Building Deconstruction, Salvage, and C&D Recycling as Integral Components

of Green Building

Alex WilsonBuildingGreen, Inc.

Deconstruction, Building Materials Reuse and C&D Recycling Conference

Madison, Wisconsin - May 14, 2007

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John Muir (1838-1914)

• Father of the wilderness movement

• Founder of the Sierra Club in 1892 (served as 1st president for 22 years)

• Moved to Wisconsin from Scotland at 11

• Studied at the University of Wisconsin in Madison -where he became excited about botany and natural history

John Muir, 1902 - Library of Congress

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Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)

• Father of the Conservation Movement

• Author A Sand County Almanac

• Cofounder the Wilderness Society in 1935

• Most of his career here in Madison, starting in 1924

• With the Forest Products Lab 1924-28

• Began teaching at the University of Wisconsin in 1933

• Taught here until his death in 1948

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c. 1900 - Berwyn, Pennsylvania

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Key Drivers of Green Design

1. Global climate change2. Operating costs

– Energy– Operation & maintenance

3. Indoor environmental quality4. Passive survivability?

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Driver #1: Global Climate Change

• No longer a question of if, but rather how fast and how significant the impacts will be

• The U.S. will eventually sign on to Kyoto or its replacement

• Likely cap-and-trade system for reducing carbon emissions

Desertification in China

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Impacts of Global Warming

• More severe storms• Rising sea levels will

increase flooding• Increased rainfall

events• Increased likelihood

of drought in some areas

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Al Gore - An Inconvenient Truth

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Global CO2 levels

Measured CO2 levels since 1958 on Mauna Loa, Hawaii

Combined atmospheric CO2 measurements and ice-core measurements

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Driver #2: Rising Energy Costs

• Oil prices have risen dramatically– Crude oil over $60 per barrel– $3 per gallon gasoline

• Some suggest that world oil production has peaked– After peak, production drops

and prices rise - driven by laws of supply and demand

– U.S. oil production reached its peak in 1970 and has fallen steadily since

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Hubbert’s Curve - U.S. Oil Production

Peak in 19702003 prod.

less than half 1970 level

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Rising Electricity Prices

• Electricity prices also expected to rise in many areas

• Regulated industry, so price increases occur more slowly

• Some areas will see 50% increases in the next two years

FirstEnergy Corp.

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Driver #3: Concern About Indoor Environmental Quality

Children are particularly susceptible to toxics in buildings and the environment

• Americans spend 90% of their time indoors

• One of three families affected by asthma

• Schools especially problematic– Children most vulnerable – Densely occupied– Little regulation

• Obesity tied to land use patterns

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Toxics in building products• Mercury - Fluorescent

lamps, thermostats• Lead - paint, PVC stabilizer• VOCs• Toxins in treated wood• Halogenated compounds

– PVC– Brominated flame

retardants • Phthalate plasticizers • Bisphenol A

– Polycarbonate and epoxies• Fluoropolymers• Mold and mold toxins

– Moisture problems

SMED Access Floor, Calgary, Alberta

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Driver #4 - Passive Survivability• A new design criterion for buildings• Adapting to climate change• Providing resilience to loss of power, fuel supply interruptions• Definition:

“Providing livable conditions in a building in the event of an extended power outage, loss of heating fuel, or loss of water.”

• Most of the strategies for achieving passive survivability are the same strategies used for greening projects--but the motivation is different

• Resource: “Passive Survivability: A New Design Criterion for Buildings”

–Environmental Building News, December 2005 (available free on www.BuildingGreen.com)

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Hurricane Intensity and Frequency

Graphic by Ethan Gibnay, NOAA

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Hurricane Intensity and Frequency

Graphic by Ethan Gibnay, NOAA

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Hurricane Katrina

May 7, 2006 - Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans

• A tipping point in public awareness

• An area the size of Great Britain affected by storm

• As many as 3 million people evacuated

• Over 1,300 people dead

• Much of New Orleans abandoned

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Hurricane Katrina

May 7, 2006 - Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans

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Hurricane Katrina

May 7, 2006 - Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans

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Key Elements of Green Building

• Energy savings• Water savings• Land-use planning• Ecosystem

protection and restoration

• Durability & low maintenance

• Indoor environmental quality

• Materials & resources for green building

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1. Energy Savings

• Green building grew out of the solar movement of the 1970s and 80s

• Saving energy is a key component

• Energy saving measures incorporated into a building go on benefiting the environment for the life of the building

Passive solar home in Golden, Colorado National Renewable Energy Lab photo

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Achieving energy savings

• Insulation• Airtight detailing• Passive solar design• Systems: ICFs, SIPs• High-performance

glazings• HVAC Equipment• Appliances, lighting

BioBase 501 soy-based polyurethane insulation

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Making Use of Renewable Energy

