2022 CLF Boston/New England Reuse Roadmap - Manual / Resource - Page 16
Deconstruction and
Material Reuse Roadmap
Correlating impacts of building and
material reuse to climate action
Moving forward, introducing a measurable factor
of disassembly or deconstruction will naturally
lead to circular economy companies assisting in
the removal and resale of commercial items.
Carbon Action Plans, as seen in cities like New
York and San Diego, help promote a timeline for
the region to transition from a fossil fuel-based
economy to a carbon-neutral, electrified economy.
By reallocating or using city-owned properties as
storage space to assist reuse vendors in storage and
categorization of reused materials, the question of
“where does it go in the meantime?” can be solved.
In San Francisco, the city has partnered with reuse
organizations to provide necessary laydown and
storage space to further bolster its virtual reuse
warehouse, while promoting the cheaper products
and materials for new projects or community use.
Cities such as Oakland CA (near Marin County) and
San Francisco CA have developed action plans that
intertwine the impact of buildings, construction,
and material reuse with carbon impacts. Once this
connection is made, the natural next step emerges
in categorizing embodied and operational carbon
benefits of reuse and deconstruction as a way to
achieve a more holistic zero-carbon future.
Combining green building with social equity
Assisting historical preservation through adaptive reuse
Deconstruction permit incentives
Combining environmental and social justice has
been seen to further promote the adoption of
deconstruction and reuse, as seen in Hennepin
County, MN (including the city of Minneapolis).
Link historic preservation to deconstruction
and reuse as a way to maintain the culture and
importance of buildings. San Antonio TX and
Milwaukee WI both defined municipal legislation
that promote the protection of historic buildings
within emerging deconstruction ordinances,
as well as sharing educational information and
brochures to help the public understand the
reasoning behind the shifting policies.
Robust deconstruction ordinances that combine
all stakeholders and the community, as found in
Milwaukee, Palo Alto, Portland, and San Jose
Understanding local industry needs and intertwining
the needs of the community, reuse and deconstruction
policies can allow for more robust funding if a project
promotes both social and environmental equity.
Pre-Covid 19 pandemic, Baltimore MD had established
Details Deconstruction, a social enterprise that helps
train individuals from low-income communities to work
on deconstruction. It also began developing policy to
promote residential deconstruction in the communities
where deconstruction training was taking place.
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How do we get there?
Mandating a high but achievable waste diversion
proportion, such as 75 percent as seen in San
Francisco CA, will prompt many projects and
companies to explore efficiency options to reach
higher diversion goals. Many will look to find a 100
percent recycling option, like reuse companies, takeback programs, and highly recyclable materials.
Policies and ordinances that link the embodied
carbon benefits of reuse and deconstruction to
climate action plans have seen great success in
demonstrating the “why” behind these new policies.
We need to create policy to inspire meaningful
and lasting improvements in the industry. To do
so, policy-makers need to embrace stepwise
change that incorporates an incentive structure
while continuously improving on the lack of
reuse and deconstruction infrastructure.
Plainly stated, when starting from scratch,
the following are the most effective
tools across the U.S. in promoting
material reuse and deconstruction:
Mandatory waste diversion reporting for
projects, as found in Nashville via the
municipal Debris Management Review
C&D waste recovery and reporting requirements,
as found in San Francisco and Seattle
Deconstruction grants, allowing
projects to overcome deconstruction
cost premiums as found in Oregon
Without the infrastructure, reuse and deconstruction
will only add to the waste problem the building industry
faces. In Pittsburg, a well-intentioned residential
deconstruction ordinance led to many becoming
disillusioned with the idea due to the lack of space and
market for the deconstructed residential buildings.
As Boston is a historic city, tying historic preservation
to building and material reuse can help all parties
involved. Keeping external facades and structural
elements intact, while reusing, salvaging, and properly
replacing any interior finishes or materials, will maintain
the culture of the community while promoting better,
healthier, and less carbon-intensive buildings.
Using the current wave of social equity consciousness,
marrying social equity to deconstruction and reuse can
be further strengthened through location-targeted
reuse and deconstruction policy. Communities that
have historically been victims of environmental racism
and injustice can reclaim and maintain their heritage
and culture,while improving their lives through new
educational programs and training deconstruction.
By bringing together all stakeholders, the process
will start slowly with mandates on what is already
possible, such as high waste diversion rates for
projects. Introducing change through permitting
brings the AEC industry into the fold and can create a
strong incentive for project teams to adopt emerging
deconstruction policies. Two relevant municipalities
that have created robust deconstruction ordinances
are Seattle, WA and Victoria, BC. In both of these
cases, the ordinances are the culmination of several
different waste reduction efforts, spanning multiple
years of community and industry involvement.
As of Winter 2021/2022, Boston began to pilot
deconstruction as part of its zero-waste initiative.
Through consultation with partners, a stepwise
process is being developed to learn as much as
possible and also be able to teach partners how to
best tackle the growing need for deconstruction.
One of the strongest and most well-known non-profit
organizations that helps to bring about change in the
built environment is the United States Green Building
Council (USGBC), the creator of the LEED rating
system. While their catalog of innovative credits has
historically pushed much of the industry in a much
greener direction, they have also begun to recently
understand the greater impact of C&D waste. In 2019,
the USGBC published a policy brief on deconstruction
and reuse, hoping to begin pushing broader integration
of this necessary aspect of the construction process.
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