Yantic Falls in Norwich Friday, October 23, 2020. The City of Norwich is moving forward on plans to develop the park area around the falls. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
“Reutilizing the building will create a more attractive view,” City Planner Deanna Rhodes said. “Deconstruction will be an homage to what was there before, the mill history, and also will provide the viewshed that makes that whole area so significant.”
The FINANCIAL – IKEA opens its first second-hand store
The collaboration with ReTuna will help IKEA understand why some IKEA products are turned into waste, what condition they are in when thrown away, why do people choose to donate or recycle products, and if there’s an interest in buying the products that have been repaired.
Source: The FINANCIAL – IKEA opens its first second-hand store
‘Mining the value of demolition:’ Dubuquer’s business salvages building materials | Tri-state News | telegraphherald.com
Keyshauwn Lewis works on pulling nails from lumber reused from the Flexsteel building that was deconstructed recently.
“We are mining the value in demolition,” he said. “1.2 million pounds of wood has been salvaged to date, and there is still more. There’s literally millions of pounds of material that was taken out of that building and would have gone in a landfill.”
A software application to ease the reuse of construction materials
For example, it changes the layout of the structure and it optimally selects and positions elements from existing stocks to further reduce the structure’s carbon footprint, it limits the number of new cuts and keeps the number of components to a minimum.
Source: A software application to ease the reuse of construction materials
This Todd Snyder-Designed Lodge Makes For The Most Luxurious Rustic Getaway
The two bedrooms are fitted with custom ABC Home patchwork rugs, reclaimed Russian Pine headboards, mirrors featuring custom live-edge wood frames, pebble stone-tiled bathroom showers, naturally stained nickel-gap wood along the walls, honed princess white marble top night tables and John Robshaw linen bedding accented with wool blankets
Source: This Todd Snyder-Designed Lodge Makes For The Most Luxurious Rustic Getaway
Best Green Project: Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design | 2020-10-27 | Engineering News-Record
Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design PHOTOS BY JONATHAN HILLYER
The Kendeda Building also is the first global example of using salvaged materials in a mass timber project, incorporating nearly 500 nail-laminated panels crafted from salvaged 2x6s and 2x4s previously used for local movie and TV productions.
Gwyneth Paltrow is selling a £45,000 bed – and the mattress alone cost £25,000 | Daily Mail Online
Actress turned health guru Gwyneth Paltrow, 48, pictured is selling an eco-friendly and sustainable sourced handmade bed for £45,000 ($58,252) in a partnership with bespoke L.A-based bed-makers Avocado
Meanwhile the frame is made from reclaimed wood, with handmade springs in organic cotton pockets offering the bed support and comfort.
Source: Gwyneth Paltrow is selling a £45,000 bed – and the mattress alone cost £25,000 | Daily Mail Online
Recycling Wind Turbine Blades
Source: Berkeley Lab Electric Markets & Policy
An added approach to the blade recycling issue is to focus on the upfront piece — what the blades are made of. Additional research and development is looking into using thermoplastic resin instead of fiberglass or carbon fiber for wind turbine blades. The material may be easier and cheaper to recycle.
Source: Recycling Wind Turbine Blades
Hauser & Wirth gallery, where adaptive reuse and art thrive
The concrete blocks were sustainably sourced and partially made with recycled waste glass and aggregate.
Source: Hauser & Wirth gallery, where adaptive reuse and art thrive
Logging is not the solution to wildfires or climate change | TheHill
Getty Images
Logging makes fires worse, not better. One of the most fateful management choices Congress and our federal forest agencies made in the past was to allow logging corporations free reign on public lands to take the biggest, oldest, most fire-resistant trees with them and leave behind flammable piles of slash, dense plantations of young trees and networks of logging roads that would stretch from here to the moon and halfway back. With these roads come more human-sparked fires from logging equipment, irresponsible campers, gunfire and fireworks. Ninety percent of wildland fires are human caused and this labyrinth of logging roads provides the conduit.
Source: Logging is not the solution to wildfires or climate change | TheHill
Creative Junk Therapy, New Nonprofit, Brings Creativity To The Community – Osprey Observer
Karen Koseck is the executive director of Creative Junk Therapy, a nonprofit creative reuse center that promotes creativity, environmental awareness and community through reuse.
