Anchorage, Alaska, resident Hans Dow built his own sawmill and began milling his own boards after lumber prices skyrocketed over the past year.
Emily Schwing for NPR
“You can’t pay these kind of prices,” he says. “It’s like going to the grocery store and spending $200 and leaving with one bag of groceries.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce says it will seek to double tariff rates on most Canadian softwood lumber, angering home builders.
Ever wondered what happens to all your stuff when you throw it out? A lot of it – from sauce sachets to mobile phones – ends up in landfill or gets burned. Or it ends up in our environment, causing damage to the natural world on which we depend.
WILL SWANSON FOR KOMAZA
“Trees are nature’s technology to handle carbon removal,” says Jackson, who was the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013. “We want to show how to do it the right way, and we want it to be profitable.”
Source: Apple Launches Restore Fund | Reforestation and Carbon Removal
Thousands of logs seen from overhead at a timber terminal. Sweden is the world’s third biggest exporter of pulp, paper and sawn timber
‘Natural forests are not renewable. Trees can be planted, but not forests.’ They added: ‘If you plant pine trees, you get a timber field, not a forest. Real forests are complex ecosystems, a bedrock of a multitude of life and home for many species’
Source: ‘Forests are not renewable’: the felling of Sweden’s ancient trees | Environment | The Guardian
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have introduced a “Green New Deal for Public Housing” that would provide $172 billion to retrofit existing housing.
Source: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez introduce ‘Green New Deal for Public Housing’ | TheHill
Courtesy of Kraft Heinz
As manufacturers are working to reuse their waste products — both through upcycled products that save food items from the trash and manufacturing processes that use waste for energy — a successful test result could put Kraft Heinz in a class of its own. The company could potentially renovate its factories with its own post-consumer waste, which would be impactful.
Source: Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging for roofs | Construction Dive
Parishioners at Christ Church in Eccleston, Lancashire, were left “horrified and grieving” after 40 pieces of stone were taken, said the vicar, the Rev Sonya Doragh
More than £400,000 worth of paving slabs has been stolen from historic churchyards and buildings over the past five years, causing “grief and horror” among parishioners.
Source: Heritage crime: Thieves target historic church slabs for patios | News | The Times
A flower is visible behind a piece of the transparent material. (Qinqin Xia, University of Maryland/Science Advances)
Researchers at the University of Maryland have turned ordinary sheets of wood into transparent material that is nearly as clear as glass, but stronger and with better insulating properties. It could become an energy efficient building material in the future.
Source: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass | CBC Radio
SQ4D’s completed proof of concept and demo home. SQ4D says it is the world’s largest permitted 3D printed home at 1,900 square feet.
“The cost of construction is 50% cheaper than the cost of comparable newly-constructed homes in Riverhead, New York, and 10 times faster,” said Stephen King, the Zillow Premier agent who has the 3D house listing. The 3D printed house will include 1,407 square feet of living space and will be built with concrete.
Source: 3D printed house: Builders say the method will reduce new home construction costs – CNN
An ArcelorMittal steel plant. Photo courtesy of ArcelorMittal
Despite the recycling success, however, the steel industry is increasingly facing pressure to decarbonize. Recycling steel is still both energy- and cost-intensive, and both steelmakers and their customers must go further to reduce environmental impacts. One way to do this is to shift to a reuse model.
Source: Proposed model shows potential for circular practices in construction steel | Greenbiz
Buildings just north of the main Camas paper mill site sit vacant on Jan. 7. (Joshua Hart/The Columbian) Photo Gallery
Nine of the buildings to be demolished were built between 1929 and 1970, according to G-P’s demolition plan. They include a two-story, 31,360-square-foot development lab; a four-story, 31,000-square-foot nonwovens manufacturing building; a three-story, 11,000-square-foot office building; a two-story water treatment building; two warehouses; a 3,500-square-foot library; and a one-story microscopy laboratory.
Source: Georgia-Pacific to raze 11 unused buildings near downtown Camas – The Columbian
“By effecting a step change in how we use and reuse resources, the move to a circular economy will deliver major environmental and economic benefits and is an essential element of making net zero a reality.”
