The only national conference that focuses on how communities can create, develop, and support reuse economies.
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October 19, 2021
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11:00 AM
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October 21, 2021
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5:00 PM
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Virtual
Source: Conference — Build Reuse
Kirkland Breaks Ground On New 7-Story Apartment Building | Kirkland, WA Patch
The building was developed to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Gold standards and Puget Sound Energy’s Built Smart guidelines, with construction including reclaimed materials from the warehouse that used to occupy the site.
Source: Kirkland Breaks Ground On New 7-Story Apartment Building | Kirkland, WA Patch
Oregon’s only midcentury aluminum Alcoa Home bulldozed in SW Portland – oregonlive.com
But Cheryl Luckett, who lived in the house for 18 years, said she is in shock at the demolition. Luckett sold the home in 2016 to a retired general contractor who restored and upgraded the interior.
Source: Oregon’s only midcentury aluminum Alcoa Home bulldozed in SW Portland – oregonlive.com
What Google’s $7BN Building Spree Means for Construction – Tomorrow’s Build
Google is using its might to show the whole world what good construction can look like and it’s time everyone paid attention
‘Lean In’ circles help women in construction navigate bias
Sheet metal worker Carey Mercer assembles ductwork at Contractors Sheet Metal on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in New York. The construction industry is fighting to recruit more women into a sector that faces chronic labor shortages. As spending on infrastructure rises, construction firms will need to hire at least 430,000 new skilled laborers in 2021, according to an analysis of federal data by the Associated Builders and Contractors. Right now, only 4% of construction laborers in the U.S. are women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
Yunmy Carroll, a veteran steamfitter, said a worker at a training session declared that women in construction are “whores.”
About 700 tradeswomen are participating the program, designed to help them navigate persistent bias and harassment on construction sites, from unwanted sexual advances to being assigned lesser duties like traffic control or fire watch.
Source: ‘Lean In’ circles help women in construction navigate bias
New York’s LOST Skyscraper – The Rise and Fall of SINGER TOWER – IT’S HISTORY – YouTube
The Singer building was one of the worlds most beautiful examples of urban architecture – now it is an example of poor historic preservation.
Repurposing Single-Use Products in the Construction Industry | INN
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 11 million tons of asphalt roofing shingles are disposed of each year, contributing to over a million tons of waste produced by the roofing industry and companies are increasingly looking for methods to both offset their carbon footprint from re-using single-use products and find environmentally-friendly sourced products for their businesses. Landfills across North America are already over-crowded. Single-use asphalt shingles do not biodegrade or decompose and will sit in landfills for hundreds of years.
Source: Repurposing Single-Use Products in the Construction Industry | INN
Architectural storytelling by Heliotrope Architects in NYC | Livegreenblog
Seattle-based Heliotrope Architects has designed the renovation of the Filson NYC Flagship Store in mid-town Manhattan. It all originated with the conversion of a mattress shop that now houses an old barn, the central element in the architectural storytelling of the new shop.
Source: Architectural storytelling by Heliotrope Architects in NYC | Livegreenblog
US church faces neglect allegations after Haiti child deaths
For a limestone mantel from the Waldorf Astoria, the church that owns the Olde Good Things antique stores asks for $8,500. But for the death of each child in a fire at a home it ran in Haiti, parents said the same church offered to pay just $50 to $100 in family compensation — along with $150 for funeral-related costs such as new clothes and transportation. The wealth of the Church of Bible Understanding in the United States has long stood in contrast with the shoddiness of its two children’s homes in Hai
Source: US church faces neglect allegations after Haiti child deaths
Haiti faults orphanage run by well-off US church – Story from 2013
At the Olde Good Things antique store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a French crystal chandelier can go for tens of thousands of dollars. A marble mantel sells for more than $20,000 and hand-carved dinner tables are priced even higher. The store’s Christian missionary owners offer their well-heeled customers a heart-warming story: Part of the proceeds pay for the group’s orphanage in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. What they don’t say is that even though they claim in IRS filings to be spending around $2.5 million annually, the home for boys and girls was so dirty and overcrowded during recent inspections that the government said it shouldn’t remain open.
