Arup rebuilt 1 Triton Square in London using retained materials and saved 19,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
How a Paris designer built a family home in an old mirror factory | Interiors | The Guardian
Delaye sourced a variety of reclaimed materials for the interior. The panelled doors and herringbone floor are from a Haussmann apartment in the 16th arrondissement; the red marble fireplace came from a grand house in Belgium; and the shutters are from a villa in the south of France. “Each item brings it own story,” says Delaye. “They give the impression that they have always been there.”
Source: How a Paris designer built a family home in an old mirror factory | Interiors | The Guardian
Oldest Photographs of the Largest Trees to Ever Exist in Recorded History (Pre-1900 Images) 400 FT + – YouTube
For reference, the current “tallest tree” in the world is said to be Hyperion at roughly 380 feet tall. Today we will focus on trees (with measurements given) from the 1800’s that stood over 400 feet tall (and take a look at their unique photographs).
GoodWaste repurposes Selfridges scrap materials to create homeware line
The aim of the Super Circular Department Store project was to reimagine waste materials as a valuable local resource by exploring how department stores could create marketable stock from their own refuse.
Source: GoodWaste repurposes Selfridges scrap materials to create homeware line
Young Couple Builds Sprinter Van Home for $8,000
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As Becky explains, much of the kitchen was designed around the overhead cabinets, which were purchased for cheap from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
Road Building is Damaging Our Planet. Here’s How We Fix It. – YouTube
The way we build roads is not sustainable.
Thousands of Eel Traps in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch | The Ocean Cleanup – YouTube
Some of the most common objects we extract from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are eel traps used to catch hagfish.
Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center is built using waste materials
The building’s facades are made using timber offcuts and approximately 700 windows donated by the community. The fixtures were measured, repaired and assigned a position using computer software, creating a seemingly random yet precise patchwork effect.
Source: Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center is built using waste materials
Inside New York’s ‘body shops’ that exploit ex-prisoners to drive down wages | Construction industry | The Guardian
‘Body shops operate in the shadows, with no accountability,’ one union leader said. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
It’s not an idle threat: New York imprisoned individuals nearly three times the national average in 2019 for technical parole violations, consisting of 40% of all individuals admitted to prisons in the state. Body shop employers exploit those work requirements to pay parolees’ low wages under unsafe working conditions.
Photos: House Renovation With Light-Touch Interior Design, London
Working with the existing layout and in a bid to reduce waste where possible, many areas around the home which still functioned perfectly received a light touch, whilst other rooms were transformed with reclaimed materials and timeless decor.
Source: Photos: House Renovation With Light-Touch Interior Design, London
The Beginning of the End of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – YouTube
On October 20, 2021, we officially announced that after the successful completion of System 002 test campaign, we have achieved proof of technology and are ready to return to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and start the cleanup.
On the Klamath, Dam Removal May Come Too Late to Save the Salmon – Yale E360
Chinook salmon. MARK CONLIN / VWPICS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
“When you’re looking at these numbers, as a fish biologist, you’re just thinking, ‘Oh shit, we’re losing them,’” said Mike Belchik, the Yurok Tribe’s senior biologist.
Source: On the Klamath, Dam Removal May Come Too Late to Save the Salmon – Yale E360
Dead as a doornail. – YouTube
In which I explain the meaning of the phrase, and demonstrate the process of dead nailing.
A 150-year-old note from Charles Darwin is inspiring a change in the way forests are planted
Images showing how trees grow more strongly when planted in diverse forests, compare the size of the trees at 11-years-old. The tree on the right was planted in a more diverse area. Author provided
There is no human technology that can compete with forests for take-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and its storage. Darwin’s idea of growing lots of different plants together to increase the overall yield is now being explored by leading academics, who research forests and climate change.
Source: A 150-year-old note from Charles Darwin is inspiring a change in the way forests are planted
Lady Godiva’s medieval legacies live on thanks to secondary glazing
Although the timbers used in the cottage’s construction have been tree ringed, dating back to 1414 – it is thought they were not built until around 1648 by Rev Bryan of Holy Trinity Church, using reclaimed materials from other building projects.
Source: Lady Godiva’s medieval legacies live on thanks to secondary glazing
The Age of Portland, Oregon’s Buildings
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Roofing Company Hit With Largest Fine in DEQ History for a Decade of Emissions – Blogtown – Portland Mercury
DARIAREN / GETTY IMAGES
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a $2.1 million fine—the largest in the department’s history—to Malarkey Roofing Products last week for emitting higher levels of formaldehyde than previously reported for over a decade.
Waste crisis is a “design-made mess” says Waste Age show curator
Studio Drift deconstructed a VW Beetle into its constituent materials
“I think they’re some of the most important architects working today because they don’t believe in demolition,” McGuirk said. “The sheer waste of embodied carbon and energy is ludicrous.”
Source: Waste crisis is a “design-made mess” says Waste Age show curator
Portland airport crafts wooden roof, part of $2B expansion | KOIN.com
PMG PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE – Vince Granato, the Chief Projects Officer at Port of Portland, under the Portland International Airport’s upcoming mass timber roof for the main terminal.
There are 200 craft workers on the side-by-side roof sites, and another 400 working at the airport on other projects.
Source: Portland airport crafts wooden roof, part of $2B expansion | KOIN.com
15 buildings in China get demolished simultaneously | USA TODAY – YouTube
The 15 buildings that stood next to each other for seven years were demolished in China. They were abandoned with rain damage.