Source: National circular economy hub to lead way in UK bid to create a sustainable future | Mirage News
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.
An analysis shows that raw materials are more likely than composite materials to be sourced from child or forced labor, with precursors and minerals posing the most risk. Furthermore, the data delves into the connection between logging practices and slave labor in certain countries, noting that a staggering 80% of timber from Russia and Peru is reportedly harvested illegally, often through exploited or trafficked workers.
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
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
“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
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
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
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
© 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
“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.”
“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
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.
Source: 10 tips on salvage materials from Jimmy Mitchell – Living Building Chronicle
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.
Source: Salvage beauty: Builder delights in designing with discards – Mount Desert Islander
“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.”
Nest Egg Auctions will sell the entire contents of a Connecticut Shoreline Antiques shop on May 22nd. (Ryan Brechlin)
The shop has been in this location for more than seven years and has accumulated a large inventory. The collection will be sold in one lot to the highest bidder at absolute auction.
Source: Entire Clinton Antique Shop Up For Auction | Clinton, CT Patch
AELS buys end-of-life aircraft, which our highly skilled mechanics carefully disassemble.The removed parts are then placed in inventory, recertified and returned to the market. We are the only company that handles the entire supply chain for aircraft disassembly and dismantling.
Source: AELS | Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions, We love aircraft
An illustration of how the new school could look once finished.
Veidekke
“Whatever you are going to construct, from an environmental perspective, your number one priority is to ensure your designers are focused on enabling you to build something that is energy efficient, uses materials that have a low embodied carbon and can be easily maintained, re-purposed and ultimately, after a long and useful lifetime, be recycled,” Dominic Burbridge, associate director of the Carbon Trust, said in a statement sent to CNBC.com.
Source: Innovation and tech are transforming the buildings we learn in
Isaac Brock’s Oregon home is a hit. Records show the Modest Mouse frontman sold the 111-year-old Craftsman for $1.09 million, finding a buyer after just a month on the market.
Source: Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock parts with Portland Craftsman – Los Angeles Times
A 2017 UN Environment report estimated the building sector contributes 49 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thus making it the single largest contributor to climate change. Globally, building operations account for 28 percent of GHG emissions and the embodied carbon of building materials–the emissions generated in the production, transport, and assembly of materials such as wood, concrete, and steel–accounts for another 11 percent.
Source: Broaden the scope of of contractor education | Columnists | missoulian.com
“We’re seeing these forests disappear overnight. It’s happening so fast, and there’s very little old growth left in this part of B.C. It’s an environmental crisis that’s no less tragic than the loss of coral reefs and tropical rainforests.”
Half of the 100.6bn tonnes of materials were sand, clay, gravel and cement for building, plus minerals quarried for fertiliser. Photograph: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy
The lion’s share of the materials – 40% – is turned into housing.
Source: World’s consumption of materials hits record 100bn tonnes a year | Environment | The Guardian
Worker removes plaster from a brick wall with a perforatorGETTY
If the salvageable material from deconstructing your house is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, you should not need to pay somebody to take the house apart so that you can give the pieces to charity. There should be people waving money in front of your face to come in and take it apart.
The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, at the University of British Columbia, showing off some timber. CIRS
Slabs of wood this large can match or exceed the performance of concrete and steel. CLT can be used to make floors, walls, ceilings — entire buildings. The world’s tallest mass timber structure, at 18 stories and over 280 feet, was recently built in Norway; there’s an 80-story wooden tower proposed for Chicago.
Source: Sustainable building: The hottest new material is, uh, wood – Vox
‘To me, this indicates the need to further question the current practices of the construction sector. How is it that something so simple and obvious as keeping reusable resources intact and in circulation can have become so complicated to put into practice?’
“We are already selling pieces from the hotel’s interior on our website. Items for sale include light fixtures fashioned from Venetian glass and French crystal, along with more than 40 marble mantels carved in a variety of styles, including a $40,000 inlaid marble mantel from the US Ambassadors Suite. More affordable items include steak knives ($25), polished bronze swan hook ($45), stainless steel slotted egg spoon ($20), and a steel ice scoop ($10),” added Browne.