Pacaso Is Turning Houses Into Corporations : Planet Money : NPR
Brad Day and his neighbors in California’s Sonoma Valley have noticed a real estate startup is turning houses in their community into limited liability corporations. A group has formed to oppose the company’s moves. Day’s favorite sign reads, “The Pacaso house is the big one on the right with no soul.”
Brad Day
The company was co-founded by a Napa resident, and it converts houses into LLCs. Pacaso then sells shares of these corporate houses to multiple investors. Gardner Googled Pacaso, and, sure enough, the house on their cul-de-sac was on its website. The company had named the house “Chardonnay” and was now selling investors the chance to buy a one-eighth share of it for $606,000.
Source: Pacaso Is Turning Houses Into Corporations : Planet Money : NPR
Old-growth logging approvals in B.C. have gone up over the past year, report suggests | CBC News
Environmentalists worry old-growth logging approvals are increasing, which could be harmful for B.C.’s biodiversity. (The Wilderness Committee)
Old-growth logging approvals have gone up over the past year despite the B.C. government promising to protect old-growth forests, according to new research from an environmental group.
Source: Old-growth logging approvals in B.C. have gone up over the past year, report suggests | CBC News
Koya House in LA shows the softer side of minimalism – The Spaces
Photography: Lauren Engel
Koya House is listed with RsR Real Estate at Compass for $1.589m, having been overhauled using reclaimed materials, concrete and a monochrome colour palette to modernise its 1920s shell.
Source: Koya House in LA shows the softer side of minimalism – The Spaces
Combining comfort with cannabis | InspireDesign Innovative vision for today’s hotel
Scotia Lodge is so much more than just a hotel, rather it is a piece of the region’s rich and storied history.
Similar to the other ventures under the Humboldt Social brand, the design aesthetic of Scotia Lodge highlights the history and beauty of the North Coast, with an emphasis on reclaimed materials, vintage furnishings and lots of natural light.
Source: Combining comfort with cannabis | InspireDesign Innovative vision for today’s hotel
We Demand Life, Not Extinction – Columbia Riverkeeper – YouTube
Snake River salmon and steelhead are running out of time. We need everyone in the Pacific Northwest, and beyond, to demand that our leaders not accept the extinction of Snake River salmon.
Kansas City Man Turns Backyard Into ‘Jam Session Extraordinare’ For Musicians And Fans During COVID | KCUR 89.3 – NPR in Kansas City. Local news, entertainment and podcasts.
Julie Denesha/ Performing on an improvised stage, trombonist Trevor Turla plays to the gathered crowd at The Raj Ma Hall, an outdoor concert venue in the Historic Northeast.
The yard is distinctive thanks to three rustic houses built from reclaimed materials. They’re the work of Roger MacBride, the sculptor and artist who lives here.
Wallmakers architects’ brick Pirouette House | Floornature
Wallmakers architects’ brick Pirouette House
A brick house in Trivandrum, in the Indian state of Kerala, was built to maximise the performance of the materials used by its designers, Wallmakers architects, who completed the building with reclaimed timber and metal.
Source: Wallmakers architects’ brick Pirouette House | Floornature
Will ThredUp’s Retail Partnerships Really Achieve a Circular Economy?
In the 12 years since its launch, ThredUp has garnered a whopping total of 1.34 million active sellers, making its reach pretty damn high. But its impact on you — and on a much grander scale — the future of the planet is even greater than we previously thought, thanks to its Resale as a Service (or RaaS), a program that encourages retail partners to adopt a resale-first mindset and move towards a circular economy.
Source: Will ThredUp’s Retail Partnerships Really Achieve a Circular Economy?
‘People think you’re an idiot’: death metal Irish baron rewilds his estate | Conservation | The Guardian
Randal Plunkett at Dunsany Castle. He turned from a steak-eating bodybuilder with no interest in land, to a vegan on an environmental mission. Photograph: Patrick Bolger
It is probably Ireland’s most ambitious attempt at rewilding on private land, an attempt to recreate a vanished landscape in a swath of County Meath, 20 miles north-west of Dublin.
Why Don’t Green Buildings Live Up to Hype on Energy Efficiency? – Yale E360
U.S. EPA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Analysts call it the “energy performance gap” — the difference between promised energy savings in green buildings and the actual savings delivered. The problem, researchers say, is inept modeling systems that fail to capture how buildings really work.
