If this experimental bridge is a success, it could be the first of many. Angela Nagle, a civil engineering Ph.D. student at the University College Cork who is investigating environmental, economic, and policy issues surrounding blade bridges, hopes to see dozens of them dotting the Irish countryside in the not-so-distant future. With 11,000 tons of blades expected to be decommissioned across Ireland by 2025, there should be no shortage of material to work with.
Christmas trees put out in the trash in Philadelphia’s Port Richmond neighborhood. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
“By recycling them and returning them to the earth, we reduce our waste costs and create a valuable resource,” he said.Options include composting your tree, recycling it into chips, feeding the green to goats, turning it into a barrier to protect dunes from erosion, or even cooking, using pine needles like herbs.
This study suggests that salvaged lumber could potentially be a new source of raw material for mass timber products, which could create new opportunities for wood waste recovery and greener building products.
Salvaged lumber from Portland deconstruction practices was collected, graded, and processed for mass timber panel manufacturing.
The aesthetic combines the original Georgian features; exposed beams, plaster, eaves and brickwork, alongside contemporary craftsmanship and modern elements required for twenty-first century life.
Many of the windows in the home are not windows at all—they’re doors, turned sideways and repurposed as large awning-style windows. Margaret adds, “We don’t use air conditioners. We have no need for that in the summer because we get such a wonderful breeze through the house.” Ty Cole
The barn’s original floorboards, before and after. (Simón Rios/WBUR)
A demolition crew came in and did the best they could to salvage the floorboards. Their level of care was less than pristine — the boards came out splintered with with huge gouges left by pry bars and hammer blows — but I couldn’t afford to pay someone to take up each board with a soft touch.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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,”
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.”
“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.”
Skanska’s Jimmy Mitchell has been a strong advocate for salvaged building materials for more than a decade.
From Long Beach to Boston, a new generation of organizations has grown up around the deconstruction of buildings and the sale of reusable materials. They’re often nonprofits backed by local architects, builders and environmental groups. Their aim is to build a supply chain that puts salvaged goods on equal footing with new products and materials.
Above: Built for transporting cargo, the train cars date from the early 20th century and have been fully refurbished for year-round living: each has a sitting room, full kitchen, bedroom, and bath.
Join us for a tour of our favorite attraction, the two antique railway carriages that they converted into storybook guest quarters, each overlooking a lake.
Keith Raymond designs and builds houses using reclaimed materials. ISLANDER PHOTOS BY SARAH HINCKLEY
Different types of wood aren’t the only thing Raymond seeks to salvage from assorted online sites. He also finds windows, appliances, tiles and fixtures. Recently, Raymond had a lead on a slate sink that slipped through his fingers.
“Salvaged from old buildings or junkyards, these items ensure a home’s uniqueness,” says George DeMarco, real estate agent with Halstead Manhattan, “and can boost resale value if done well. Walking into new construction and seeing a blast from the architectural past often can make just enough difference in the buyer’s mind to help make the sale.”
Headed by architects Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic, HANNAH was able to repurpose wood from ash trees damaged by an invasive beetle species to build the Ashen Cabin, a modern, tiny cabin completely constructed using 3D-printing of timber and concrete.
That Gregory lived a past life as a sailor is evident in the nautical theme running through Vena Cava’s design, which playfully juxtaposes with the winery’s desert setting. That he has a soft spot for sustainability is evident in much of it being made from reclaimed materials.
Image courtesy of John Folan
Millvale Moose is an adaptive reuse project that won an AIA Pennsylvania Honor Award and a Design Pittsburgh Certificate of Merit.
The Millvale Moose project is an adaptive reuse of an abandoned Moose Lodge in Millvale, Pennsylvania, that transformed an underutilized structure into a public venue housing a commercial kitchen and a communal social space. The project used reconstituted marble slabs and lumber from buildings that were taken down.
The city needs to use original brick to reconstruct the corner of 234 Butler St. Photo by Meg Capone
Federal and state officials have upheld an agreement with the city to reuse tens of thousands of original bricks to restore the facade of the historic Gowanus Station site when construction crews tear down the building for a new water-filtration facility, according to an April 21 letter.
“I wanted a log-cabin vibe,” he says. Sustainability plays a big part in Lear’s project: nearly every surface, both external and internal, is made from reclaimed wood.
Frankly, the design industry just isn’t thinking about what will happen at the end of material life. And if the design industry isn’t thinking about it, and isn’t asking manufacturers to create products that cater to these needs, the result is a vast disconnect between how and what we are putting into our buildings and the ability to reuse or recycle these items at the end of their initial lives.
[Vicious Squid] dug in to the fertile soil of the garden implement world and cultivated a three-string upright bass with a rich, soulful sound from a familiar workhorse — an aluminium wheelbarrow.
Much of the build is made from reclaimed wood, like the solid mahogany neck from an old door frame, and a broom handle.
Shine Distillery and Grill, on North Williams Avenue, is repurposing the high-proof byproduct from its 130-gallon steel-and-copper still to produce hand cleaner, and making it available to the public in 2.7-ounce bottles.
PHOTO: Australian Red Cross Head of Retail Richard Wood says about 6,000 kilograms of textiles go into landfill every 10 minutes. (ABC Capricornia: Paul Robinson)
“That is trying to get the product to its original fibre content and to be able to repurpose it into other materials, potentially things like building materials.
Image: Photo of two metal circles on metal stands filled with multicolored resin and automative paint starbursts planted outside the artist’s studio like flowers. Photo by Debra Domal
These human-made flowers, grown from repurposed materials, seem perfectly at home in nature.
Jenni and Andy Wilson’s move to a 1923 Tudor Revival on South Edisto was, for Jenni, a dream come true. Marrying old and new architecture with a classic cottage feel, the renovation is masterful. The 100 to 200 year old reclaimed French terracotta floor tiles in the kitchen are the pièces de résistance, and the ILVE Italian 48-inch black enameled range with brass claw feet is a much used and loved focal point.
The island is made from reclaimed heart pine from the house.
Heather’s wood art and furniture is truly made from Portland, utilizing found wood and materials from deconstructed or abandoned homes in the Portland area. She incorporates recognizable reclaimed wood pieces such as lath, decorative edging and moulding into one-of-a-kind designs.
Presented in a handblown Waterford Crystal decanter and displayed in a wooden cabinet made from reclaimed whiskey vats, there are just 48 bottles in the world. The price tag for this rare wonder is $40,000.
“The way I describe it is that it’s ‘radically accessible,'” he says. “All you need to be able to do is hear and talk.” Through grants, Anderson has expanded Futel to 10 booths in Portland, as well as Detroit and Ypsilanti, Mich., and Seaview, Wash., using hardware salvaged from Craigslist.
Excess tabletops from the old office were cut to make adjustable shelving in the gallery wall, and millwork was reused in the print and model shop rooms. Overall, 16% of the total material cost for the project was salvaged and repurposed from the old office. 68% of the furniture was also reused (amounting to $100,000 savings).
The wood cladding is made from reclaimed redwood wine tank staves, an homage to the origins of winemaking in Napa, and custom light fixtures are also made from staves of retired Cakebread casks.