If you ask Koseck what she likes most about her job, she’ll tell you it’s the excitement she brings to her clients. “I love the excitement of the people,” she said. “We have tried to make a fun, interesting environment and there is a lot to see. Our goal is to encourage people to reconsider the things they throw away.”
Source: Creative Junk Therapy, New Nonprofit, Brings Creativity To The Community – Osprey Observer
How a drab office building was repurposed into gorgeous, affordable ap
[Photo: Studio One Eleven]
“Many times, for better or worse, these types of developments can help uplift an area and to some extent gentrify an area,” he says. “And I think the most economical way, if an area is going to gentrify, is to get the affordable housing in there first so that the affordable housing developers aren’t competing at higher land costs and there’s already an embedded affordable housing population there.”
Source: How a drab office building was repurposed into gorgeous, affordable ap
A ‘deconstruction industry’ can help cut infrastructure sector emissions
“Once materials – raw materials – leave the biosphere and enter the technosphere because they are processed, we need to keep them in the technosphere and recycle or reuse them as much as possible,” Pralle said. “For that we need to create a deconstruction industry as powerful and elaborate as the mining industry.” Pralle said the success of a deconstruction industry
Source: A ‘deconstruction industry’ can help cut infrastructure sector emissions
Vancouver company leads the way in innovative home deconstruction | CTV News
A house on Vancouver’s West Side being dismantled by the group Unbuilders is seen on Sept. 30, 2020.
“What you’re going to see over the next five years is a rollout of deconstruction policy across the board,” said Corniel. “So, we’re the first of our kind in Canada, doing what we do, but this will be the typical way that houses are taken down and taken apart in the future.”
Source: Vancouver company leads the way in innovative home deconstruction | CTV News
Pamplin Media Group – Reused MAX train designs debated at Oregon Rail Heritage Center
DAVID F. ASHTON – Competition exhibits are taped up on the sides of old rail coaches for public display – to be voted on by people attending the event.
The competition grew out of an idea by TriMet General Manager Doug Kelsey to find a way to re-purpose the Type 1 light rail vehicles while addressing a public need, and if successful, keeping the trains from becoming scrap. “Wouldn’t it be amazing to find a new way to re-use these old trains that advanced the legacy of transit – connecting people with services, with opportunities, with the community we so value?” he asked.
Source: Pamplin Media Group – Reused MAX train designs debated at Oregon Rail Heritage Center
Erster Re-Use Store in Berliner Kaufhaus eröffnet – Berlin.de
Image: SenUVK
The B-Wa (h) renhaus with its shop-in-shop range of used goods is also a unique project nationwide. It is an important step on the way to ‘department stores of the future’, which offer attractive shopping opportunities for used goods. As part of the Re-Use initiative, three to four “used department stores of the future” are to be built in Berlin in the medium term.
Source: Erster Re-Use Store in Berliner Kaufhaus eröffnet – Berlin.de
To Cut Waste, Berlin Opens Its Own Secondhand Shop – Bloomberg
Photographer: Stefan Sauer/picture alliance via Getty Images
Berlin hopes to use the stores to “anchor the re-use of used goods in urban society” by functioning as centers to educate and spread tips on re-use — especially to sections of the public that aren’t currently much involved in the circular economy. The initiative is part of a broader plan from Berlin’s ruling center-left/Green/left coalition that looks to slash waste in all areas of the city’s economy.
Source: To Cut Waste, Berlin Opens Its Own Secondhand Shop – Bloomberg
Change planning laws to reduce waste and refurbish old buildings, engineers say – About Manchester
The government needs to go further with its circular economy plans if the UK is to reduce its waste and make a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to engineers from the University of Sheffield.
Adding circular economy principles to the planning process would put greater emphasis on retrofitting buildings, designing for adaptability, deconstruction and reuse of materials at end of life. It would both reduce waste, and help to reduce the UK’s demand for new materials.
Source: Change planning laws to reduce waste and refurbish old buildings, engineers say – About Manchester
The Case for Upcycling in Architecture | Architect Magazine
Triest Verlag
“The preservation and qualitative reuse and repurposing of existing building stock means: –architectural relevance is gained through complexity and multiplicity of meaning (instead of through form) –Identity, longevity, and historical and social continuity are bolstered –Knowledge of building culture and construction is secured – The simplicity, durability, and sustainability of building construction, building materials, and technology are challenged and promoted.