Source: Why Don’t Green Buildings Live Up to Hype on Energy Efficiency? – Yale E360
Today it’s cool, tomorrow it’s junk. We have to act against our throwaway culture | Jonathan Chapman | The Guardian
Cobalt mining in Congo: ‘In the urban mines of tomorrow, cobalt will be processed from broken flatscreens TVs, not acid-rinsed from a million tons of rubble.’ Photograph: Sebastian Meyer/Corbis/Getty Images
In the urban mines of tomorrow, gold will be extracted from old computers, not ore; cotton will be harvested from well-worn shirts, not fields; and cobalt will be processed from broken flatscreen TVs, not acid-rinsed from a million tons of rubble. If this all sounds like a pipe dream, note that the medals at the Tokyo Olympics are made of gold, silver and bronze recovered from the nation’s e-waste.
Carmichael Tower East implosion – YouTube
Vanderbilt University conducted a controlled implosion of Carmichael Towers East on Saturday morning.
Philly construction trades seek to recruit more women
Christina McNeill of Northeast Philadelphia (front) and other class members work with a trainer on physical strengthening exercises during the pre-apprenticeship program.ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer
“One of the ‘ah-ha’ moments was not to focus on high school seniors and young women,” Hoffman said. “Across the country, we’ve learned that many women make the choice to enter the trades in their mid-20s to mid-30s.” “They’ve been in the labor market. … They may have been in low-wage service jobs,” she said. “They are ready to look for something new, something that is high-paying because they may be needing to support children, and they are looking for the future.”
Source: Philly construction trades seek to recruit more women
Waste Not, Want Not: Grand Tajiguas Project Turns Proverb into Reality – The Santa Barbara Independent
In Gaviota: Tajiguas landfill’s 357 acres occupy the lower part of Cañada de la Pila. | Credit: Erick Madrid
“This will be a model of best practices for our country,” he said expansively of the new facility, citing the innovations and new technology it put into practice. “It’s great for addressing climate change through all the methane that won’t go into the air, the renewable energy we’re getting out of this, and the ability to divert trash from the landfill without the necessity of expanding it.”
Deconstruction – Construction & Demolition Recycling
KAREN | AdobeStock
Pittsburgh officials aim to remove blight in neighborhoods by deconstructing city-owned properties that are condemned but not slated for demolition. The deconstruction will involve stripping buildings of useful materials to preserve their integrity so that they can be used in other building applications, according to the city.
Source: Deconstruction – Construction & Demolition Recycling
Female Carpenter Faces $15M Lawsuit for Criticizing Construction Podcast Catcalling
A female carpenter is facing a $15 million defamation lawsuit after posting criticisms of a Canadian construction podcast’s comments about catcalling to social media.
Source: Female Carpenter Faces $15M Lawsuit for Criticizing Construction Podcast Catcalling
Salmon face extinction throughout the US west. Blame these four dams | Fish | The Guardian
Lower Granite Dam seen on the Snake River in Pomeroy, Washington. Photograph: Mason Trinca/The Guardian
In 2016, it was reported that the four dams were producing on average over 1,000 megawatts of energy each year – or enough to power 800,000 American homes. But as the renewable energy sector continues to shift and hydropower competes against low-cost renewable energy, including solar and wind, there is some uncertainty when it comes to what the future will look like for the industry. Against this backdrop, more than $17bn has been spent in recent decades as part of federal salmon recovery efforts.
Source: Salmon face extinction throughout the US west. Blame these four dams | Fish | The Guardian
Plan to remove 4 dams near Oregon-California border clears major hurdle – oregonlive.com
This March 3, 2020, file photo, shows the Iron Gate Dam, powerhouse and spillway on the lower Klamath River near Hornbrook, Calif. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus, File)AP
If the dams remained, PacifiCorp would likely have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit the structures to comply with today’s environmental laws. As it is, the utility has said the electricity generated by the dams no longer makes up a significant part of its power portfolio.
Source: Plan to remove 4 dams near Oregon-California border clears major hurdle – oregonlive.com
(1) How America Bankrupted its Cities – The Growth Ponzi Scheme [ST03] – YouTube
This is the 3rd video in the Strong Towns series, and is probably the most important core topic: the fact that American car-dependant cities are financially insolvent, and function like a Ponzi scheme. This is the reason most American cities are bankrupt.
