Closing the Loop
Green builders live by the simple conservation mantra: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Take lumber, for example: It’s cheap and easy to frame with fewer studs (Reduce). For custom homes, reclaimed flooring made of barn siding or industrial beams makes for a beautiful interior (Reuse). And off-cuts and scraps can be ground up for compost and used for erosion control on site (Recycle). Like complementary species in an ecosystem, production and custom builders have unique strengths in their niches. Big builders can attract bulk users for their scrap, but smaller outfits can more readily incorporate custom touches such as reclaimed wood flooring.
Slendering The Waste
New-construction waste is a relatively small portion of the total construction and demolition waste stream. Debris from remodeling demolition and whole-building teardowns bulks much larger—even before you include commercial, industrial, and highway work. But residential construction waste can be a much higher-quality resource—instead of dirty, mixed debris, it is mostly clean scraps and off-cuts that are easy to sort and save. That makes it attractive in the market—which spells opportunity for builders looking to cut disposal costs or even generate a small cash inflow.
In Wisconsin, Veridian Homes has created an industry-leading recycling program. The key elements are rigorous jobsite control systems to keep a handle on waste management and extensive relationships with buyers who can use every type of scrap. Result: No material goes to waste—every scrap is reused on the job or sold to a secondary market for an off-site use.
Keeping It Locally-Naturally
Custom builder Northeast Natural Homes looks to local and sustainable sources for as much of its construction materials as possible. Local woodlands and quarries supply finish lumber and natural stone. Beams and boards salvaged from old barns supply flooring.
Northeast also uses renewable cork flooring. But for the ultimate in durable comfort, it may forget the wood and just print and stain the concrete slab itself for a finished floor, complete with warm in-floor heat.
Personal Carbon Footprints
(Residential Energy Use):
Metropolitan Syracuse, NY - 0.962 metric tons per person per year
Metropolitan Madison, WI: - 1.101 metric tons per person per year
Source: Brookings Institution, May 2008
FINDING YOUR MARKETS
Need a hand locating an outlet for your jobsite scrap? The U.S. government’s General Services Administration has created an extensive database of construction and demolition material recycling service providers, which you can search by zip code or by state. We’ve tried it — it’s powerful and quick.
www.wbdg.org/tools/cwm.php
And the Construction Materials Recycling Association (www.cdrecycling.org) has developed these three websites for information on recycling the “big three” non-lumber waste materials (concrete, drywall, and asphalt shingles):
www.concreterecycling.org
www.drywallrecycling.org
www.shinglerecycling.org