The home at 3407 West 35th St., Vancouver, before demolition… All photos by Caroline Adderson

The city hopes to prevent demolition by offering incentives to keep a house, if it’s deemed to have heritage value. Builders already have the option of adding a laneway house or basement suite, for example. If the owner insists on demolition, they are now required to recycle or reuse 90 per cent of the material, a pain for developers because it slows the job down and costs more, especially since most aren’t familiar with the process. Even if a pre-1940 house isn’t deemed of particular heritage value, developers are still required to divert 75 per cent of the waste from landfills.

via Vancouver bylaw meant to slow demolitions sends old homes to the chipper – The Globe and Mail.