• Passive solar heating• Natural daylighting• Solar water heating• Photovoltaics• Wind power and green

electricity• Wood energy• Zero-energy and carbon-

neutral homes Lord House, Coastal MaineSolar Design Associates

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Lighting and Appliances

Lighting Science Group R30 LED lamp

Whirlpool Duet horizontal-axis washer

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2. Water Savings

• Some suggest that water will be a more limited resource than energy– Drought a likely impact of

climate change– Water supply and drought

could cause massive dislocation, refugees, and war

– Drought and shortages not limited to arid regions

• Water conservation a high priority

Antelope Valley Aqueduct in California

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Water Savings• Indoor water use

– Toilets, showers, faucets– Clothes washers,

dishwashers• Outdoor water use

– Native landscaping– Minimizing lawn area

• Dealing with wastewater– Graywater separation and

treatment– Composting toilets

• Rainwater harvesting• Managing stormwater

Composting toilet at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

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Minimizing Water Consumption• Water-conserving

toilets• Low-flow

showerheads• Water-conserving

faucets• Water- and

energy-efficient clothes washers and dishwashers

• On-demand hot water circulator

Taco D’Mand circulator -to reduce waste waiting for hot water

Delta H2Okinetics 1.6 gpm Showerhead

Kohler 1.1 gpf pressure-assist toilet

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3. Land-Use Planning

• Transportation– Reduced

dependence on automobiles

– Pedestrian and bicycle commuting

• Creating community

• Protecting open space

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Compact, Walkable Communities

• Pedestrian-friendly places

• Density and public transit

• Buildings that facilitate bicycle commuting

• Eco-villages, cohousing, cluster development

• Traffic calmingTraffic calming, Venice, Florida

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4. Ecosystem Protection and Restoration

• Loss of biodiversity, according to some scientists, is our most significant environmental threat

• Creating wildlife habitat as a part of development

• Restoring damaged ecosystems

Arcata Marsh, California -wastewater treatment system

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Stream RestorationBefore & after stream restoration -BioNet Erosion-control matPhoto: North American Green

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Natural Areas

University of Wisconsin Arboretum - Curtis Prairie

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5. Durability & Maintenance

• Durability – The longer a building lasts the longer the period of time over which we can amortize its environmental burdens

• Currently given too little attention in the green building industry

• Design for adaptability• Aesthetic durability -

“timeless architecture”Decay at sill plate

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Durability Detailing• Moisture control top priority• Rainscreen detail• Importance of building science

- too often ignored with green building

• Design for low maintenance– Painting and staining– Easy cleaning– Minimal repairs

• Life-cycle cost savings of more durable products and details

Delta-Dry rainscreen

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6. Indoor Environmental Quality

• A building that is healthy for the environment but makes its occupants sick is not “green”

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Avoiding Formaldehyde

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Building design to keep pollutants out

Terry Brennan’s House

Track-off entryway systems

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7. Materials and Resources for Green Building

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Green Products and Materials

• Relative importance of materials

• Why choose green materials?

• Use less material• Considering entire life-

cycle• Selecting building

products– Finding the information

you need

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What Makes a Product Green?

Criteria for approving products into GreenSpec

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Renovating Rather than Building New

• Tremendous resource in existing building stock

• Greater potential for density

• Potential for dramatic resource savings

• Risk of sacrificing energy performance

Alberici headquarters - LEED Platinum

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Design for Adaptability and/or Reuse

• Design for future renovation and adaptation

• Ease of additions• Ease of

modifications– Demountable

partitions in commercial buildings

Triumph SmartSpace

Katrina Cottage

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Size and Material Efficiency• Smaller houses are

more resource-efficient– Opportunity for cost

savings• Reduced waste by

designing to standard sizes

• Reduced job-site waste

• Advanced framing

Cape Cod - compact house

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Optimizing Dimensions and Configuration

Illustrations from Your Green Home

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Salvaged materials

South Mountain Company -river-salvaged cypress

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Sawfish™ Underwater Tree Harvesting from Triton Logging, Inc.

• Recently developed system to harvest timber from flooded reservoirs

• Remote-controlled, submarine harvester

• Huge stockpile of standing trees in Western Canada

• Well-preserved by lack of oxygen

• Carries SmartWoodRediscovered label

Triton Logging, Inc.

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Triton Remote-controlled SawFish

Triton Logging, Inc.

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Waste Reduction & Recycling

• Waste Reduction often neglected - even with green building

• Very important priority • Credit in LEED Rating

System• Dramatic waste

reduction is possible• Deconstruction and use

of salvaged materials

Brattleboro MRF

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Deconstruction, Building Materials Reuse, and C&D Recycling Conference

• Tremendous conference program ahead

• I want to see the topics of this conference receive much more attention in the green building community

• Green building is an integrated effort - that’s the beauty of it

• Needs greater focus on the life cycle of buildings and building materials

• And we need to consider, as Stewart Brand says, “how buildings learn”

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Information Resources from BuildingGreen, Inc.

For information, visit www.BuildingGreen.com or call 802-257-7300

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Home Building Resources from BuildingGreen, Inc.

For information, visit www.BuildingGreen.com or call 802-257-7300

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Thank You!

For information: 800-861-0954

alex@BuildingGreen.comwww.BuildingGreen.com