Homes along Laukahi Street with Hawaii Loa Ridge homes in the background, 2015. The City and County of Honolulu could pass a law to require better use of teardowns.
Seeing the pile of rubbish that was once a house made of beautiful clear heart redwood, I could not help thinking about the environmental activists, U.S. National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service staff who have worked for decades in California to save the remaining giant redwoods from logging, while here in Hawaii we are using them for landfill. There was a significant value loss as well since similar redwood boards (8-feet-by-8-feet) would cost at least $50 each if bought locally.
Source: How Not To Waste A House On Oahu – Honolulu Civil Beat
Re-use Hawaii founder Quinn Vittum talks about the salvaging operation at Kona Village Resort at their yard below the Kaloko Light Industrial Area. (Laura Ruminski/West Hawaii Today)
One company on Hawaii Island has assumed a more macro view of recycling and in only a year has filled an entire baseyard with salvaged material from demolished structures. Re-use Hawaii is a nonprofit deconstruction business, and the only one of its kind, focused on reducing the single largest landfill waste stream in the state.
Source: Waste not: Company takes environmental approach to deconstruction in West Hawaii – West Hawaii Today
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) building in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii – one of the most environmentally innovative national historic landmarks in the US.
This Pacific Regional Center (PRC) involves significant adaptive reuse of two historic Albert Kahn designed hangars and new construction linking the hangars, providing 400,000 sq. ft. of contiguous space for a diverse range of functions including the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the National Weather Service, marine research, and administrative functions.
Hydronic passive cooling and ventilation supported by a seawater well, natural day-lighting, and the absence of mechanical fans all support a high performance design based upon the ecology of the Pacific.
via NOAA: Past & Future | DesignRealized Case Study.
Reclamation Administration: News and Research on Building Material Waste Prevention