Dismantling Structures Bit by Bit: A Potential Eco-friendly Approach for Structural Demolition
Living on a Hotter Planet: Embracing Solutions for Sustainable Construction
In a world shaped by climate change, we're dedicating a week to stories about building and living on a hotter planet. Let's explore an innovative solution: deconstruction. This eco-friendly approach is gaining traction in the construction industry, but the challenge lies in adapting communities to this new era.
Take a tour of Boulder, Colorado, where deconstruction is transforming the city's skyline. This technique involves dismantling old buildings carefully to salvage reusable materials, championing a circular economy for building materials. However, as the old makes way for the new, the question arises: do communities have the infrastructure to keep up with demand?
Deconstruction has gained momentum in cities such as Portland and Boulder, where aging housing stocks are being replaced by luxury homes. Specialist contractors like Anna Perks and her team at Perks Deconstruction are making a name for themselves by dismantling buildings for parts.
On a green, hilly street in Boulder, Perks' team was tasked with disappearing a snug three-bedroom home. After just a day, the roof and siding were gone, leaving a pile of valuable lumber behind. Despite the physical demands, the team approached their job with patience, ensuring the lumber remained intact during removal.
The effectiveness of deconstruction lies in its potential to limit the environmental impact of our built environment, which contributes to nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. About half of this carbon footprint stems from the 'embodied carbon' of construction materials - the emissions generated during the manufacturing, transportation, installation, and disposal of these materials.
Chris Fellows, president of Colorado-based Resolute Strategies, hired Perks Deconstruction to dismantle a few farm buildings on a former homestead he's developing. Reusing the original materials on-site was a key part of his vision. Bricks from the farmhouse and siding from the barn were set aside, ready for integration into a new community center for the neighborhood.
Yet, the path to widespread deconstruction is not without obstacles. It requires local infrastructure to process and distribute salvaged materials, as well as a robust market demanding reclaimed materials. Places like Boulder, with its extensive network of experts, recycling facilities, and reuse stores, make deconstruction a reality.
However, many communities lack the resources needed to support reuse initiatives. "We have to have a place to take all this material," Perks warns. "It gets really hard for contractors when there's nowhere to take the material."
Moreover, the additional cost of deconstruction can be a hard sell, even as environmental concerns gain traction. Fellows estimates that deconstruction added 35-40% to his project costs and added at least a year to the schedule. Despite these challenges, he remains optimistic about the long-term benefits of deconstruction.
Forward-thinking policies are emerging to support sustainable construction. Governments from Palo Alto to Fort Myers now either require or incentivize the salvaging, reuse, or recycling of demolition waste. In Boulder, the city has diverted more than 140 million pounds of materials from landfills since adopting a deconstruction ordinance in 2020.
The future of climate-conscious construction lies in planning for disassembly, ensuring buildings can be taken apart easily and reused. By designing buildings with deconstruction in mind, we can create a more sustainable and eco-friendly world. 🌎💪💚🏗️
[1] Jena Lee, R., Chen, C., Lin, P., O'Toole, B. B., & Li, Z. (2019). Green Building Materials: An Environmental and Economic Analysis. Sustainability, 11(17), 4574.
[2] McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2002). Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. North Point Press.
[3] Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2013). Towards the Circular Economy: Accelerating the Scale-Up Across Global Supply Chains.
[4] World Green Building Council. (2016). Making the Circular Economy Work for Buildings.
- In view of the growing impact of climate change, it is crucial to embrace innovative solutions like deconstruction, which holds promise for constructing and living sustainably on a hotter planet.
- Deconstruction, having gained traction in urban areas such as Boulder, Colorado, is an eco-friendly approach to disposing of old buildings, preserving reusable materials and advocating for a circular economy in construction.
- Community infrastructure, equipped to process and distribute salvaged materials, and a market demanding reclaimed materials are necessary to scale up deconstruction countrywide.
- The substitution of deconstruction for traditional demolition can reduce the environmental footprint of construction, as it diminishes greenhouse gas emissions linked to manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of materials.
- To overcome the potential rise in project costs due to deconstruction and streamline the process of salvaging and reusing materials, government incentives and policies supporting sustainable construction would be beneficial.
- Science and technology must work hand-in-hand with environmental-science, industry, finance, and government to find cost-effective solutions and further our collective goal of achieving a more sustainable and eco-friendly built environment. 🌍💪💚🏗️