Nearly 25% of world population exposed to deadly city heat | Extreme weather | The Guardian
Dhaka is the worst affected city in the world, experiencing 575 million person-days of extreme heat. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
Amid surfaces such as concrete and asphalt, which trap and concentrate heat, and little vegetation, temperatures are generally higher in urban areas. “This has broad effects,” said Cascade Tuholske, the lead author of the study published in the journal PNAS and a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “It increases morbidity and mortality. It impacts people’s ability to work, and results in lower economic output. It exacerbates pre-existing health conditions.”
Source: Nearly 25% of world population exposed to deadly city heat | Extreme weather | The Guardian
Iqaluit’s water crisis unveils a bigger problem: There’s no recycling in the Arctic | Canada’s National Observer: News & Analysis
Residents of Iqaluit, the capital city of Nunavut, have been without clean drinking water since last week. Photo by Timothy Neesam / Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
“Unlike most southern Canadians, we have faced chronic, large, and growing municipal infrastructure gaps for decades,” wrote Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), an organization representing Inuit in Canada, in a forward to the report. “We currently have little to no direct decision-making involvement in the recycling, reduction, or diversion of the paper, cardboard, plastics, hazardous materials, and e-waste filling our landfills, threatening our freshwater supplies and locally harve
How policy can drive the transition towards a circular economy | Summit 21 – YouTube
Dame Ellen MacArthur and Wolfgang Blau discuss the circular economy. Lucy Parker from the Brunswick Group talks with Professor Marianna Mazzucato from University College London and James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company about how policy can drive us towards a circular economy.
People We Meet: Steve Pierson, independent artistic guitar maker at Crude Luthier – Mission Local
Steve Pierson of Crude Luthier with one of his guitars at a 24th Street art walk last week. Photo by Anlan Cheney.
If he’s not collaborating with an artist, he likes to show off the reclaimed wood. He is partial to redwood from his old deck, red wine vats from Sonoma County, and the torn down polo fields in Golden Gate Park. The latter “is magical wood,” he said, “It just sings.”
Source: People We Meet: Steve Pierson, independent artistic guitar maker at Crude Luthier – Mission Local
WindEurope CEO visits German cement plant that’s running on blade waste | WindEurope
On 4 October WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson visited Holcim’s Lägerdorf plant in Germany, together with Claudia Grotz of Siemens Gamesa and Chair of WindEurope’s Sustainability Working Group. They met the Geocycle team who are using wind turbines blade waste to generate heat and ash to help make cement. It’s currently the only such cement plant in Europe that’s using blade waste.
The organic content of blade waste is recovered as thermal energy while the mineral fraction of the waste is integrated as ash in the matrix of the cement clinker the plant produces. This reduces the carbon footprint of cement production and makes it more resource efficient. This is because the blade waste substitutes (partially) for fossil fuels in the incineration process and for other materials in the clinker production process. One tonne of blade waste reduces CO2 emissions by 110 kg and saves 461 kg of raw materials.
Source: WindEurope CEO visits German cement plant that’s running on blade waste | WindEurope
A Ukrainian Oligarch Bought a Midwestern Factory and Let it Rot. What Was Really Going On? – POLITICO
The story of Harvard suggests that lax U.S. laws around shell companies and real-estate purchases, in addition to a broader lack of regulatory oversight, may be putting America’s heartland in the crosshairs of elites like Kolomoisky. It’s a reality of global corruption that U.S. lawmakers are only just starting to grapple with: As money-launderers and illicit financiers hide their money in the American Midwest, they’ve become part of the story of the decline of small-town, blue-collar America.
Garcia House: John Lautner’s modernist Los Angeles home renovated – Vogue Australia
The exterior stairwell, leading into the dining and kitchen area (at door), with original terrazzo floor.
In their quest to preserve Californian heritage, John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke have saved not one but two iconic homes. Early-1980s art has inspired the latest chapter in the enduring tale of the John Lautner-designed Garcia House in Los Angeles. Photographed by Roger Davies.
Source: Garcia House: John Lautner’s modernist Los Angeles home renovated – Vogue Australia
Hatchery program at CHRHS to host community event, Oct. 23 | PenBay Pilot
Pittsburg and Denver, lets make this article accurate and let me assist you in creating a deconstruction ordinance!
The final presenter is Sara Badiali, “a very special guest” – said Salomon – who was instrumental in passing the “unprecedented deconstruction ordinance in Portland Oregon,” and has since helped other cities (Pittsburgh, Denver, etc.) pass similar ordinances and transition the wasteful demolition industry toward deconstruction which can save upwards of 90% of building material from heading to the landfill.
Source: Hatchery program at CHRHS to host community event, Oct. 23 | PenBay Pilot
Deconstruction + Reuse Conference 2021
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
1 Hotel Proves Just How Luxe Eco-Friendly Can Be
The walls, floors and furniture incorporate local reclaimed materials from sources like dead or dying trees and trees downed in the ice storm of 2018, made by Toronto reclaimed-wood-working studio Just Be Woodsy.
Studio Bua turns Icelandic barn into artist’s studio
Reclaimed materials have been used where possible. The handrails on the first floor were made from plywood cut-offs from the interior cladding on the ground floor while outdoor seating furniture is formed from reclaimed concrete. All interior doors are reclaimed from the Reykjavik city recycling centre and the textile woollen curtain room partition in the studio was taken from the client’s previous family business inventory from the 1960s.
Source: Studio Bua turns Icelandic barn into artist’s studio
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