Architect Stephen Mendes retrofitted this contemporary seafront home, installing security measures without sacrificing clean modern lines or ocean views. Architectural photographer and blogger Brian Lewis guides our tour of our featured home.
In 2013, thousands of tons of materials were salvaged from demolition sites across the country. The environmental advantages of such salvage operations are obvious. Every ton of material that can be reused means one less ton is thrown into landfills. Considering that the United States creates 136 million tons of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste annually, any efforts to reduce landfill volumes are laudable. However, the number one reason that salvage operations are now standard in demolition is because asset recovery can significantly reduce demolition project costs.
Property owners, therefore, have a natural motivation to recycle as much as possible. From fixtures to appliances to industrial machinery, every defunct building contains real salvage value for those willing to extract it. Today’s leading demolition firms specialize in salvaging procedures to maximize return for their customers. On a residential level, deconstruction by hand yields the most recyclable material, although it does require plenty of labor. Industrial demolition contractors tend to reclaim salvage value over several steps, starting with a sweep of fixtures and ending with processing of raw materials such as concrete.
Because building materials made with recycled elements are often less expensive than their virgin counterparts, there’s a healthy demand for salvaged building elements. It’s a win-win-win situation; developers enjoy lower project costs, contractors appreciate less expensive materials, and environmental activists love sending less trash to dumps. Understandably, demolition asset recovery is a sought-after service these days, and the five at the top of the list offer high resale value.
1. Asphalt Shingles
Shingles have to be tough to survive the scorching and bone-chilling temperatures a roof suffers. Once their roofing lifespan ends, shingles can be recycled into pavement projects such as patching potholes. Moreover, because asphalt shingles contain crude oil, they can also be repurposed as fuel for cement kilns and other operations.
2. Reclaimed Wood
Provenance, beauty, and strength—these are the characteristics that make reclaimed wood products so appealing to today’s designers and consumers. Many older buildings contain weathered wood products that can be milled and processed into stunning new products, such as paneling, flooring, and countertops. Reclaimed timber may also be used for structural lumber in new building projects.
3. Steel
Steel is the one of the most frequently recycled materials on the planet, for the simple reason that it doesn’t lose structural strength after being recycled. For more than 150 years, recycled steel has been used in new buildings, bridges, cars, and more. Recycled steel is less expensive to produce than virgin steel. Plus, recycling steel causes far fewer carbon emissions than extracting new steel. In 2008, scrap metal recycling was an $86 billion industry that supported 85,000 good-paying American jobs. Steel salvaging and similar recycling efforts help to offset the country’s trade deficit while replacing former manufacturing jobs.
4. Drywall
Sandwich gypsum between two sheets of paper and you have drywall. Its high recycling value is due to drywall’s varied recycling potentials: Gypsum scraps can be used to patch walls, to form concrete, or to create new drywall. The gypsum in drywall is beloved by gardeners, who use it to nourish plants. Finally, the paper in drywall can be recycled as well. Salvaging drywall is an Earth-friendly operation, not only because it reduces landfill volumes, but also because drywall in landfills can leak sulfate into nearby watersheds.
5. Glass and Windows
Like steel, glass can be repeatedly recycled with no loss of quality. Environmentally conscious consumers and businesses are drawn to glass because it’s inherently green—for every ton of glass that’s recycled rather than extracted, a ton of natural resources are saved. Windows salvaged from demolition sites can be recycled for any number of applications, from sandblasting to paving parking lots.
Currently, 40% of the country’s landfill stream is composed of construction and demolition (C&D) debris. By salvaging as much as possible from buildings slated for destruction, demolition contractors can make a real difference for the planet. Because salvaging reduces demolition costs as well as landfill fees, building owners are naturally inclined to seek out demolition firms with salvaging expertise. The three basic steps of asset recovery—(1) identifying value, (2) redeploying what can be reused on site, and (3) selling materials that can’t be used on site—bring capital to stakeholders. Looking to the future, demolition salvage techniques can only improve, so we can expect more of today’s buildings to be reincorporated into tomorrow’s edifices.
