlO/acre-month

6 months

0.059 tons PM10/1000 cubic
yards

1-Unit Structures w/o
Basements

0.032 tons PMlO/acre-month

6 months

To account for the soil moisture level, the PM10 emissions are weighted using the 30-year average
precipitation-evaporation (PE) values from Thornthwaite's PE Index. Average precipitation evaporation

20-6


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values for each state are estimated based on PE values for specific climatic divisions within a state. The
average PE value for the test sites from which the PM10 emissions factor was developed is 24 [ref 6],
Equation 14 is used to adjust the county-level emissions factor based on this PE value.

To account for the silt content, the PM10-PRI emissions are weighted using average silt content for each
county. EPA used the National Cooperative Soil Survey Microsoft Access Soil Characterization Database
to develop county-level, average silt content values for surface soil [ref 7], The U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the National Cooperative Soil Survey define silt content of surface soil as the percentage
of particles (mass basis) of diameter smaller than 50 micrometers (nm) found in the surface soil [ref 8],
Note that this definition is different than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's definition [ref 9]
that includes all particles (mass basis) of diameter smaller than 75 micrometers. This database contains
the most commonly requested data from the National Cooperative Soil Survey Laboratories including
data from the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory and cooperating universities. The average silt content for
the test sites from which the PM10 emissions factor was developed is 9% [ref 6], Equation 7 is used to
adjust the county-level emissions factor based on this silt content value.

24 s

AFpmw=JeX9%	(14)

Where:

AFpmio	=	PM10-PRI adjustment factor

PE	=	precipitation-evaporation value for each State

s	=	% dry silt content, by county, in soil for area being inventoried

This adjustment factor is used to adjust the PM10-PRI emissions factor for each unit type category -
apartment, 2-unit, 1-unitwith basement, and 1-unit without basement.

EFp,n,c AFpMio ^ X EForig	(15)

Where:

EFPt„tc = Adjusted county-level, c, PM10-PRI emissions factor, p, for each unit type category, n,
in tons/acre

AFpmio = PM10-PRI adjustment factor

D„ = Duration of construction by unit type category, n, in months. See Table 20-6 for
duration values.

EForig = Original unadjusted PM10 emissions factor, in tons/acre. See for original emissions
factors

The resulting emission factors therefore vary by county and the composite minimum, median, and
maximum emission factors for these sources are provided in the "Wagon Wheel Emission Factor
Compendium" on the 2020 NEI Supporting Data and Summaries site.

20.2.4 Controls

There are no controls assumed for this category.

20-7


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20.2.5 Emissions

The PM10-PRI emissions are calculated by taking the sum of the surface soil disturbed by county and
unit type category and multiplying it by the corresponding adjusted PM10-PRI emissions factor. Once
PM10-PRI adjustments have been made, PM25-PRI emissions are estimated by applying a particle size
multiplier of 0.10 to PM10-PRI emissions [ref 8], Primary PM emissions are equal to filterable emissions
since there are no condensible emissions from residential construction.

The PM10-PRI emissions are calculated at the county-level by multiplying the surface soil disturbed from
construction for each unit type by the corresponding emissions factor for that unit type, and then
summed across unit types.

-PM 10,

JV

\c	^n,

c x EFpMio,n,c

(1)

n=1

Where:

Epmio,c = Total PM10-PRI emissions in county c, in tons

S„/C = Surface soil disturbed by building construction by county, c, and unit type category, n
EFPt„tc = Adjusted county-level, c, PMio emissions factor, p, for each unit type category, n, in
tons/acre

The PM25-PRI emissions are calculated based on the assumption that they are 10% of the PM10-PRI
emissions.

EpM2.5,c = EpM10,c X 0.1	(2)

Where:

Epm2.5,c = Total county-level, c, PM25-PRI emissions
Epmio,c = Total county-level, c, PM10-PRI emissions
0.1 = Particle size multiplier

20.2.6 Sample calculations

Table 20-6 shows sample calculations for PM10-PRI and PM25-PRI emissions from residential
construction for a 2-unit structure in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The first 3 equations use the first
quarter (Ql) of 2020 for 2-unit structures as an example. However, these calculations would need to be
repeated to calculate values for all 4 quarters for all 3-unit sizes. Note that structures with 5 or more
units and structures with 1 unit with or without a basement have additional steps not shown in the
sample calculations here.

20-8


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Table 20-6: Sample calculations for PM-10 PRI and PM25-PRI emissions from residential construction of

2-unit structures

Eq.