Source: Deconstructing the Legendary New York Waldorf Astoria Hotel
The Tilia version is made of dark linden wood, and the Salvage version is made of an airy and lightly recycled spruce wood. In both cases, the headset uses a dual 3.5mm jack layout – one per side.
Source: Erzetich Thalia, a fully hand-crafted headset made from recycled wood – Inceptive Mind
Reclaimed timber—the entryway alone used more than 2,000 pieces of reclaimed timber. Art installations made from 85 percent repurposed construction waste, recycled and diverted from landfills.
Because the vacant buildings anchored Main Street, their rehabilitation would signal that things downtown were changing for the better. And by repurposing the former hotel—once a jewel of the area—they could connect Rawlins’s nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem directly to the community’s history and distinct sense of place.
Source: How a rural Wyoming town is repurposing historic assets to spur local entrepreneurship
Homeowners love features that come with a story, says Rich Ellis, publisher of Architectural Salvage and Antique Lumber News. “When you can point to your floor and say it came from an old shoe factory in Connecticut, for example, that’s a big attraction,” he says. There are between 500 and 700 architectural salvage businesses across the country, and business has been good, he says.
Source: Salvage shops offer decor with a story | The Sumter Item
The Solid Waste Division (SWD) strives to enhance the efficacy of Construction & Demolition (C&D) recycling. SWD is offering a new $700,000 C&D Grant Program for innovative projects that support King County’s Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan (Comp Plan). As established in the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP), King County aims to divert C&D materials from landfills at a rate of 85 percent by 2025, and also has a countywide goal of zero waste of resources by 2030.
The specific solicitation for the C&D Grant Program can be accessed here – https://procurement.
kingcounty.gov/procurement_ OVR/detail.aspx?bidid=4231 (click “Enter as Guest”).
Source: C&D grant program – King County
The project will see over 1,000 homes demolished and materials reused. Based on an initial assessment of the regeneration project, the scale of benefits that may be realised through comprehensive implementation of Clarion’s circular economy strategy are significant.
Source: PlaceTech | Recycling buildings in the circular economy
Europe is anticipated to account for a significant share of the global construction & demolition waste recycling market. The region is estimated to be followed by North America. Demand for construction & demolition waste recycling market in Europe is rising due to the increase in awareness about environmental protection and government regulations on landfills and promotions for recycling. Asia Pacific also offers significant growth potential for construction & demolition waste recycling, as the building & c
The house’s owner was told by a man who worked in a local salvage yard that the wood for the kitchen’s window seat was used in the building of the Titanic.
Source: Belfast house for sale hides a secret from the Titanic
Poppy Johnston | 17 September 2019
As resources become scarcer, building owners may one day be able to sell walls, ceilings and floors to other developers, instead of demolishing them.
In practise, circular construction is all about the “connections, joints and system layers,” says Guldager Jensen. For example, windows might be attached using a mechanical method rather than glue, or lime mortar might be used rather than concrete mortar.“It’s about being able to think about the mechanics and being able to do it in reversible ways.”
Source: A Danish view on circular construction – The Fifth Estate
“I was able to make a deal with him to purchase this material,” he said. “With diligent deconstruction efforts, we were able to reclaim approximately 15,000 board feet of beautiful, circle-sawn heart pine lumber.”
Whether sustainability was their main objective or not, Calgarians have come up with a variety of ways to upcycle and repurpose everything from skateboards to skulls. Global News
The store’s goal is zero waste: everything produced can be recycled, composted and repurposed while highlighting the local, creative market with people and resources from the community. “It keeps more money in our local economy so we’re more socially responsible, but also it uses [fewer] resources when you’re purchasing local-made stuff as opposed to imports, so better for the environment long term,” Work said.
Material passports specify the position, availability and value of the materials in your buildings. They support the circular economy by making it easier to identify and reuse products, tapping into inherent value rather than squandering it and starting from scratch. Instead of ‘crushing buildings into pretty useless rubble,’ as circular economy expert Duncan Baker-Brown of BBM Sustainable Design explains, material passports make beneficial deconstruction, or even keeping a building, more likely.
Source: How much is your building worth in the circular economy, Mr Foster? | Opinion | Architects Journal