As more Latinos settle into the suburbs, they bring a different cultural understanding of the purpose of our city streets. Learn how the Latin American approach to street life is redefining "curb appeal."
In Romania, high in the Carpathian Mountains, is one of the few ice hotels in the world and the first ice hotel in Eastern Europe.
Buildipedia invites CSI members to continue their mission of authoring and communicating building information by becoming our content partners. We value your expertise and your unique ability to educate, support, and assist the construction industry. We want to put your reports, blogs, and stories in front of our audience.
Ceiling fans are an old-fashioned but effective and efficient approach to comfort.
Ever since one of our ancient ancestors picked up a palm leaf and used it to stir a cooling breeze, fans have played an important role in keeping us comfortable. From simple, hand-powered devices used to content Egyptian pharaohs, fans have evolved into automatic, efficient, climate-control appliances. Developed by father John and son James C. Hunter in 1886, the mechanical ceiling fan remains the most successful improvement. Even with the advanced climate control systems available today, ceiling fans provide an economical means of providing indoor comfort. As a supplement to central air conditioning, a ceiling fan can save 10% to 15% on summer cooling costs. In certain circumstances, a ceiling fan can help to balance home air temperatures for more efficient heating.
Real estate costs money and money is the bottom line for any company. Facilities managers who recognize this can raise their profile and contribute to the success of the company by accurately establishing facility costs and positioning the information for better corporate decisions.
In this guest post for Buildipedia, Emma Stewart of Autodesk shares her experiences from Durban, where the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recently took place. What kind of international progress can we expect to happen as a result of this conference, and what can we do if that progress doesn't seem quite 'progressive' enough? Emma offers some insight concerning how climate change can truly be addressed.
If it had been an exercise in cultural diplomacy, I would declare it a success. I shared a shuttle bus home with a Cameroonian Member of Parliament up for re-election. I sweated in the South African heat with Tata’s sustainability head, whose job of influencing 450,000 employees makes mine look like child’s play. I had a drink with the CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project in the world’s most impressive soccer stadium. I marveled at South Africa’s sparkling new airports and highways, welcome leftovers from the World Cup 2010 (unlike the sound of vuvuzelas, which I still hear ringing in my ears). I encountered climate change education everywhere in Durban, even at the airport baggage carousel. I tried a few words of Zulu only to find that “COP17” translated into every local tongue. I chuckled at UN Security’s attempt to “lock down” the Botanical Gardens in advance of Secretary Ban Ki-Moon’s address. And, while Greenpeace protested our proximity to the talks, sustainability business leaders met at various “side events” to cheer on one another’s (admittedly incremental) progress.
FM Systems are the most important tools a facility and property manager has to manage his or her responsibilities. They provide critical visibility into the operations, information for decision making and analysis and improved processes and efficient services. All of this results in lower costs and better services.
Measuring is the best way to improve what you are doing. Doing it right is the trick.
Benchmarking is a form of measurement – where you measure something else to see where you are lagging, identify the areas and take corrective action. This is the essence of benchmarking. Incorporate this as part of your Health Check, as discussed earlier.
Initial costs represent only 15% of a building’s total cost. If you ignore this when developing a building, you are wasting the other 85% of your costs. Keeping the initial capital cost as low as possible seems right, but it’s costing you a lot more over the life of the building. Visibility into the total cost of ownership is one way to address this. Justification and decisions should be based on the total cost of ownership, not just initial costs.
Defining what a real partnership is can be tricky. Join us as we analyze Michel Theriault's Outsourcing Partnerships to find out how it's done and what the benefits might be.
Many outsourcing deals are called "outsourcing partnerships," but is the partnership a reality or an illusion? The word partnership is used by both clients and service providers, so it’s easy to believe that these outsourcing deals are about partnership.