Source: The Case for Upcycling in Architecture | Architect Magazine
As salvaging reopens, YK says dump has changed for the better
“In general, we’re just trying to be strategic with how waste is handled and processed on-site so that it’s safe, we’re compliant to regulations, and people really take pride in the Yellowknife landfill.”
Source: As salvaging reopens, YK says dump has changed for the better
Portland shoe baron’s 1880 mansion saved, moved and now for sale at $1.8 million – oregonlive.com
KLiK Concepts LLC
1880 Fried-Durkheimer House
“It’s the most beautiful, most authentic project I’ve work on,” says Karlsson, a Portland development consultant. “And it’s a perfect post-COVID-19 office space” for a boutique law firm or financial service group, or a larger company downsizing to allow employees to work at home yet still needs private offices.
Transporting two halves of a historic mansion through downtown Portland streets grabbed headlines three years ago. The outcome of the taxing, slow move of a shoe baron’s Victorian-era house to save it from the wrecking ball is even more stunning: The three-level structure, on its new triangular lot, is for sale at $1.8 million.
Source: Portland shoe baron’s 1880 mansion saved, moved and now for sale at $1.8 million – oregonlive.com
Amy Marks, the “queen of prefab”: Why building and construction is not an industry, it’s an ecosystem | The Fifth Estate
Amy Marks is head of Industrialised Construction Strategy and Evangelism at the global technology company Autodesk.
She says building and construction is NOT an industry. It’s an eco system and this means it can’t be disrupted or reformed from the bottom up. It has to be disrupted from the top down. She means by influential clients such as large corporates or governments who can demand new outcomes through different methodologies.
DON launches a deconstruction-and-reuse program | Local News | ncnewsonline.com
A blighted Pine Street home is taken apart by DON ReClaim! workers.
“It was hot, hard work, but extremely rewarding, and demonstrates very clearly there is a real market for these materials. They just need to be reclaimed and offered for sale.”
Source: DON launches a deconstruction-and-reuse program | Local News | ncnewsonline.com
Holly Springs resident builds house out of mostly recycled materials | Lifestyle | tribuneledgernews.com
Holly Springs resident Mark Whitlock used his over 30 years of experience in the salvaging business to construct a building from mostly recycled materials. This building is the first new one in the Town Center District.
“All of the floor has been reclaimed out of a building in Pennsylvania, which used to be a part of an old school house,” Whitlock said. “A building in Kentucky was taken down by a fire, so I salvaged about six tractor trailer loads of it and turned it into furniture. I also brought back 13 tractor trailer loads of lights and light fixtures from Texas to use to create my own light fixtures. Every light fixture in the house was made from these materials and the ones I didn’t use for the light fixtures in my h
Retrofits versus building new: we need whole of industry change | The Fifth Estate
More than 20 million tonnes (or megatonnes, MT) of waste was generated in 2017 from the construction and demolition industry – more than a third of Australia’s waste production. And nearly all of it is sent to landfill.
Source: Retrofits versus building new: we need whole of industry change | The Fifth Estate
WEISS/MANFREDI selected to transform former jail as part of massive Dallas park project
A view of the skyline-marring old Dawson State Jail in Dallas from the Commerce Street bridge. Reunion Tower can be seen to the right of the building. (Courtesy Trinity Park Conservancy)
As for how exactly the old jail will be reused, that has yet to be determined although restaurants, retail, affordable housing, and administrative office space for the park have all been floated in local media as early speculative ideas.
Source: WEISS/MANFREDI selected to transform former jail as part of massive Dallas park project
Tulane researchers receive grant to repurpose abandoned “separate but equal” schools in Louisiana | News | Archinect
View of the gymnasium at the old Sabine High School in Many, Louisiana, one of several facilities that could be impacted by the study.Photo courtesy of Laura Blokker.
The schools, built as part a last-ditch attempt to establish “separate but equal” educational facilities in the state, were abandoned as racial integration began to take hold in 1970, and have sat empty for many years.