Dams may release about twice as much carbon as they store | Popular Science
“Carbon emissions from dams had been significantly underestimated,” wrote Matthias Koschorreck, a biogeochemist and the study’s senior author, in a press release. Where climate policymakers had once considered them a carbon sink, he argues, they should now be thought of as a source.
Source: Dams may release about twice as much carbon as they store | Popular Science
Support the creation of the Mendocino Coast Redwood Forest Reserve – Mendocino Trail Stewards
Governor Newsom, Cal Fire, and the California Natural Resources Agency continue to pay lip service to the climate emergency while promoting commercial logging and road building as appropriate responses to the wildfire crisis. They spend millions of dollars on a PR campaign for Nature-Based Solutions, but move forward with business as usual, promoting and approving the logging of millions of acres across the state, burning massive quantities of fossil fuel just to destroy our best ally in our fight to have
Source: Mendocino Trail Stewards
Buckets of discarded brass shavings inspire these chic earrings
The new collection, Trucioli – a thin, curly piece of material shaved from a bigger piece – takes these brass shavings, coats them in gold and hand paints them in epoxy resin for joyful and sustainable designs.
Brass jewellery from Italian brand So-Le Studio makes good use of metal offcuts
Source: Buckets of discarded brass shavings inspire these chic earrings
As Lumber Prices Climb, Some Mill Their Own : NPR
Anchorage, Alaska, resident Hans Dow built his own sawmill and began milling his own boards after lumber prices skyrocketed over the past year.
Emily Schwing for NPR
“You can’t pay these kind of prices,” he says. “It’s like going to the grocery store and spending $200 and leaving with one bag of groceries.”
Lumber firms applaud, home builders angry as U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs Woodworking Network
The U.S. Department of Commerce says it will seek to double tariff rates on most Canadian softwood lumber, angering home builders.
The circular economy: A new way to design, make, and use things – YouTube
Ever wondered what happens to all your stuff when you throw it out? A lot of it – from sauce sachets to mobile phones – ends up in landfill or gets burned. Or it ends up in our environment, causing damage to the natural world on which we depend.
London Wartime Bunkers Offer Essential Vertical Farm Space | IE
Growing Underground Cambridge University/YouTube
Since 2015, London-based Growing Underground has been using one of London’s eight underground World War Two bomb shelters to grow fresh produce indoors in an environment where no pesticide is required.
Source: London Wartime Bunkers Offer Essential Vertical Farm Space | IE
Amazon is buying up dead malls–adaptive reuse, or just eating its prey? | News | Archinect
Macy’s, 2018. Image © Jesse Rieser
“I’ve seen the economic development happen to our community — it’s frustrating on a local level,” he said. “But, at the same time, I see a regular list of articles about Amazon building here and Amazon building there. I’m not sure any of us really fully understand the implications because it’s happening so so fast.”
Source: Amazon is buying up dead malls–adaptive reuse, or just eating its prey? | News | Archinect
Apple Launches Restore Fund | Reforestation and Carbon Removal
WILL SWANSON FOR KOMAZA
“Trees are nature’s technology to handle carbon removal,” says Jackson, who was the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013. “We want to show how to do it the right way, and we want it to be profitable.”
Source: Apple Launches Restore Fund | Reforestation and Carbon Removal
‘Forests are not renewable’: the felling of Sweden’s ancient trees | Environment | The Guardian
Thousands of logs seen from overhead at a timber terminal. Sweden is the world’s third biggest exporter of pulp, paper and sawn timber
‘Natural forests are not renewable. Trees can be planted, but not forests.’ They added: ‘If you plant pine trees, you get a timber field, not a forest. Real forests are complex ecosystems, a bedrock of a multitude of life and home for many species’
Source: ‘Forests are not renewable’: the felling of Sweden’s ancient trees | Environment | The Guardian
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez introduce ‘Green New Deal for Public Housing’ | TheHill
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have introduced a “Green New Deal for Public Housing” that would provide $172 billion to retrofit existing housing.
