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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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.
BuildingGreen, Inc.
Triton Remote-controlled SawFish
Triton Logging, Inc.
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
BuildingGreen, Inc.
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
