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Bringing down the house: Environmentally friendly deconstruction debuts in metro Detroit

April 13, 2004

BY K. MICHELLE MORAN

The old adage “what goes up must come down” doesn’t just apply to gravity. The same can be said for homes.

With many homeowners desiring the upgrades and conveniences of modern construction, a lot of older homes are getting torn down to make room for newer, bigger ones. But the bulldozer isn’t the only alternative anymore.

Environmental concerns and dwindling landfill space have fueled the deconstruction movement. Where standard salvagers may only be able to save a small percentage of a building’s contents, deconstruction crews can divert as much as 80-90 percent from the waste stream. They do this by carefully removing everything from windows and cupboards to wood framing for reuse elsewhere. And of the materials that can’t be reused – such as concrete sidewalks – much of that is at least recycled.

“Basically, it’s the reverse [of the] process of construction,” explained deconstruction expert Jim Prindahl, a carpenter by trade. “The last thing the builder puts in, we take out, and everything is done systematically.”

Prindahl, who lives in Oregon, is training the crew of the fledgling Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit, which is believed to be the first deconstruction firm in Michigan. At press time, workers were in the process of taking down their first structure – a more than 2,000-square-foot home in Grosse Pointe Farms built circa 1950.

The nonprofit ASWD is based in Detroit. Grosse Pointer Jan Homan, a member of ASWD’s advisory board, said the company hopes to sell what it salvages – everything from light fixtures to fireplace mantles. For the project to work, Prindahl said the company needs to become self-sustaining.

There are finds in these older homes, including high-quality oak flooring. Because the wood in many such homes came from old growth forests, Prindahl said it’s actually better than the new, softer lumber on the market today. On a tour through the Farms house, he points to beams in the frame without a single knot in them.

Nationwide, the amount of garbage generated by demolition is staggering. According to the Web site DeconstructionInstitute.com – created for Charlotte County, Fla. – the United States Environmental Projection Agency estimates that American businesses create 136 million tons of construction and demolition waste annually – 92 percent of which comes from demolition and renovation. An estimated 6,000 board feet of reusable lumber can usually be preserved from a 2,000-square-foot wood frame house – the equivalent of 33 mature trees. Prindahl also expects the ASWD crew to remove roughly 250 pounds of nails from the Farms house.

Deconstruction’s advantages aren’t limited to environmental concerns.

“You’re creating local jobs, which is a very important part of the economy,” Homan said. “And these are good jobs.”

Prindahl gave the ASWD workers a day-long course in deconstruction, but most of what they need to know they’re learning on the job now.

Crew member Oronde Homan, who recently returned from a military stint in Iraq, is enjoying his new trade. He said he especially appreciates the preservation aspect of deconstruction.

“I like the simplicity of it, the way you take every part out piece by piece,” he said.

The larger crew and longer removal time means deconstruction costs more than demolition, but because homeowners can deduct the value of salvaged materials from their taxes, Jan Homan said deconstruction companies can bid competitively with demolition firms. And since Homan said each industrial trash bin costs about $300 to dump, deconstruction trims the homeowner’s waste removal costs.

A house like the Farms structure would typically generate some 14-16 large, metal, industrial trash containers worth of waste, but by deconstructing it, Prindahl said he expects they’ll only fill one or two containers.

“Deconstruction is about diversion,” Prindahl said. “It’s about diverting materials away from a landfill.”

That includes hazardous materials such as the mercury in some thermostats. Prindahl said that’s usually not removed by a demolition crew, but it’s one of the first things he looks for and takes out. v Deconstruction can also be used in smaller projects, such as a room addition. Whether it’s for a whole house or a section of it, the cost varies, and Prindahl said it has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

For more information about Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit, contact Board President Carolyn Mosher at (313) 515-0399 or cmosheraswd@aol.com.

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