Source: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez introduce ‘Green New Deal for Public Housing’ | TheHill
Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging for roofs | Construction Dive
Courtesy of Kraft Heinz
As manufacturers are working to reuse their waste products — both through upcycled products that save food items from the trash and manufacturing processes that use waste for energy — a successful test result could put Kraft Heinz in a class of its own. The company could potentially renovate its factories with its own post-consumer waste, which would be impactful.
Source: Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging for roofs | Construction Dive
TECLA: 3D printed eco-habitat by WASP and Mario Cucinella Architects in Italy
Engineered by 3D printing specialists WASP and designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, the first prototype of TECLA in Ravenna is built entirely using reusable and recyclable materials.
By becoming the first eco-habitat to be built using Crane WASP (world’s first modular and multilevel 3D printer designed to collectively build singular and large-scale architectural works), the structure takes inspiration from potter wasp, founded on the principles of a circular economy and digital fabrication.
Source: TECLA: 3D printed eco-habitat by WASP and Mario Cucinella Architects in Italy
Highways that destroyed Black neighborhoods are crumbling. Some want to undo that legacy – CNN
A Google Street view of Shreveport, LA downtown area abruptly ending where it meets the highway.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is among those who have spoken out on the history of Black neighborhoods being disproportionately divided by highway projects, and has called for righting those wrongs.
Source: Highways that destroyed Black neighborhoods are crumbling. Some want to undo that legacy – CNN
Heritage crime: Thieves target historic church slabs for patios | News | The Times
Parishioners at Christ Church in Eccleston, Lancashire, were left “horrified and grieving” after 40 pieces of stone were taken, said the vicar, the Rev Sonya Doragh
More than £400,000 worth of paving slabs has been stolen from historic churchyards and buildings over the past five years, causing “grief and horror” among parishioners.
Source: Heritage crime: Thieves target historic church slabs for patios | News | The Times
Local hazards grow as Americans churn out more garbage, United States News & Top Stories – The Straits Times
More than 90 per cent of the 230,000 tons of construction waste ReEnergy accepted in 2019 came from out-of-state, according to its annual report. After processing, ReEnergy said it sent 93 per cent of the imported trash to the Juniper Ridge landfill, which while owned by the state is operated by a private company, New England Waste Service of Maine, a subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems. Casella collects a “tipping fee” from ReEnergy for taking its waste. Fees for construction and demolition debris vary, but range from US$33 to US$95 per ton, according to the state’s environmental agency.
A moment before they were destroyed, they could be seen again | Amanda Williams | UNIQLO ARTSPEAKS – YouTube
Forgotten sections of Chicago’s south side Englewood neighborhood are, however briefly, made visible again by members of the community.
Consultant Uncovers Significant Flaws in City’s Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion Program – Pasadena Now
The consultant, Tap International, says the Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion Program Program needs improvement to ensure that the City’s requirements and the intentions of the program are met.
Victoria pens new bylaw to cut red tape for green demolition | CTV News
In December 2020, Victoria council voted to approve an ambitious plan to reduce city waste by 50 per cent by 2040. “If we diverted all the construction waste currently going into the landfill, that would take us 10 per cent of the way to our targets,” said Helps. In an effort to cut red tape for companies like Unbuilders, city staff are in the final stages of drafting a deconstruction bylaw.
Source: Victoria pens new bylaw to cut red tape for green demolition | CTV News
6 Projects That Made the Netherlands a World Capital of Adaptive Reuse
Courtesy Stijn Poelstra/Zecc Architecten
Some of these interventions are so sensitive and surgical that they might be seen as prototypes for similar spaces all over the world, making a case for reusing structures instead of tearing them down.
Source: 6 Projects That Made the Netherlands a World Capital of Adaptive Reuse
Rescued charm – Baltimore’s abandoned homes are being recycled | United States | The Economist
The yellow pine that was used to build Baltimore’s rowhouses came from old-growth forests, and is more dense and rot-resistant than faster-growing new lumber; a century of oxidation has given it a handsome, dark patina. Furniture-makers and interior designers play up its provenance, designing items around its joist- and plank-shaped pieces, some of them pocked with nail holes and saw marks.
Source: Rescued charm – Baltimore’s abandoned homes are being recycled | United States | The Economist