#

Equation

Values

Result

1

5

3Q,n ~ \U J (?,2—4

/14 two unit housing starts in 2002\
V 38 total housing starts in 2002 J
X

2 two to four unit housing starts in Q1 2020

0.74 thousand
housing starts
for 2-unit
structures in Q1
2020, nationally

2

Sq,11

0.74 two unit housing starts

0.01 ratio of
buildings with 2
units to all 2 or
more-unit
housing starts
for Q1 2020,
nationally

1Q,n o

^Q.t

72 two or more unit housing starts

3

Q,n,rgn ^~Q,n X (fi^t

-RSj

0.01

x (23 total Q1 housing starts in Northeast
— 9 one unit housing starts in Northeast)

0.14 thousand
housing starts
for 2-unit
structures for
Q1 2020 in the
Northeast

4

Us.rgn
CFk = „

#5,r

N/A

Equation is for 5
or more-unit
buildings;
example is for 2-
unit buildings

5

Bn,rgn

.n.rgn) x 1<000

n

0.772 two unit structures x 1,000
2 units per building

386 2-unit
structures
constructed in
the Northeast

6

Bn,rgn

(EqiAq n.rgn) x 1<000

CF5

N/A

Equation is for 5
or more-unit
buildings;
example is for 2-
unit buildings

7

RP =\ Ftp

±J1n,rgn / ±J1n,c

Northeast two unit building permits

1,545 2-unit
structure
building permits
in the Northeast

8

BP

U 1 yt C

R —

49 county building permits

0.03172 ratio of
county-level
building permits
to regional-level
building permits

hBP,c Bp

n,rgn

1,545 Northeast building permits

20-9


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Eq.

#

Equation

Values

Result

9

Bn,c Bn,rgn ^ RBP,c

386 X 0.03172

12.25 total 2-
unit structure
building starts

10

BMrm = B"'rn"

rgn BMtrgn

N/A

Equation is for
1-unit buildings;
example is for 2-
unit buildings

11

^c,BM Bn.c ^ BMrgn

N/A

Equation is for
1-unit buildings;
example is for 2-
unit buildings

12

n,c Bn.c ^

12.25 two unit structures

x 0.33 acres per structure

4.08 acres
surface soil
disturbed by 2-
unit structures

13

Sn,c ^c,BM ^

N/A

Equation is for
1-unit buildings;
example is for 2-
unit buildings

14

24 s
AFpMi°=PEXWo

24

119.7 PE value for the state

27.07% silt content

x	

9%

0.603 PM10-PRI
adjustment
factor for 2-unit
structures

15

EFp n,c AFpMio X ^m,n
x FF

A orifl

0.603 x 6 months x 0.032 tons per acre

0.1158

tons/acre PM10-
PRI emissions
factor for 2-unit
structures

16

EpM10,c ^ EFp:n:c

4.08 acres x 0.1158 tons per acre

0.47 tons PM10-
PRI emissions
for 2-unit
structures

17

EpM2.5,c = EpM10,c X 0.1

0.47 tons x 0.1

0.047 tons
PM25-PRI
emissions for 2-
unit structures

20.2.7 Improvements/Changes in the 2020 NEI

Except for activity data updates, there are no significant changes from the methodology used in the
2020 NEI.

20-10


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20.2.8	Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands

Since insufficient data exist to calculate emissions for the counties in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin
Islands, emissions are based on two proxy counties in Florida: 12011, Broward County for Puerto Rico
and 12087, Monroe County for the US Virgin Islands. The total emissions in tons for these two Florida
counties are divided by their respective populations creating a tons per capita emissions factor. For each
Puerto Rico and US Virgin Island County, the tons per capita emissions factor is multiplied by the county
population (from the same year as the inventory's activity data) which served as the activity data. In
these cases, the throughput (activity data) unit and the emissions denominator unit are "EACH".

20.2.9	References

1.	U.S. Census Bureau. New Privately Owned Housing Units Started by Purpose and Design in 2020.
accessed December 2021.

2.	U.S. Census Bureau. 2001. Housing Starts. Table 1. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started.

3.	U.S. Census Bureau. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized - Unadjusted Units for
Regions. Divisions, and States. Annual 2020.

4.	U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits. ASCII files by State.
MSA. County or Place. co2020a.

5.	U.S. Census Bureau, Characteristics of New Housing. Characteristics of New Single-Family
Houses Completed, Annual 2020, Foundation Table.

6.	Midwest Research Institute. 1996. Improvement of Specific Emission Factors (BACM Project No.
1). Prepared for South Coast Air Quality Management District.

7.	U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Cooperative Soil Survey, NCSS Microsoft Access Soil
Characterization Database.

8.	Cowherd, C. J. Donaldson, R. Hegarty, and D. Ono. 2006. Proposed Revisions to Fine Fraction
Ratios Used for AP-42 Fugitive Dust Emission Factors. 15th International Emission Inventory
Conference, New Orleans, LA.

9.	Midwest Research Institute. 1999. Estimating Particulate Matter Emissions from Construction
Operations. Prepared for Emission Factor and Inventory Group, Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards US EPA.

20-11


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United States	Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards	Publication No. EPA-454/R-23-001t

Environmental Protection	Air Quality Assessment Division	March 2023

Agency	Research Triangle Park, NC


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