Angry Sheffield man cheered on as he stages camp chair protest in middle of construction site – YorkshireLive
Conor set up a camping chair as part of a peaceful protest (Image: Jake Loader)
Demolition work at the University of Sheffield’s Social Sciences building was brought to a halt for two hours after a resident sat in a camping chair on the site in protest against the “deafening” noise levels.
Minnesota county offers grants promoting deconstruction over demolition for older homes and apartments – Waste Today
To be eligible, the structure must be a home or apartment with up to four units built before 1950 and with a renovation area of at least 250 square feet. Moreover, six material types need to be removed to be reused and at least 550 pounds of wood must be salvaged from the project. All non-reusable building materials must be sent to a county-approved C&D recycler.
Your future home could be powered by the bricks it’s built with | Grist
Grist / Alexandrum79 / Getty Images
Right now, when about 60 of D’Arcy’s bricks are stacked together in a system, they can store enough energy to power a 3-watt light bulb (the small ones shaped like candle flames) for almost an hour.
Source: Your future home could be powered by the bricks it’s built with | Grist
In Japan, Repairing Buildings Without a Single Nail – YouTube
In the past, making and developing metal was too costly for carpenters in Japan. So instead of using nails, carpenters called “miyadaiku” developed unique methods for interlocking pieces of wood together, similar to a giant 3D puzzle.
Explore a modern converted lighthouse home in London | Livingetc
Built in 1938, The striking boat has an interesting history; the vessel acted as a North Sea lighthouse up until 2004 when it was converted into a six-bedroom home by its current owner, a photographer.
Source: Explore a modern converted lighthouse home in London | Livingetc
Weed Dispensary Planned For Old Bucktown Emissions Testing Site Aims To Put The ‘Park Back In Parking Lot’ – Block Club Chicago
Under plans, the existing Webster Street building will receive new cladding, windows and entranceway.
“The addition of many more trees and trying to remove as much asphalt as possible put an additional cost onto the development team, but these are improvements that will last for decades and has the support of the neighbors.”
Inside a vintage-filled Belfast home brimming with clever upcycling ideas | IMAGE.ie
“It’s an industrial sewing machine and would have been operated by several women at the same time,” Jill says. “We added a glass panel so you can see through to the mechanics as you eat.”
Source: Inside a vintage-filled Belfast home brimming with clever upcycling ideas | IMAGE.ie
FGCU students upcycle broken hockey sticks to create oyster reefs | News, Sports, Jobs – Cape Coral Breeze
An oyster reef made of old hockey sticks being installed at homes Wednesday in Cape Coral. CHUCK?BALLARO
It is called the “Rinks to Reefs” program, where the broken sticks from the FGCU hockey team are used to make oyster reefs to be placed in the water, attached to docks, at local residences, where the oysters can grow and help clean the canal water.
Forget Sustainable Construction—It’s Time for Sustainable Deconstruction – CU Denver News
The Zippered Pavilion is constructed of Zippered Wood technology, which uses short lengths of waste 2x4s.
Many commercial buildings have a life cycle of about 10 years (think about strip malls and office parks, for example), and yet most architects approach their work as if it’s permanent. “Architects never think about how their buildings come down,” Swackhamer said. “There is no incentive to think about decay.”
Source: Forget Sustainable Construction—It’s Time for Sustainable Deconstruction – CU Denver News
Unused buildings will make good housing in the world of COVID-19 | Micky News
The building that formerly housed a telephone exchange and post office at 118 Russell Street, Melbourne, has been converted into apartments. Author provided
Buildings that are no longer fit for purpose, or not required in a new detached working environment, could be repurposed as housing. Empty office blocks, shops and stores and unused teaching facilities could all be recycled for social and community low-cost rental housing.
Source: Unused buildings will make good housing in the world of COVID-19 | Micky News
Americans are converting more used school buses into tiny homes during the pandemic
© Cory Marie Podielski Sparrow Kettner, 36, and her husband Keith Smith, 29, converted an old, yellow school bus into their future home. They are traveling musicians in a band called The Resonant Rogues.
Sales of the used, bright yellow vehicles, called “skoolies” by their owners, have risen in some markets during the recession as more Americans shift toward a nontraditional, more affordable and socially distanced way to live.
Source: Americans are converting more used school buses into tiny homes during the pandemic
‘I say go for it’: Froggy’s widow won’t stand in the way of the building’s demolition | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Christian Snyder / Post-Gazette
John Jackson, senior vice president of the Cushman & Wakefield/Grant Street Associates real estate firm, also testified that reusing the buildings for office and commercial purposes didn’t make sense financially.
A passion for preservation: Sault Ste. Marie entrepreneur helps revive downtown
Anderson Media: Danna Sanderson at the Foundary in Sault Ste. Marie.
“The minute we buy a building, I’m in there with chisels and hammers,” said Danna. “The point of buying an old building isn’t to tear down everything, it’s to save what you can.”
Source: A passion for preservation: Sault Ste. Marie entrepreneur helps revive downtown
Design Notes: Maria Speake | House & Garden – YouTube
In this Victorian house in London, Maria Speake – House & Garden’s Interior Designer of the Year – has cleverly reorganised the layout and made inventive use of the salvaged materials for which her company Retrouvius is known.
14 Black-Owned Ethical and Sustainable Brands to Support
Credit: Bohten.
The eyewear frames are made from reclaimed materials and wood which are found in West Africa.
Source: 14 Black-Owned Ethical and Sustainable Brands to Support
Company creates climate-friendlier alternative to traditional clay bricks » Yale Climate Connections
Prof. Gabriela Medero, Heriot-Watt University (Image credit: Heriot-Watt University video)
“Architects and designers, they get really excited because they can be adopting a building material that is sustainable, is as durable as what they are used to using, but they can be very creative and can produce very exciting different new designs with all the colors that we can produce,”
Source: Company creates climate-friendlier alternative to traditional clay bricks » Yale Climate Connections
Safe Stays In Five Luxury Countryside Hotels Reopening From July 2020
The Barn, the luxury cottage that’s part of The Pig hotel, Bridge Place, near Canterbury, Kent, England PAUL ALLEN/ANDFOTOGRAPHY.COM
Also, seven charming, double-bedded Kentish Hop Pickers’ huts on stilts alongside the river, have each been made from reclaimed materials.
Source: Safe Stays In Five Luxury Countryside Hotels Reopening From July 2020
Adaptive reuse projects are happening across the country. Here are som
Oakland’s Creative Growth Art Center was converted from an auto shop into a studio for artists with disabilities; Buffalo’s Northland Workforce Training Center was a former factory that became a site for job training and education; and in Pittsburgh, a Masonic temple became a space for City of Asylum, a nonprofit that supports writers who are threatened in their own countries.
Source: Adaptive reuse projects are happening across the country. Here are som
Report: Transformation of Pacific NW waste & recycling by 2040 would bring tens of thousands of jobs and cut pollution – Washington State Wire
“The good news is that—as we’ve seen in the past two decades with Clean Energy—strong leadership with a clear vision can pay off for the Northwest in big ways: hundreds of new Clean Materials businesses, thousands of new jobs, and billions of dollars in new investment. At the same time, we can slash the emissions that are driving climate change and reduce toxic pollution.”
Historic items removed from Beckett building before razing
“At least we can salvage, and save parts of the building and keep some of these in circulation,” Snyder said. “We’ve done quite a bit of salvage work.”
Source: Historic items removed from Beckett building before razing
Preserving the history of deconstructed Sask. barns | CTV News
The Prairie Barn Brothers are taking on their biggest project yet: the deconstruction of a 126 x 68 two-storey timber frame barn. (Stefanie Davis/CTV News)
“There’s so many different unique applications you can do with the barn wood that just makes it stunning,” he said. “We regularly get cedar, fir, spruce and spine as the major types of wood.”
Source: Preserving the history of deconstructed Sask. barns | CTV News
Four ways circular economy architecture is future-proofing homes
Peter Cook
‘Think of your house as a bank of materials that can be deconstructed, separated, and reused, and design this in from the outset,’ he says.
Source: Four ways circular economy architecture is future-proofing homes
Aurora Mills Expanding Retail Footprint, with Place for Large Things and Airplane Wings
“Yeah, we have one of those,” Byrnes said with a laugh. “It was for a giant. And it will be for other large items: back bars, theater lighting, airplane wings, floor boards, things like that. I like to joke that we could fit a double-decker English bus in there.”
Source: Aurora Mills Expanding Retail Footprint, with Place for Large Things and Airplane Wings